Gladiator: The Making of the Ridley Scott Epic

by Ridley Scott and Walter Parkes

Book Overview

The official illustrated companion book to the winner of five Academy Awards, including Best Picture, Best Actor (Russell Crowe), Costume Design, Sound, and Visual Effects. Director Ridley Scott ( Blade Runner , Thelma and Louise , Alien ) brings the glorious battles of the ancient Roman arena back to the big screen. Set against the splendor and barbarity of the Roman Empire in AD 180, Gladiator tells an epic story of courage and revenge: The great...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1557044317
• ISBN13: 9781557044310
• Release Date: September 2000
• Publisher: Newmarket Press
• Length: 160 Pages
• Weight: 1.26 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.5" x 8.4" x 10.0"

Customer Reviews

A Masterpiece In Its Own Rights

This book was just as stunning as the movie. The many pictures were not just ones used for promotional purpoises but ones that were actually taken from other scenes in the movie. This book has everything, from parts of the screenplay to photos of the actors and director to the plans for the catapults used in the opening scenes for the battle of Germania. This book is highly recommended to anyone who likes to know how they make an epic movie of such size. Once you have read this book over you'll be wanting to see the movie again, and again, and again so you can see how they actually made these scenes. This movie has a huge international cast including New Zealander Russel Crowe. Hopefully he'll get the Oscar, and then there is the amazing actor Joaquin Phoenix and the late Oliver Reed who died just before the completion of the movie. This book tells you how they made some of the final scenes of Oliver Reed after he died. >Enjoy<

Highly recommended for film students and movie buffs!

This companion book to the movie will appeal to any fan of Gladiator, providing over 200 color photos and drawings and detailing the behind-the-scenes production secrets of one of the finest films of the year. Interviews reveal how the story was written and the movie cast and filmed, while color illustrations and photos liberally embellish every page.

An epic book from an epic film

Presuming that prospective buyers of this book probably saw the movie, this book will not disappoint you. The movie was epic in scope, and although some historical inaccuracies existed, they did not detract at all from the movie, nor the performances of Russell Crowe, Connie Nielsen, Joachim Phoenix, and Richard Harris. If you like to know the 'nuts and bolts' behind the making of a movie such as this, this is your book. If you are curious how they managed to 'reconstruct' the Coliseum complete with gladiator 'fans', this is your book. A great gift for Gladiator and Russell Crowe fans alike. Commodus was in fact Marcus Aurelius' son and the downfall of Rome, while already in progress, hastened when Commodus was made Caesar. Enjoy! And watch the movie again.

Gladiator, The Making of the Ridley Scott Epic

A visually stunning book, which portrays the movie 'Gladiator' in detail. Lots of photo's from the movie that were not part of the media blitz that promoted the movie in magazines and other publications. The book is well written using interviews from the filmmakers as well as actors. The best aspect of this book are the full page color photographs, production drawings as well as costume sketches and architectural drawings of the sets used. Overall a great book for the 'Gladiator' fan.

IF YOU LOVED GLADIATOR THE MOVIE-YOU'LL LOVE THE BOOK

I was very pleased when I received the soft cover version of GLADIATOR. It is very well written with wonderful pictures that will remind you of how much you enjoyed the film. When you see the film it moves so swiftly that you don't have time to ask, "How'd they do that?" The historical facts are made clear in the book. Although there were liberties taken with those events, the film has the "feel" of the times. Ridley Scott, manages to let you in on secrets that made this movie so incredibly popular. It is a book you will wish to return to often, before and after seeing the film again. The star, Russell Crowe, a dynamite actor, tells how he learned the dangerous swordplay, that had to carefully choreographed so that no one was injured. Mr. Crowe had the magnetism necessary to make Maximus a great hero, and at the end you wish there could be more of the book, and more of the film. It's a beautifully put together book with lots of "inside" information. You will add this to your film library with pride.