I watched Gladiator after a long time today, and its still as wonderful a movie as I remember it - every slightest touch in the movie speaks of brilliance. It counts among the three movies I'd ever rate as 10/10; the other two being "The Empire Strikes Back" and "The Matrix".
Some of the most memorable moments in the Gladiator... not just for the words, but the silences between them:
Maximus: What we do in life echoes in eternity.
Marcus Aurelius: Tell me again, Maximus, why are we here?
Maximus: For the glory of the Empire, sire.
Marcus Aurelius: There was a dream that was Rome. You could only whisper it. Anything more than a whisper and it would vanish, it was so fragile.
Marcus Aurelius: How can I reward Rome's greatest general?
Maximus: Let me go home.
Marcus Aurelius: Ah, home.
Marcus Aurelius: Won't you accept this great honor that I have offered you?
Maximus: With all my heart, no.
Marcus Aurelius: Maximus, that is why it must be you.
Gracchus: The beating heart of Rome is not the marble of the Senate, it's the sand of the Colosseum. He'll bring them death and they will love him for it.
Gracchus: I don't pretend to be a man of the people. But I do try to be a man for the people.
Maximus: My name is Maximus Decimus Meridius, commander of the Armies of the North, General of the Felix Legions, loyal servant to the true emperor, Marcus Aurelius. Father to a murdered son, husband to a murdered wife. And I will have my vengeance, in this life or the next.
Maximus: There was a dream that was Rome. It shall be realized. These are the wishes of Marcus Aurelius.
