Gladiator

2000

Ridley Scott directed this account of a Roman general betrayed by the son of the emperor, sold into slavery, and returned to Rome as an arena fighter working his way toward the man who murdered his family. The Colosseum sequences were built around a partial set in Malta and finished digitally, and the picture took Best Picture along with a Best Actor Oscar for its lead. Russell Crowe plays Maximus opposite Joaquin Phoenix as Commodus, with Connie Nielsen, Djimon Hounsou, Richard Harris, and Oliver Reed in his final screen role.