Film

Gladiator II

Ridley Scott returns to the arena two decades later, bigger, bloodier, and unashamedly ridiculous in places — sharks in the Colosseum, a rhino, a man riding into battle on nothing but spite. Paul Mescal grinds his jaw admirably; Denzel Washington, clearly having the time of his life, steals the whole picture. Pure big-screen spectacle, not much more, not much less.

TMDb rating6.6

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Rome2005

HBO's original toga epic gives you the political rot Gladiator II only gestures at — senators plotting, generals scheming, an empire built on bribery and blood, with Ciarán Hinds and James Purefoy as magnetic as any emperor here.

But Cancelled after two seasons, so the ending arrives in a rush that never quite pays off everything it set up.

Rome poster

Ben-Hur1959

The granddaddy of the revenge-through-the-arena story — a wronged nobleman, a chariot race instead of a sword fight, and production scale nothing since has quite matched. Charlton Heston at his most stone-jawed.

But Three and a half hours long, and the religious subplot can feel like a different, slower film stitched on.

Ben-Hur poster

Spartacus2010

If it's the gore and the swagger you came for, this leans in harder — a slave-revolt gladiator saga that's gleefully, unapologetically trashy, with fight choreography that genuinely lands.

But The first season is slow to find its feet, and the stylised slow-motion blood-spray is very much a taste.

Spartacus poster

The wildcard

Something you would not have found on your own.

I, Claudius1976

Where Gladiator II shows twin emperors as spectacle, this shows the actual machinery of imperial madness — the whispers, the poison cups, a family devouring itself from the inside.

All the poisoning, incest and dynastic paranoia Gladiator II only hints at, played out in a wobbly BBC studio with performances so good they don't need sets. Derek Jacobi's stammering, scheming Claudius is one of television's great creations.

But Theatrical and stagebound by design — no battles, no CGI, just rooms full of people plotting murder. Some will find that airless.

I, Claudius poster
More like this (8)

The Last Duel2021

Ridley Scott's other recent historical epic, told three times from three perspectives — a colder, angrier film about honour and violence and who gets to narrate it.

But The Rashomon structure means rewatching some scenes twice, thrice — thrilling to some, repetitive to others.

The Last Duel poster

Troy2004

Another sandals-and-swords blockbuster built around big stars and bigger battles — Brad Pitt's Achilles has the same wounded-warrior pull Mescal's chasing here.

But It flattens Homer considerably and drops the gods entirely, which purists never quite forgave.

Troy poster

Braveheart1995

Swap the Colosseum for the Highlands and you get the same engine — a man radicalised by grief, fighting a rigged system from underneath — directed like Mel Gibson means every second of it.

But Historically shaky in ways that will needle anyone who's read a book about Scotland, and it's genuinely brutal.

Braveheart poster

Kingdom of Heaven2005

Ridley Scott's underrated Crusades epic shares the same question — what does a good man owe a broken empire — dressed in armour instead of a toga.

But The theatrical cut is a mess; you really need the much longer director's cut to get the good version.

Kingdom of Heaven poster

3002007

Turns the arena spectacle up to eleven and drains out the subtlety entirely — stylised, slow-motion, blood-soaked myth-making about men who'd rather die than kneel.

But It's basically a comic book brought to life, and about as deep — style over everything else.

300 poster

Exodus: Gods and Kings2014no page yet

Another huge, CGI-heavy ancient-world epic wrestling with tyranny and legacy, with Christian Bale glowering through plagues instead of duels.

But The weakest of Ridley Scott's ancient-world run, overlong and oddly joyless despite all the scale.

Warrior2011

Same structural engine as Gladiator II — a fighter using the arena to settle a family debt — just in gym shorts instead of a toga, and it hits just as hard.

Two estranged brothers claw their way toward a cage-fighting tournament to settle old family wounds and reclaim what a broken father took from them — every bit as emotionally rigged as Lucius entering the Colosseum.

But It's a modern MMA drama with none of the scale or spectacle — small, intense, and earned through performance rather than swordplay.

Warrior poster

Satyricon1969no page yet

Same crumbling Rome, opposite instinct — instead of restoring the empire's glory, Fellini shows you exactly why it deserved to rot.

Fellini's hallucinatory vision of ancient Rome ditches nobility entirely for something grotesque, erotic and dreamlike — a decadent empire seen as a fever, not a monument.

But There's barely a plot, it's deliberately disorienting, and it's about as far from a popcorn epic as cinema gets.

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