《Gladiator》　角斗士　勇气与复仇铸就的悲壮史诗

No.030　《Gladiator》　角斗士　勇气与复仇铸就的悲壮史诗

英文导读

Gladiator is a 2000 epic historical drama film directed by Ridley Scott, starring Russell Crowe, Joaquin Phoenix, Connie Nielsen, Ralf Möller, Oliver Reed, Djimon Hounsou, Derek Jacobi, John Shrapnel and Richard Harris.

A man robbed of his name and his dignity strives to win them back, and gain the freedom of his people, in this epic historical drama from director Ridley Scott. In the year 180, the death of emperor Marcus Aurelius (Richard Harris) throws the Roman Empire into chaos. Maximus (Russell Crowe) is one of the Roman army's most capable and trusted generals and a key advisor to the emperor. As Marcus' devious son Commodus (Joaquin Phoenix) ascends to the throne, Maximus is set to be executed. He escapes, but is captured by slave traders. Renamed Spaniard and forced to become a gladiator, Maximus must battle to the death with other men for the amusement of paying audiences. His battle skills serve him well, and he becomes one of the most famous and admired men to fight in the Colosseum. Determined to avenge himself against the man who took away his freedom and laid waste to his family, Maximus believes that he can use his fame and skill in the ring to avenge the loss of his family and former glory. As the gladiator begins to challenge his rule, Commodus decides to put his own fighting mettle to the test by squaring off with Maximus in a battle to the death.

Gladiator received positive reviews, with 78% of the critics polled by Rotten Tomatoes giving it favorable reviews, with an averaged score of 7 out of 10. At the website Metacritic, which employs a normalized rating system, the film earned a favorable rating of 64/100 based on 37 reviews by mainstream critics. The Battle of Germania was cited by CNN as one of their "favorite on-screen battle scenes", while Entertainment Weekly named Maximus as their sixth favorite action hero, because of "Crowe's steely, soulful performance", and named it as their third favorite revenge film. In 2002, a Channel 4 (UK TV) poll named it as the sixth greatest film of all time. Paul Ashbourne, an established movie critic, gave the movie three thumbs up, naming it as his favorite movie of all time. In an online review, Ashbourne stated it has a solid story plot with effects which transport us back to ancient Roman times. He admits to have viewed the film over seventy times. Entertainment Weekly put it on its end-of-the-decade, "best-of" list, saying, "Are you not entertained?"

The film earned $ 34.83 million on its opening weekend at 2,938 U.S. theaters. Within two weeks, the film's box office gross surpassed its $103 million budget. The film continued on to become one of the highest earning films of 2000 and made a worldwide box office gross of $ 457,640,427, with over $ 187 million in American theaters and more than the equivalent of $ 269 million in non-US markets.

Gladiator won five Academy Awards in 2001, including Best Picture, Best Actor (Russell Crowe), Best Visual Effects, Best Costume Design and Best Sound (Bob Beemer, Scott Millan and Ken Weston); the film was nominated for an additional seven, including Best Supporting Actor for Joaquin Phoenix and Best Director for Ridley Scott.

获奖情况

2001年第73届奥斯卡：最佳影片、最佳男主角、最佳视觉效果、最佳音响、最佳服装设计奖，并荣获最佳导演提名、最佳男配角提名、最佳原创剧本提名。

影片信息

导演：雷德利·斯科特

编剧：大卫·弗兰佐尼、约翰·洛根

主演：罗素·克劳、杰昆·菲尼克斯、康妮·尼尔森、理查德·哈里斯

类型：剧情、动作、冒险

制片国家（地区）：英国、美国

上映日期：2000-05-05（美国）

片长：155分钟

又名：《神鬼战士》《帝国骄雄》

剧情简介

马克西蒙斯（罗素·克劳　饰）是罗马帝国战功显赫、受人拥戴的大将军。老国王马库斯·奥里利乌斯（理查德·哈里斯　饰）对大将军赏识有加，有意加冕于他。老国王对将军这种超越亲情的宠爱自然招来太子康莫迪乌斯的妒忌与不安，太子伺机杀害父亲，抢先登上王位，并马上下令诛杀大将军一家。

马克西蒙斯死里逃生躲过暴君的魔爪，可是他所有的家人都未能幸免于难，返回家园，他只看到满目疮痍的破败景象。走投无路的马克西蒙斯只能投身为奴，从昔日的大将军沦为一名角斗士，在血腥厮杀中苟且求生。凭借英勇的气魄和高超的武艺，马克西蒙斯渐渐脱颖而出，他本身丰富的作战经验使他逐步成为最著名和最受欢迎的角斗士之一。

失去亲人的痛苦，沦为奴隶的屈辱，在马克西蒙斯的内心燃起了熊熊怒火。为了向剥夺自己自由和家庭幸福的邪恶的康莫迪乌斯复仇，马克西蒙斯开始用自己的声名和角斗技术引导罗马人民起来推翻暴君。康莫迪乌斯决定与马克西蒙斯展开一场一对一的生死角斗……

制作花絮

和现今的运动员一样，古罗马角斗士也同样需要签注背书合同，只是制片方认为难以置信而从未提及。

在拍毕《惊爆内幕》的几个月后，罗素·克劳开始拍摄本片，当时他刚因出演《局内人》而增重40磅，在本片开拍之前必须恢复体重，而罗素·克劳的减肥方法是在他的澳大利亚农场中干农活。

奥利弗·里德在拍片期间因心脏病突发去世，当时距影片拍摄完成还有3周，于是一些有他的场景不得不重新制作，并使用了他的3D面孔，耗资300万美元。

康妮·尼尔森在片中佩戴的戒指是一枚具有2000年历史的图章戒指，这枚戒指是在古董店发现的。

在竞技场的画面中，看台上的观众除了头两排之外都是用电脑添加的。

罗素·克劳脸上的伤口是真实的，当时他骑的马受惊，他的脸被树枝刮伤。

重点学习

Who took away his freedom and laid waste to his family

文中的laid waste to是lay waste to的过去时态，在英语中，该固定搭配是“糟蹋，毁坏；使成废墟；使荒废”的意思，比如：They did not expect the invaders to lay waste to their civilization. （他们没有料到侵略者会破坏他们的文明。）

Commodus decides to put his own fighting mettle to the test by squaring off with Maximus in a battle to the death

Square off是英语中的一个固定搭配，在文中它是“摆好（搏斗或拳击的姿势）”的意思，常用于美国口语中，比如：They're squaring off, really to fight.（他们正摆出搏击的架势，准备大打出手。）Square off还有“把…整理好，作好…的准备”的意思，比如：They squared the drugs off before the policemen came into the room.（警察闯进屋之前，他们早把毒品藏好了。）另外，该搭配还有“（把…）划成方格；（把…）弄成方块”等意思。

单词时间

dignity[ˈdiɡnəti] n. 尊严；高贵

freedom[ˈfri:dəm] n. 自由，自主；直率

emperor[ˈempərə] n. 皇帝，君主

slave[sleiv] n. 奴隶；从动装置

gladiator[ˈɡlædieitə] n. 斗剑者；古罗马公开表演的格斗者；争论者

amusement[əˈmju:zmənt] n. 消遣，娱乐；乐趣

glory[ˈɡlɔ:ri] n. 光荣，荣誉；赞颂

steely[ˈsti:li] adj. 似钢的，钢铁般的；钢制的；严格的

soulful[ˈsəulful] adj. 感情上的；高尚的；充满精神的

equivalent[iˈkwivələnt] n. 等价物，相等物