GoldenJCJ

I must be in the minority. I didn’t have a ton of interest in the movie before but that trailer actually got me somewhat excited. Sure the music is terrible and as much as I love Denzel he looks and sounds too “modern” for this movie but it’s got the LOOK and (from what little I’ve seen) the FEEL of the original.

Artman

One of the best! I don't think many remember that.. it was fantastic, and a perfect advertisement for the film imo.

Artman

I think it's fair to point out that it wasn't greenlit at 300m, cost overruns and the strike 'allegedly' pushed it to that. It was probably low 200's, and to be honest....that's not a hard decision to make, I would've approved of that - provided Scott deliver a friendly run time. I don't believe he has final cut in his contract, but he has always worked with studios and allowed for himself to deliver a directors cut at a later time.

Troy Stiffler

I didn’t remember it being a Super Bowl spot. Also the title exploded at the end like it was Armageddon 2. Haha.

I felt the final film was far more serious. That spot plays like A Knight’s Tale.

GoldenJCJ

In theory I’m sure a comparison of Gladiator with football - a “gladiator sport” - seemed like a good idea. Especially for a Super Bowl ad. In reality it plays pretty bad. Particularly with that shitty music and those ridiculous graphics.

RichC2

I remember that ad back then thinking it was so cheese with much cringe. Enjoyed the movie a lot though.

Artman

I am surprised Djimon Hounsou apparently isn't in this.(according to recent articles) You would've thought he'd be at the top of the list of returning characters next to Connie Nielson. We are getting Derek Jacobi back as Gracchus though. (unclear if he's still a senator)

Maxflier

Same boat here.

d2cheer

I had zero interest until I saw the trailer. I thought it looked damn good.

Something about Denzel's character though seems a bit off and I am sure that is intentional.

Rival11

A three-minute trailer complete with a rap song is usually not a good sign of things to come.

As a Denzel fan, I'll probably check it out for him alone, but I don't buy Pascal in the role. I don't care about his overall size either (he doesn't look that big at all) - Crowe wasn't that big either.

Trailer didn't do anything at all for me.

Decker

Really, you have trouble with Pascal? That's an unusual take. I've heard tons of questioning of Mescal, but Pascal is not only cast in everything these days, he rose to fame playing a very similar sort of part on Game of Thrones. It seems like his casting was the least controversial.

Rival11

What are you saying though? Just because he's cast in everything nowadays doesn't mean he's great. I think he's decent actor, even great in some areas, but I don't like him in this role. I could change my mind once I see the film as well, but he just doesn't fit the part for me.

Decker

Sure you don't have to like him as an actor. I just mean seeing the guy who played Prince Oberon as a Roman General feels to me as obvious and natural as picking Jenna Ortego to play Lydia's daughter in the Beetlejuice sequel or Kevin Costner playing a sheriff in a Western. If anything, it feels too on the nose.

Rival11

That's fine I guess. Maybe I'll end up changing my mind about him when I see the flick (well, IF I see it, again, Denzel alone can pull me into anything, but I have a feeling this will be one of those films that I keep saying "I'll watch it soon" to).

RocShemp

You know, I've been mulling over Washington's performance as depicted in the trailer. His character seems to be essentially playing the same role as Proximo from the first movie. Oliver Reed had some minor contemporary flourishes in his performance. Perhaps the same occurs in this movie but whomever cut the trailer grouped all those flourishes together (for no other reason than they thought those were the coolest bits), making it seem as if that is Denzel Washington's actual performance as a whole. At least I hope that's the case.

Maxflier

While I don't have a problem with Pascal in the role or anything. I am starting to get sick of him being in everything.

dex14

Also... Ridley said he has an idea for a third film:
https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/mo...tt-1236008160/

Decker

That ship battle in the Colosseum alone looks to be worth the price of admission.

GoldenJCJ

It looks like the same basic story - a soldier turned gladiator out for vengeance but with bigger, more elaborate gladiatorial shenanigans.

I’m in!

Artman

Yeah, more of the same, which I think is what most would want out of it. So the monkeys are in the smaller pit, with what looks like two fights (water/sharks, rhino) along with the final duel in the Coliseum. That's exactly how the first played out, so it's following the formula pretty close. The large scale battle probably starts the film just like the first one also.

Seemed like a pretty big spoiler reveal, but I suppose it was always going to be somewhat obvious.

devilshalo

I'll give you the ship battles (naumachia), but the addition of sharks just make me

Why So Blu?

Were those sharks? I thought they were alligators. They've done that in that Peacock series "For Those About To Die." They seal up a portion of the coliseum and flood it with water and release alligators into the water and they fuck people up. Apparently they did that in real life it just hasn't been shown in film yet.

Ash Ketchum

I'd never even heard of this until someone showed the poster on FB and I immediately assumed from the title and cast that it was basically a straight-to-streaming cheapie that's getting theatrical release because someone decided to pay Denzel big money to do a small part, kind of like Bruce Willis's last few dozen films. Then I come here and learn about its huge budget, which baffles me no end.

Artman

I haven't been impressed with the posters.. you could just do a shameless ripoff of the original and it would still be infinitely better. A simple but memorable image is better than anything else.

GoldenJCJ

I only watched the trailer on my phone but they look like sharks to me. A quick Google search tells me they really did use sharks for gladiator fights in the Colosseum. Which begs the question: how the hell did they get sharks into the colosseum?!