Gladiator II - 4K Blu-ray Review

Movie
Making a sequel that lives up to the hype of its predecessor is always a tough job. Especially when said predecessor is one of the greatest sword and sandal films of our time. Back in 2000, Ridley Scott’s Gladiator became an overnight blockbuster in a matter of weeks. It swept the box offices in a way that hadn’t been seen since the prior year’s The Matrix and has endured as one of Russell Crowe’s finest performances. Yours truly has owned the DVD, the special edition DVD, the Blu-ray, the 4K, and the 4K Steelbook, and if another version comes out I’ll likely own that as well. I was a senior just graduating high school in 2000, and remember VERY vividly going with a group of friends to see it in theaters as a lark, only to come out begging my girlfriend to go a second time the very next week. Even some 25 years later, Gladiator stands as one of the greatest sword and sandal films of the 21st century, and probably Ridley Scott’s crowning achievement as a director.

Ridley has famously stated that he has wanted a sequel to Gladiator for the last 20+ years, having tried and failed to get a studio to back him. Even when he produced a script for the project, it lounged in development hell as studio head after studio head sort of poo-pooed it on principle. But somehow he prevailed, and Paramount agreed to fund his massive budgeted sequel (around $310 million if the internet is to be believed), and now we have it. The thing is, Gladiator II is not a bad film at all. Standing on its own legs it’s a decent sword and sandal adventure. But as a sequel to the amazing 2000 film? Yeah, it stands as a pale imitation that copies much of what came before, and tweaks things just a little to make it different.

Gladiator II takes us back to Rome once more, being set 15 years in the future after the death of Maximus in the Colosseum. His son, Lucius (now played by Paul Mescal) was sent away by his mother Lucilla (Connie Nielsen, reprising her role) to protect him from the bloodthirsty gaze of politicians, only for him to return as a slave. Her new husband, General Acacius (Pedro Pascal) is tasked with expanding the Roman Empire under the orders of twin emperors Geta (Joseph Quinn) and Caracalla (Fred Hechinger, who was just seen in Kraven the Hunter), and ends up attacking the state of Numidia, bringing home a bevy of captured prisoners to fight in the arena. One of said prisoners sadly turns out to be Hanno, who we all know as a grown-up Lucius.

Now Lucius is forced to fight in the arena like his father before him, but instead of fighting for the honor of his country and for a murdered wife, he fights out of sheer hatred and vengeance. His mother spurned, and all he can think about is killing General Acacius for the death of his own beloved wife back in the sacking of Numidia. BUT, this is more than a tale of revenge. Simultaneously we have dual competing villain storylines, with the psychotic twin emperors turning the legacy of Rome into a joke. So much so that General Acacius and Lucilla plot with the remaining loyal senators to overthrow them and return Rome back to rule by the people. At the same time, Gladiator trainer Macrinus (Denzel Washington) vies for power of his own, scheming and cheating his way to the top as a blue-collar man who desperately wants to become royalty himself.

Rating Gladiator II is going to be done in a two-fold manner, as must be done when you’re directly comparing it to a legendary film like Gladiator was. On its own, Gladiator II is not a horrible movie. It’s actually quite solid. If you completely ignore its predecessor I quite enjoyed the film. It’s your average revenge tale, told in one of the best period piece eras to date, and featuring an all-star cast. Ridley Scott may not be the great director he once was, but he can still tell a compelling tale. Paul Mescal actually does a good job as Lucius, and it’s amazing to see Connie Nielsen slip back into her old role with ease. That being said, there are some weird casting choices as well. Denzel is an unbelievable actor who I love dearly. But he is miscast as Macrinus. It’s hard seeing him and hearing him when he can’t seem to get the Roman vibe down. Honestly, I really wanted to LOVE him in the role, but I just could not help but get pulled out of the story whenever he came on screen. It was almost like he was cast in another film, then accidentally showed up on set for Gladiator II and rolled with it. Pedro Pascal may not be miscast, but he has rapidly become the “I don’t care what movie is out there, cram Pedro Pascal into it!” choice of Hollywood. He does a good job, but like Denzel, he feels out of place.

Now for the comparison against the first film. In that aspect, the movie fails MISERABLY. The story is pretty much a retelling of the original, with Maximus’s son taking the place of his role, and the twin emperor’s taking the place of Joaquin Phoenix’s character. There’s a twist with Macrinus’s machinations, but the film plays out ridiculously similarly, with Hanno/Lucius rising through the ranks of the gladiators, only to confront his enemy at the end in mortal combat. There’s even an uprising planned like the original as well. I struggle to see WHY Ridley Scott felt so compelled to make a sequel when all he seemed to do was take what he made before, make some slight changes, and then slap “II” on the end of the title and call it a day.




