|
Betrayed by the new Roman emperor (Joaquin Phoenix), a
celebrated and loyal military leader (Russell Crowe) is enslaved and forced to become a
gladiator. Also with Richard Harris, Djimon Hounsou, Connie Nielsen, Tomas Arana, Spencer
Treat Clark, David Hemmings, Derek Jacobi, Chris Kell, Ralph Moeller and Oliver Reed. [2:35]
SEX/NUDITY 3 - Some sexual innuendo referring to rape and incest, and a
passionate kiss. A woman hangs onto a man and kisses his cheek. A man nearly kisses his
sister, pulls her down on a bed and rests his head on her chest (nothing else happens, as
she leaves quickly afterwards). We see most of a man's bare buttocks when he's wearing a
tiny loincloth; also, we see other men in more modest loincloths and some shirtless men.
VIOLENCE/GORE 10 - We see about five gladiator battles (most are extended
scenes) during which people are beheaded, stabbed, sliced, impaled, shot with arrows, hit
with spiked balls, clothes-lined with chains, punched, and kicked; also, a man is attacked
by a tiger twice (he impales one of the tigers), a person is sliced in half, a man's foot
is stabbed in close-up, a man is stabbed in the neck, and chariots are overturned and
their riders are either dragged behind or knocked to the ground (during all of the fights
we see lots of blood spraying, sometimes see the bloody wounds or corpses, see people
falling to the ground, and hear lots of slicing sounds). In an extremely chaotic extended
battle scene we see men and trees engulfed in flames after being hit with flaming arrows
and cannonballs, a man beheaded, men stabbed and impaled with swords, and men and their
horses falling to the ground (throughout the scene we see blood spraying and hear loud
slicing sounds during the stabbings). In another scene of hand-to-hand combat we see
people stabbed, shot with arrows and hit with shields. A man stabs another's throat,
slices another's face (we see the bloody cut), throws a sword at another and impales him
(we see the knife sticking out of the man's back), and stabs another who falls off his
horse (we hear slicing noises throughout the scene). A man sitting on a horse is hung when
his horse runs out from underneath him, then he's shot with many arrows. A man suffocates
another by pressing the victim's face into his chest. Horses trample a young boy (we see
the impact from a distance, then see his body lying on the ground from a distance). We see
a headless body riding a horse, and its neck stump hits a few poles with thumping noises
as it rides through a camp; a man holding the head in his hand throws it on the ground (we
see a split-second close-up of the head rolling on there). A man chained by his hands is
stabbed in the back (we see some blood running out of the wound) and another chained man
is nearly stabbed in the back of his neck. In a few scenes we see men sparring with what
look like wooden swords; one man is hit in the stomach and arm with the side of one of the
swords. A man throws his sword into the stands after a gladiator fight (it hits a table).
A woman slaps a man twice, a man appears to grab a man's belt or crotch, a man grabs a
woman's neck, and a man grabs a woman's face and yells at her. A man pretends to choke and
die after eating some food. A snake is placed in a man's bed while he's sleeping (we never
see or learn what happens to him). We see two men chained spread-eagle on a fence. In a
few scenes after a battle we see lots and lots of corpses lying on the field; in another
scene we see several skeletons lying in a field. We see some charred bodies lying in a
smoking field, then see the blackened feet of someone who's been hung. We see blood
running down a man's arm after being stabbed in a fight, and we see a few close-ups of the
extremely bloody, gaping wound in a few scenes afterwards (in one scene it looks like
there are white worms in the wound, in another it's filled with what looks like cornmeal,
and in another scene it is pus-filled and makes a squishy noise when a man pokes at it
with a stick). We see a couple of close-ups of a man's very bloody arm as he carves off a
tattoo with a rock. Throughout the film we see men with bloody facial cuts, bloody bodies
and bloody clothing; also, we see a man spitting up lots of blood during a gladiator
battle, some bloody swords during battles, and some bloody corpses. We see urine running
down a man's leg and pooling by his foot.
PROFANITY 3 - A couple of scatological references, a mild obscenity and a
few insults. [profanity glossary]
DISCUSSION TOPICS - The Roman Empire, war, gladiator battles, murder, revenge,
betrayal, incest, loyalty, death of loved ones.
MESSAGE - Loyalty to one's country and one's people is more important than
personal ambition.
|
