“It ain’t “mairzy doats and dozy doats” out there, it’s war! You fight Black Death like the Marquis of Queensbury, and you’re gonna be carried out in a body bag. But, hey, good luck!” – Pappi Jack
When most think of boxing movies; ROCKY and RAGING BULL come to mind. And when the GLADIATOR title is name dropped; its of course, the 1998 smash hit RUSSELL CROWE sword and sandals opus that pops up in the norm’s minds. And I’m here to right that wrong. Cause when I have boxing movies on the fritz; GLADIATOR rams a hard right through my noggin and no I don’t mean the CROWE flick. I of course speak of Rowdy Herrington’s criminally underrated 1992 cinematic puncher GLADIATOR; starring TWIN PEAKS alumni JAMES MARSHALL and at the time; new comer CUBA GOODING JR.
The Gladiator Trailer!
I have no idea what went wrong with this one upon its initial theatrical release in 1992. Why wasn’t it a hit??? Was there something in the air? A deadly virus that kept people indoors? I don’t get it. I remember that in terms of test screenings, it tested through the roof! Columbia Pictures was pumped and confident with the movie. And why wouldn’t they be? At the end of the day; this was ROCKY for young adults with a hot young cast. James Marshall was still riding his TWIN PEAKS blaze while Cuba Gooding Junior was the IT DUDE coming off the critically acclaimed BOYS IN THE HOOD (1991). Finally, the PNA (print and adverizing) was abundant and all over the place…I couldn’t watch a TV Show without seeing a commercial for it… yup all of the signs pointed to it being box office gold. And what happened? It opened, nobody went to see it (I did though and what a groovy big screen experience it was) and it wound up making $9,223,441 domestically i.e. chump change.
So this piece is me doing my part on putting a spotlight on the movie. I hope that through this drivel younger film fans will discover it and older film fans who missed it will bleep it on their radar.
Lets start with what it’s is about: Chiseled jawed white boy with an Ivan Drago haircut Tommy Riley (James Marshall) moves into the South Side Chicago slumps. He kicks it at a new school, makes some new friends and more new enemies and is eventually sucked into an underground boxing circuit in the name of paying off his dad’s gambling debts. Lets get ready to RUMMMMMBLEEEEEE!
The original Gladiator theatrical poster, before they went with the one below.
And here are 6 good reasons as to WHY you got to check this fucko out if you dig on fight films and didn”t catch it.
1- The cast and the acting were excellent! James Marshall owned this movie. The dude was likable and at his low key “James Dean-ish” brooding best. He was also credible as a fighter; he trained hard for the role and it showed. Cuba Gooding Jr. came through as well. Sympathetic, charismatic and at times funny. And you can’t go wrong with the supporting cast they had going! Ossie Davis, as the wise trainer, Brian Dennehy as the deliciously evil fight promoter, Jon Seda as the cool Cuban kid (I could have done without his boom-box polluting the air with ‘Rico Suave’ though), Cara Buono as Dawn the “Adrian” of the flick and Robert Loggia as the fast talking recruiter. Shite even John heard pops up as Tommy’s refiormed dead beat dad. Top notch! Although the roles were granted, of the “stock” variety on paper, the superior actors on hand made sure that wasn’t a problem. They elevated the material to a higher plane of “f*ck yeah”. Props to whomever cast this, he/she did a fabulous job!
You don’t f*ck with Tommy Riley! Tommy Riley does the f*cking!
2- The fights were nuts! Choreographed by boxing coordinator Jim Nickerson (who also staged the awesome bouts in Kickboxer 2: The Road Back) and director Rowdy Herrington (the man made Road House after all…respect!) the mano et mano bits were outstanding! Energetic, gritty and rousing, they hit the spot and then some! On top of that, the fact that the fighters didn’t play by the rules resulted in nasty cuts, bruises and lots of blood. Pretty gory stuff! I dig!
3- Amist the blood and guts the flick actually had a heart and a positive message to spew out. It put emphasis on the importance of school and using your mind as a weapon. It was also grounded in a sad reality in terms of the film’s setting (the hood); one that Miss Guill (played by Francesca P. Roberts ) the school teacher in the movie nailed early on; and I quote: “Now. Before you ladies get pregnant and you gentlemen murder one another you’ll learn the joy of reading. This way, you have something to do in your ninth month or in your jail cell.” Ouch!
That’s “Black Death” on the right… colorful name…
4- I so loved the music here. The score by Brad Fiedel pushed all the right buttons (although I kept thinking of T2 the last time I heard it) and the pop rock ditties were engaging and appropriate as to the themes of the picture. My favs had to be “I Will Survive” by Cheap Trick, “Count on Me” by Martin Page, “I’m Gonna Knock you Out” by LL Cool J and the tight re-do of “We Will Rock You” by Warrant. I own the soundtrack for this one (on cassette that is lol) and listened to it all the time back in the days.
5- The dialogue was sharp! Lines like: “Success comes not from what God has given you but what you do with it. It’s really up to you”, “Top of the head hardest part of the body” or “When you’re weak, you act strong. And when you’re strong pretend to be weak.” have stayed with me since I first saw the film. And its hard to top exchanges such as this one: (two guys are taunting each other, they wanna fight) Lincoln: Anytime, nigga. Anyplace. Shortcut: Well, then. Hello, time. Hello, place. NICE! NOTE: The exchange sounds better when you HEAR IT, trust me.
Cuba Gooding Jr. as Lincoln – heart of gold, fists of steel.
6- Lastly the film had a rough, stripped down ROCKY-ish vibe to it. Herrington (well backed up by ace cinematographer Tak Fujimoto) captured the desperation and danger of the hood ideally hence lending the film an added air of authenticity.
Look I won’t BS ya; GLADIATOR is not perfect by any means. Some of the hoodlums acted like freaking 5 year olds while the script shoveled all of the fight films/maladjusted youth cliched in its mix. Predictability was in the house and the ending was a tad odd; for the sole reason that Riley’s final opponent should have been in better shape and have worn something else than a ridiculous looking black jump suit.
With that uppercut your way; the cliches worked on me none the less due to the earnestness of the actors, the genuine relationships of the characters and the gripping nature of the storyline. I saw most of the twists coming yes, but when they went down they still affected me emotionally; the flick knew how to push my buttons that’s for damn sure. And although the foe in the last bout came off like a clown looking for a Circus to crash ; the film had me so worked up by that point, so emotionally engaged, that I let it go, too busy getting off on the cathartic cap-off to truly care.
Fight! Fight! Fight!
So there ya have it guys, dolls and everybody else in between. Gladiator never made the money it should have had and never got the respect it deserved. James Marshall in particular got a bum rap via this one if you ask me. The movie should have launched his career to the big time but alas that was not to be (he’s King Shit in my book though, love that dude and miss him in Grade A films). So you dig on boxing movies? You’ve never seen or even heard of the 1992 Gladiator? Its not to late mothertruckers; hunt it down and enjoy!
The Gladiator Theatrical Poster
The Gladiator Home Video Poster