Gladiator is a classic

[Jeff Lebowski]

Originally Posted by TripletDaddy

SPR, like Schindler's, cannot be edited. Spielberg will not allow it. He will allow blurs and such to block out nudity (in Schindlers) but he will not allow SPR to edit the violence. I think that is why I have never seen it on TV, now that I remember. It is basically the unedited version.

Good for Spielberg.

[Jeff Lebowski]

Very interesting background, SU. Thanks for that.

The closing scene in Gladiator is quite beautiful, IMO. Where he is walking through the field to his home "in the afterlife".

[SeattleUte]

Originally Posted by Jeff Lebowski

I am not a fan of gratuitous violence, but I think a battle as significant and important as the taking of Omaha Beach should be shown in its full, awful reality. That movie should not be edited.

Right. In this context gatuitous means "unnecessary or unwarranted; unjustified."

[RockyBalboa]

Originally Posted by Jeff Lebowski

I am not a fan of gratuitous violence, but I think a battle as significant and important as the taking of Omaha Beach should be shown in its full, awful reality. That movie should not be edited.

100% agree.

And I don't buy the..."I don't have to watch it or see it to fully appreciate it" argument either.

[TripletDaddy]

Originally Posted by RockyBalboa

100% agree.

And I don't buy the..."I don't have to watch it or see it to fully appreciate it" argument either.

Along those lines, having watched a 3-hour movie, you dont fully appreciate it, either. Nor do you even come close to understanding it or what it was like to be there.

I saw Spartacus. I guess I can more fully appreciate what that must have been like....esp the part when they all fought over the can of Pepsi...

[SeattleUte]

Originally Posted by Jeff Lebowski

Very interesting background, SU. Thanks for that.

The closing scene in Gladiator is quite beautiful, IMO. Where he is walking through the field to his home "in the afterlife".

I agree about the last scene. The music also adds a lot to that scene while the cinematography is splendid.

Commodus' use of the games to anesthetize the populace seems an allegory of popular culture today, including spectator sports. This is the true opiate of the people. Ironic that Gladiator bears that message.

[Jeff Lebowski]

Originally Posted by RockyBalboa

100% agree.

And I don't buy the..."I don't have to watch it or see it to fully appreciate it" argument either.

There is something incredibly moving about a bunch of young men driving their boats to the beach and running down the plank knowing full well that many, if not most of them would be killed instantly. The courage, sacrifice, and the horror of such a situation seems beyond my ability to fully comprehend. And in this case, it was arguably the climactic event in the biggest cataclysm in human history. It is awe-inspiring.

[TripletDaddy]

Originally Posted by Jeff Lebowski

I am not a fan of gratuitous violence, but I think a battle as significant and important as the taking of Omaha Beach should be shown in its full, awful reality. That movie should not be edited.

1. I have no issue with it in the movie. I just choose to not watch it.
2. I am not of the opinion that the movie portrays the full awful reality. You arent going to get your head blown off watching that movie. You go home at the end of the movie and probably eat popcorn during it. You put it on pause to answer the phone. you seem to imply that this movie portrays the "full" reality of war, when in reality, no movie comes close.

As an aside, my grandfather was amongst a goup of troops that made it to the concentration camps at Bergen Belsen. His stories were fascinating (he has since passed on). But he rarely talked about it because it was so scarring and basically traumatized him for life. I am really grateful for what info he did share with us as kids, esp now that he is gone.

To say that I get, or even come close to grasping the "full awful reality" ofWW2, or any individual battle therein, because I have seen some graphic movies is almost comical. Movies tell stories. By definition, they require a suspension of disbelief to even watch them. but since the viewer is never really in any danger, how can it be close to reality? I would imagine that most of the trauma experienced by soldiers is the result of mental suffering, something that a movie goer cannot grasp.

maybe I am missing the point, though.

[Archaea]

If you don't wish to view the graphic violence, then perhaps you shouldn't see the movie. The movie juxstaposes the brutality, the utter senselessness of war, the real suffering and pain, with the honor and good deeds of those thrust into it.

You will diminish the work of Spielberg by ignoring the utter horrid nature of war and the Omaha beach scene.

I did not know all of the details of Gladiator but knew some of them. I loved that movie, but wish Commodus had truly been killed in the arena.

[TripletDaddy]

Originally Posted by Jeff Lebowski

There is something incredibly moving about a bunch of young men driving their boats to the beach and running down the plank knowing full well that many, if not most of them would be killed instantly. The courage, sacrifice, and the horror of such a situation seems beyond my ability to fully comprehend. And in this case, it was arguably the climactic event in the biggest cataclysm in human history. It is awe-inspiring.

This is fair. I guess as non-participants, we can gain inspiration from prior historical events though movies.

But it seems, as you say, that the violence in the movie doesnt really help our ability to comprehend the experience anyway. So for me, i just skip it. But have no issue with those who do not.