Gladiator, the last new film your dad liked, turns 15 years old this week

Gladiator turns 15 years old this week, and it's as good a reason as any to get a few beers in and watch it with the aul' fella.

He loves it too. While he insists that it'd be better if Clint Eastwood had got involved, he knows that you can't have everything and before you know it he's reminiscing about Ben Hur and talking about when movies had a beginning, middle and an end. "None of this Lost In Translation bollix," says the aul' lad. "What's wrong with having a plot?" The beauty of Gladiator is the simplicity of the narrative. Emperor favours his general over his son, son kills emperor and general's wife and kids are slain. General is taken into captivity and sold as a slave. Beats all comers in gladiatorial tournaments before facing down the Emperor's son. Film ends in bloody carnage and nobility. If you're looking for subtext, subtlety, a twisted plot, a skewed narrative, Charlie Kaufman-esque layers of social commentary or anything else of this world, you may go elsewhere. Gladiator is great for so many reasons, but it's one we go back to because... 1) It's Oliver Reed's last film. The legendary hellraiser, who lived in Cork, died during a break in filming the Ridley Scott epic in Valletta, Malta. Reed had to be CGI'd back into the film, while an actual dummy was even used at one point. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MCkZr5k6ZjA 2) It also features an old drinking buddy of Reed's - Richard Harris. Harris, Reed and Peter O'Toole are three of the greatest actors to have either come from or lived a significant part of their lives in Ireland, so to have two in one modern masterpiece was pure gold for people who love Irish cinema history. https://youtu.be/JQPit_oGSv4 3) The first gladiatorial fight in the Colosseum compares with Saving Private Ryan for sheer bloody, eh, bloodiness. Not for the queasy. For those who can handle it, this is the first spine tingling moment of many as the combatants are let loose https://youtu.be/ua7EM-pg6S0 4) The soundtrack is stunning - Hans Zimmer is up there with Thomas Newman (Road to Perdition, The Shawshank Redemption) as one of our favourite film composers and we love his work on Gladiator. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4xQqFDInc5s 5) It marks Joaquin Phoenix out as a serious talent. He's an evil bast*rd in the Joffrey mode and you wouldn't be surprised if Commodus was written with George R.R. Martin's literary creation in mind. 6) All the above pales in comparison to this. The big reveal. "My name is Maximus Decimus Meridius..." The look of utter contempt. The chanting crowd. Commodus' raised thumb. Magnificent stuff. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5i0u4jFmE78