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With all the Movies being reviewed for RPG purposes, the Gladiator certainly deserves to be reviewed for this purpose.

It's 130 A.D. (or 100 C.E. if you are so inclined). And Rome is finally defeating an Army of Baresark Saxons on the Germanic border. Marcus Aruelius Caesar, the current Emperor of the Roman Empire, stood by and watched the Roman Army while his General Maximus destroys them. with peace returning to the Empire, Marcus Caesar turns to a plan that will return the Roman Empire to the Senate. To do so, he names his General protector of Rome.

His son doesn't like the idea, so he kills his father. General Maximus, so dismayed, was to be killed and his family slaughtered. Maximus escapes to his homeland in Espania, only to find his family murdered. He then is finally captured as a slave, sold as a Gladiator, and the rest is history . . .

Roleplaying Elements This movie is helpful for Gamemasters who are handling a campaign in the Roman Empire and incidentally, Dark Sun. Historically accurate, the first scenes show what a Roman battle might have looked like. The Glaidatorial scenes are brutal, historically accurate, and realistically bloody.

Although the mood doesn't help the Roman game very much, the mood actually lends itself to a Dark Sun campaign. The Movie is about survival in the bloody world of the Roman Gladiator. Dark Sun gamemasters will find that the dark mood of survival fits their campaign very well. There is a scene of Gladiatorial fighting set in North Africa that can be used as a guide to a Dark Sun Gladiatorial scenario.

After all, North Africa is hot, extremely hot, or disgustingly hot. Athas is hot, bleeding hot, or hellishly hot. Just replace the inhabitants in that Gladiatorial Arena with Athasians in Tyr or some other city and you have a good picture of how Gladiatorial battles go.

Roman GMs, don't fret. You do get a look of how Roman politics work at that time. Although it isn't very pleasant.

Overall

I highly reccommend this movie. It is intense, stirs the emotion, and is based on history. However, I do not reccommend you bringing your young kids or babies. Last night, I went to go see the movie, and some parents brought their baby along. The baby cried and screamed and had a terrible time with it.

After all, the themes are adult, there is blood (lots of it), and lots of violence. Typical of Romans at that time period.

It is rated R for violence and some profane and obscene language (some of the profanity is out of place).

Style: 5 (Excellent!)
Substance: 5 (Excellent!)

The Gladiator
Author: Dreamworks, SKG Category: Movie Company/Publisher: Universal Pictures Line: Historical Movie Cost: Varies ($130 million!) Page count: n/a ISBN: n/a SKU: N/A Capsule Review by Elton Robb on 05/09/00. Genre tags: Historical	With all the Movies being reviewed for RPG purposes, the Gladiator certainly deserves to be reviewed for this purpose. It's 130 A.D. (or 100 C.E. if you are so inclined). And Rome is finally defeating an Army of Baresark Saxons on the Germanic border. Marcus Aruelius Caesar, the current Emperor of the Roman Empire, stood by and watched the Roman Army while his General Maximus destroys them. with peace returning to the Empire, Marcus Caesar turns to a plan that will return the Roman Empire to the Senate. To do so, he names his General protector of Rome. His son doesn't like the idea, so he kills his father. General Maximus, so dismayed, was to be killed and his family slaughtered. Maximus escapes to his homeland in Espania, only to find his family murdered. He then is finally captured as a slave, sold as a Gladiator, and the rest is history . . . Roleplaying Elements This movie is helpful for Gamemasters who are handling a campaign in the Roman Empire and incidentally, Dark Sun. Historically accurate, the first scenes show what a Roman battle might have looked like. The Glaidatorial scenes are brutal, historically accurate, and realistically bloody. Although the mood doesn't help the Roman game very much, the mood actually lends itself to a Dark Sun campaign. The Movie is about survival in the bloody world of the Roman Gladiator. Dark Sun gamemasters will find that the dark mood of survival fits their campaign very well. There is a scene of Gladiatorial fighting set in North Africa that can be used as a guide to a Dark Sun Gladiatorial scenario. After all, North Africa is hot, extremely hot, or disgustingly hot. Athas is hot, bleeding hot, or hellishly hot. Just replace the inhabitants in that Gladiatorial Arena with Athasians in Tyr or some other city and you have a good picture of how Gladiatorial battles go. Roman GMs, don't fret. You do get a look of how Roman politics work at that time. Although it isn't very pleasant. Overall I highly reccommend this movie. It is intense, stirs the emotion, and is based on history. However, I do not reccommend you bringing your young kids or babies. Last night, I went to go see the movie, and some parents brought their baby along. The baby cried and screamed and had a terrible time with it. After all, the themes are adult, there is blood (lots of it), and lots of violence. Typical of Romans at that time period. It is rated R for violence and some profane and obscene language (some of the profanity is out of place). Style: 5 (Excellent!) Substance: 5 (Excellent!)

The Gladiator