Russell Crowe shot to megastar status off the back of his role as General Maximus, a famed soldier in the Roman army who is betrayed by by the murderous prospective ruler Commodus (Joaquin Phoenix) and sold into slavery. Only by working his way up through the gladiatorial ranks can he have vengeance on the enemy who had his wife and son murdered.
Hans Zimmer and Lisa Gerrard collaborate
Hans Zimmer has his fair share of detractors and with good reason, his stock compositional Media Ventures sound 'branding' innumerable action films throughout the 90s such as The Rock and The Peacemaker. Marked by simplistic synthesised brass and percussion, bemoaners of the current state of film music often point the finger of blame at Zimmer and his in-house crew.
While these qualities are undeniably on display in Gladiator, for the most part the score plays to his brilliant strengths as a dramatist. His employment of vocalist Lisa Gerrard is his boldest and most successful decision, the former Dead Can Dance singer lending her ethereal, resonant tones to the movie's themes of redemption and the afterlife, where Maximus will meet his family again.
Powerful Roman Empire Soundtrack
Elsewhere, besides the aforementioned epic, crashing action cues (in fact only appearing in two tracks, The Battle and Barbarian Horde), Zimmer successfully burrows to the film's heart. It's not about blood, guts and battle; it's about tangible emotions: sorrow, joy, revenge. Zimmer's superlative work for rich, resonant cellos and bass comes to the fore in emotionally anguished cues Patricide, The Might of Rome and Am I Not Merciful, the latter also featuring some powerful choral work.
Also weaving its way throughout is a mysterious woodwind theme seeming to reflect the wistful passing of the Roman Empire. The central theme itself gets a gorgeous full rendition on warm brass and then haunting cello in Earth, as Maximus pines for his family. Touches of ethnic colour come with Djivan Gasparyan's superb Duduk solo in To Zucchabar and the elevation of the main theme to Middle Eastern sounding heights in Now We Are Free.
Although his action style is derivative and tiresome, Gladiator mostly calls to mind the heights of Zimmer's better works such as Rain Man, Backdraft and The Lion King. Just as the Holst plagiarising Battle piece has you reaching for the off-button, Zimmer's marvellous incidental tracks and Gerrard's evocative work in Sorrow and Elysium should persuade otherwise. It's certainly an emotional, moving and engaging listen and worthy of a reappraisal.
