Gladiator in Glorious HD

[DanS]

And another thing, Asher is wrong in saying that shooting using a digital camera is the same as scanning a film.

For one, film introduces film grain, which producers filter out for optimal compression. For sure, the filtering process isn't perfect. On the other hand, film has a higher effective resolution than the digital cameras of which I am aware.

[DanS]

Ned: Arguing frame rate is very important. Our brains perceive 24 frame content much differently than they perceive 30 frame content.

Hollywood is adamant in only producing 24 frame content for a good reason. The TV networks are adamant in producing 24 frame content for their half-hour and hour shows for a good reason. The NFL is adamant in preserving a 24 frame version of all of its games for a good reason.

[LordShiva]

Originally posted by Ned
It was my impression that, historically, the Romans won these battles because of better armor and better discipline. In Gladiator, though, the Romans had neither advantage.

I thought that both of these advantages were alluded to when the Germans fired their arrows at the Roman lines, and the Romans calmly went into protective formation with their big shields.

Originally posted by Ned
What I saw was complete chaos. And yet the Romans won, implying they had better "skills" in hand-to-hand combat than the Germans.

They won because, as far as I could see, they outnumbered the Germans. Of course, their cause was hugely helped by the fact that they had their cavalry, marshalled by the superhuman Maximus (and reinforced by the dog ), ride straight into the Germans' surprised rearguard.

[BeBMan]

Which gives the impression they won by better weaponry, organisation, tactics etc. just like in reality (except the Varus guy of course)

That the melee was depicted as totally chaotic makes IMO perfectly sense - close combat with blade weapons can't be anything else.

[LordShiva]

Originally posted by nostromo
What? You forgot the best line: "unleash hell"

Actually, I was watching it again, and wondered about this. Did the Romans have hell? Did Maximus' ancestor-worship-religion-thingy have it? "Unleash hell" has an Abrahamic ring to it, and its utterance by Maximus may need to be attributed to directorial lapse

[BeBMan]

Probably they had something like the Greek Hades, since most of their gods were stolen...errm....taken over from the Greeks.

[rah]

Yeah, it's not like the movie was done in the real language so we should expect translations on concepts like the afterlife. Would you have been happier if he had made a more obscure reference that 98% of most american movie goers wouldn't have gotten.

[LordShiva]

Yes

[Richelieu]

I watched Gladiator again the other day after reading this thread. It's a good movie, nothing more.

[LordShiva]

[Richelieu]

[LordShiva]

[Richelieu]

[Dis]

I only watched it once (I bought it though based on you guys liking it so much). It was good, I just don't have any desire to watch it again. Maybe someday I will.

[Richelieu]

Originally posted by Dis
I only watched it once (I bought it though based on you guys liking it so much). It was good, I just don't have any desire to watch it again. Maybe someday I will.

HA!