Gladiator ripped off TFOTRE

Actually,certain parts of the plot for both movies are derived from actual historical events, which occurred during a period of Roman history which I feel is in many ways very similar to our own recent past. For instance, the barbarian war portrayed at the beginning of both movies was based on the Marcomannic War of 167 - 180 CE, which ended soon after Marcus Aurelius' death and the accession of his son Commodus to the Imperial Throne. (A war which I have referred to as having been Imperial Rome's 'Vietnam' - an endless bloody quagmire against an enemy which on paper should have been a pushover but proved to be anything but. Rome's war, unlike ours, ended with a stalemate which, like our outright defeat in Vietnam, presaged far worse in the decades ahead.)

Also, as portrayed at the end of TFOTRE, the Imperial Throne actually was auctioned off by the Praetorian Guard, in the spring of 193. However, the winner of the auction, one Didius Julianus, was toppled from power and executed just three months later, by the real life commander of the Danubian legions, Septimius Severus.

Interesting topic, as I'm writing my bachelor thesis about the rebirth of Roman films. As far as I've found out, the producers of Gladiator have used the theme and period of TFOTRE on purpose. They thought the movie and its period were interesting because it concentrated on a political problem instead of the religious undertone of most of the other movies about the Roman Empire.

You are totally correct that Gladiator was a rip off of this movie. I was shocked when I saw it (shortly after I had seen Glad) at how similar it was in every way!

While it is clear that there are plot points that maybe similar between TFOTRE and G. The real point of interest for me is the similarity in the mise-en-scene, especially the scenes in the north. It looks like Scott screened the film and was struck by the potential of the winter scenes, the manner in which this landscape offers a very different dramitic backdrop. Of course in Mann's film this is not just about historical accuracy it is also used as a metaphor for the 'wintwr' of the Empire. The film, the Mann one that is, can also be read as a requiem for the fall of the studio system, I'm not sure one could draw absolute parallels with characters in the film and in Hollywood, but I get the distinct sense that this is an epic of historical insight. It certainly gets my vote as one of the better peplums, for my money just pipping Spartacus.

Gladiator was by no means a great movie but it was at least entertaining. I enjoyed it more than TFOTRE, Alec Guinness and James Mason's great performances notwithstanding. The main reason Gladiator is better than FOTRE is because it has a great charismatic lead in Russell Crowe, which Stephen Boyd most certainly was not. Although I will add that Spartacus easily beats both.

"The best of them won't come for money - they'll come for ME!" - Lawrence of Arabia

The first reel is a complete copy, to the point where I'm positive they either must have paid the original producers under the table or settled out of court. What makes "Gladiator" a ripoff, in my view, is that they never acknowledge the earlier film in their credits. They let you think the whole premise was their own idea. I wonder how many of the people who voted for "Gladiator" as best film, largely because they liked the early sequences, knew how much they had copied "The Fall of the Roman Empire."

I felt that Gladiator was almost a remake of this since its storyline is so close. It always amazed me that it was never mentioned anywhere when Gladiator came out and I even had to watch them both again to compare. It still looks like a remake!

You're absolutely right. I saw this again today and it remains a tremendous film, easily better than Gladiator.

Ridley Scott really should stop jerking the camera around and employing ugly slow motion; Anthony Mann puts him to shame. If Scott hadn't had Crowe and Phoenix, Gladiator would have been a debacle. It's depressingly small in scope for such a supposed epic.

If only we had showmen like Samuel Bronston nowadays...the films would be unbelievably expensive, but they'd be worth it, artistically at least!