Rated R for strong bloody violence




4K Video: Video:

Luckily the film sports an incredible native 4K master that makes the UHD disc simply shine. Shot on location in Morocco, Gladiator II carries a very similar visual aesthetic to its predecessor, albeit with more CGI and a more polished look to everything. The film dances between shiny and glossy, with grim and gritty depending on whether we’re in the arena, or languishing in the bowels of the training centers. CGI can sometimes look a little bit fake, but it’s tastefully done for the most part. Colors are sumptuous lusciously saturated, ranging from the whites/golds of the Roman court, to the bright red blood of baboons that Hanno is forced to fight in the dusty arena. Black levels are deep and inky, sporting almost no signs of crush or artifacting that sometimes crops up on the Blu-ray disc that is included (THANK YOU Paramount for going back to combo packs). Edges are razor sharp and clean with no sharpness or contrast issues. All in all, this is one heck of a disc and I really can’t complain at all about it.







Audio:

Paramount’s Dolby Atmos track is almost as perfect as the video score is, giving us a sonic treat that makes use of every speaker in your system, filling up the arena with a cacophony of sound. The opening battle scene as Nimidia defends itself from the Roman invaders is ripe with chaos, and once we get back to the Colosseum, things don’t let up until the very end. The whistle of a crossbow bolt flies from one end of the sound stage to the other, war drums beat with rhythmic power, and the screams of the Roman guests reverberate from every corner of the screen. The one thing that I wish could have been better was the bass. It’s great mind you, but it feels just a little more restrained during some of the battles than I would have liked. It’s a balanced mix, but I personally felt it was JUST a DB lighter than I would have personally preferred the mixing to be. But that’s a personal preference thing. Harry Gregson-Williams’ score is rich and filling, and while it doesn’t fit the same motif as Hans Zimmer, it works quite well without sounding foreign.







Extras:

• A Dream That Was Rome: Origins—Director Ridley Scott and producers delve into the history behind Gladiator II and how the story developed over many years before coming to the screen.
• What We Do In Life Echoes In Eternity: The Cast—Take an inside look into Ridley Scott's casting process.
• In The Arena: Filmmakers—Go behind the scenes as the cast and crew journey to Malta, Morocco, and the UK for the epic production.
• To Those About To Die, We Salute You: Combat—Discover how Ridley Scott and his team combined choreographed combat with cutting-edge visual effects to take the action to a whole new level.
• Building An Empire: Post-Production—Join the filmmakers for insights into the fascinating process of crafting the finished movie, which includes a scoring session led by composer Harry Gregson-Williams.
• The Making Of Gladiator II—Explore how Ridley Scott, the cast, and crew worked to bring Gladiator II to life.
• Deleted Scenes







As I said above, Gladiator II shines when you switch off your brain and disassociate it from the legendary original film. Much like Napolean, it is fun and entertaining in a large budget sprawling epic way, but when you start comparing it against the 2000 film, the film loses its luster very quickly. The technical specs for the 4K UHD steel book are SUPERB, with amazing video, and great sound, and Paramount decided to put the extras on a 3rd Blu-ray disc to give the 4K and Blu-ray feature film discs bitrate to shine. There IS a “regular” 4K edition as well as the Steelbook that I’m reviewing here, but the only differences are of course the packaging, and while I normally don’t care about Steelbooks, this one is classy and one I’m definitely keeping instead of switching out for the regular edition like I normally do.


Technical Specifications:

Starring: Paul Mescal, Denzel Washington, Pedro Pascal, Connie Nielsen, Joseph Quinn, Fred Hechinger
Directed by: Ridley Scott
Written by: David Franzoni, Peter Craig, David Scarpa
Aspect Ratio: 2.39:1 HEVC
Audio: English: Dolby Atmos (Dolby TrueHD 7.1 Core), French Dolby Atmos, French (Canada), Spanish DD 5.1, English DVS
Subtitles: English, English SDH, French, Spanish
Studio: Paramount
Rated: R
Runtime: 148 Minutes
Blu-ray Release Date: March 4th, 2025

I wasn't going to watch this... but I think I might need to after reading this review.

Todd Anderson said:

I wasn't going to watch this... but I think I might need to after reading this review.

Click to expand...

I was surprised. this is no Top Gun: Maverick, but as a stand alone movie it's very solid. It's just REALLY hard to compare it to a literal legend like Gladiator and not come up lacking. It's like trying to capture lightning in a bottle twice.

I agree with Todd, I thought to myself, nothing will beat the original. Now, after reading, I will check it out., I may not buy it but will at least see it. lol. Thanks for the review.

I thoroughly enjoyed it... and watched it a second time already. Great movie... and Denzel being a bad boy... whoa... he is so good at it!

I was hesitant to watch this one, but like you, I found it more than worth my time. Is it as good as the first? Nope. Is it entertaining? Yep.

Frankly, if Gladiator had never come out, people would probably LOVE this movie.

I’m the outlier here. If presented with the opportunity to see it again I will choose something else… or nothing.