Despite its epic, spectacular fight scenes, its excellent cast and its unforgettable, rousing film music, Ridley Scott’s “Gladiator” also has a few minor flaws if you look at it calmly and study the individual scenes very carefully. Of course no one is perfect – but in this case it’s just really funny to pay a little more attention to some incongruous details in between all the brutal action…
Gladiator is an epic mammoth production, and despite the care Hollywood normally takes, it’s obviously impossible to have 100 percent control over every element of the film in such an environment. Especially with such a legion of extras, the chance of (historical) errors is very high. So Ridley Scott shouldn’t lose sleep over these movie mistakes – but that doesn’t make them any less funny.
Sneakers in ancient Rome
Some of these shortcomings are very hard to spot when you watch the movie normally, Nevertheless there are some details that viewers can take straight from the movie’s historical illusion, when accidentally discovered. For example, if the movie pauses at 1 hour, 26 minutes, and 24 seconds:
During the unforgettable scene in the Colosseum with Maximus (Russell Crowe) and the barbarians of Carthage, a technician’s sneakers (circled in yellow in the image above) can be seen – modern and clearly not in keeping with the usual dress style of the Roman Empire.
It’s not the only mistake that was overlooked when editing this series, by the way. Just twelve seconds later (after 1 hour, 26 minutes, and 36 seconds), another chariot appears, tipping over after being hit. A gas cylinder suddenly becomes visible at the back of the team, which the stuntmen apparently used for the mechanism to tip the car. But once you’ve noticed it, you just can’t miss it on subsequent sightings…
“Gladiator” is currently available at no extra cost with an Amazon Prime Video subscription – and it’s worth it! After all, despite such minor flaws, “Gladiator” remains a great movie whose epic is barely damaged by such overlooked anachronisms…
The FILMSTARTS review of “Gladiator” (4.5 out of 5 stars)
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