Credit: Dreamworks

Remember when Ridley Scott left ancient Rome alone for 24 years? And when he came back, the bloke decided what the Colosseum needed was a load of bloody sharks. Good news for you: Netflix has got both films now.

Yep, Gladiator (2000) and Gladiator II (2024) have finally arrived on Netflix US on October 21st, which means you’ve got about five hours of Roman madness waiting for you. And look, there’s a lot to enjoy about both films, but putting them side by side does remind you how much of a beast the original was. Russell Crowe in that arena was something else.

The first film has Crowe playing Maximus, a Roman general who gets betrayed by Commodus, played by Joaquin Phoenix, and ends up losing his family before being forced into gladiatorial combat.

If you think about it, there is a reason Gladiator walked away with five Oscars, including Best Picture and Best Actor for Crowe, and it wasn’t because everyone fancied watching blokes knock seven bells out of each other. You cared about Maximus, and watching him get through all that misery made his fight for revenge mean something.

And then you’ve got Gladiator II, where poor Paul Mescal has been handed the job of following one of Russell Crowe’s best performances. Christ, the pressure. He plays Lucius, who ends up fighting in the arena years after Maximus, and while Mescal gives it his all, there’s no getting around the fact that Crowe left some enormous sandals to fill.

Mind you, Scott seems to have decided that if he couldn’t top the original’s emotional punch, he’d make the action as bonkers as possible. Hence the sharks, which are an absolute sight to behold, and then there’s Denzel Washington as Macrinus, swanning about Rome with a scheme up his sleeve.

But here’s the thing about the sequel. It’s a good bit of fun, and there’s no shortage of moments that’ll have you gawping at the screen, but it doesn’t leave the same mark as the first film. With Maximus, you were invested in the poor man’s suffering, whereas Lucius feels like he’s been presented with a story we’ve heard before, only with a much bigger budget.

That said, having both films on Netflix is a decent excuse to spend a movie night in ancient Rome, because watching Scott tackle the same world more than two decades apart is something better than any ancient watch out there.

And if you’re going to watch both, start with Crowe’s original. Gladiator II has its moments, and Denzel is worth your time, but there’s no taking the crown off Maximus. Sorry, Lucius, but your old man was something special, and no amount of sharks is changing that.