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Cuba Gooding Jr., James Marshall, Robert Loggia, Ossie Davis, Brian Dennehy ... see more see more... , John Heard , Cara Buono , Lance Slaughter , T.E. Russell , Francesca Roberts , Debra Sandlund , Derek Anunciation , Tab Baker , Johnny Bellino , Mike A. Burgos , Julian S. Campo , Kevin M. Casey , Kenneth Scott Coopwood , Blake Dollard , James "Ike" Eichling , Anthony Fitzpatrick , Mary Flynn , Tony Gios , Michael Glienna , Jean-Paul Griffin , Emily Marie Hooper , Franklin Dennis Jones , Jill Kiblinger , Harve Kolzow , Anthony "Primo" LaCassa , Richard Lexsee , Johnny Lira , Theorn "Touche" Lykes , Marctwaine Nettles-Bey , Mike Nussbaum , Brian O'Shea , Patrick Outlaw , Hector Pena , David Spence Perkins , Dwain A. Perry , Mark Phillip Raff , Antoine Roshell , Raul Salinas , Joan Schwenk , Mik Scriba , Jon Seda , Chilton Shellito , Thomas Charles Simmons , Desi Singh , Debra Stipe , Virgil Strauss , Vonte Sweet , Laura Whyte , John Louis Williams , John Wilson , Jena Wynn , Tak Fujimoto , Amanda Mackey-Johnson , David Burton , John M. Watson Sr.

Gladiator is the kind of boxing movie that goes that extra mile -- a self-loathing boxing saga that relishes in bare-knuckled sucker punches, illegal eye-rubs, and gentlemen boxers who obey the Marqui... read more read more...s of Queensbury rules by drop-kicking opponents when the are not only down but unconscious. James Marshall plays Tommy Riley, a Windy City high school student conned into participating in the illegal underground boxing arenas of the South Side of Chicago. In high school, Tommy was a prize boxer, and this skill comes in handy when his Father (John Heard) runs up a large gambling debt. When a sleazy boxing manager (Robert Loggia) spots Tommy defending himself during recess, he offers him quick money to box. Tommy, although he hates the sport, readily agrees, thinking his winnings will help his father pay off his debts. He quickly comes under the thumb of unscrupulous boxing promoter Horn (Brian Dennehy), who is involved in fight-fixing and dirty fighting. Manipulating the odds and exploiting his boxers make Horn rich and more venal. In the rancid environment, Tommy befriends another fighter, Lincoln (Cuba Gooding Jr.), a black fighter who sees fighting as his way out of poverty. Inevitably, Horn arranges for the two friends to duke it out in the ring together. ~ Paul Brenner, Rovi

Flixster Users

26% want to see it

9,301 ratings

Critics

25% liked it

12 critics

R, 1 hr. 42 min.

Directed by: Rowdy Herrington

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DVD Release Date: September 26, 2000

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Flixster Reviews (447)

  • itsjustme2004
    May 18, 2011
    itsjustme2004
    How did I miss this 1992 gem?! Very impressive performances from Cuba Gooding Jr, James Marshall, and Brian Dennehy. An underrated gem that explores the underground world of professional street boxing. It was well done, and I really enjoyed it! This movie may be among one of the ... read morehighest quality unknown films that I have come across...
  • stormyweather980
    September 8, 2009
    stormyweather980
    Tommy Riley (James Marshall) goes to a different school and is immediately bullied around and threatened by several of the school's students. After getting in a street fight, Pappy Jack (Robert Loggia) notices Tommy's strong and fierce punch and invites him to be a boxer. Tommy w... read moreas formerly a boxing champion before coming to this school and his record is undefeated. This town is full of gangs and violence, and one day Tommy helps a black boxer named Lincoln (Cuba Gooding, Jr.), and they then have a good friendship. Tommy is now making good money being a boxer and he has some friends, but something just doesn't seem right.
    "Gladiator" is an exciting boxing and drama movie. What makes it so great is not only the exciting fights, but the great acting by everybody in the movie, mainly James Marshall, Cuba Gooding, Jr., and Tommy's promoter, Jimmy Horn (Brian Dennehy). If you like exciting boxing movies that have a plot or just great movies in general, I recommend getting "Gladiator." NOTE: That was my Amazon review from the year 2000. The most underrated boxing film I know of, even though it's not THAT "Gladiator" film that everyone knows.
  • rezpatriot
    January 15, 2008
    rezpatriot
    I really liked this film, it was a good film that got better, and in the end failed to make me sad, good ending!
  • EightThirty
    August 28, 2007
    EightThirty
    Good film...Good Drama ^_^
  • deano
    November 20, 2006
    deano
    Great illegal boxing sequences.
  • leekyle1968
    April 6, 2009
    leekyle1968
    Great boxing flick that doesn't seem to make it on the tube that often. If you are a boxing fan then i suggest you have a look at this if you can. Good storyline about a underground boxing circuit and Brian Dennehy does an amazing job as the mean boxing promoter.
  • stormcrowdark
    January 13, 2007
    stormcrowdark
    The Roman Empire follows it American destiny and becomes a republic. Oh wait that didn't happen much like my enjoyment of this movie.
  • alissa914
    July 29, 2011
    alissa914
    Imagine the best parts of Rocky III and Rocky IV. Imagine that Ivan Drago was a white boy who lived in the US and had to fight to pay off his gambling debts. Now, imagine that his best friend, Apollo, couldn't fight and was almost killed in the ring.......

    OK, now, it comes of... read moref like an 80's flick even in the early 90's, but it's still an OK movie. With 20 minutes to go in the film, you wonder how they're going to end it, but somehow they do. Robert Loggia and Brian Dennehy are great and Cuba Gooding and James Marshall are also good. Liked Ossie Davis as the coach (very good).

    The part about this was that it just played off like the Rocky Movies and it seemed like a tribute to them rather than a new film. Kind of a been there, done that, although the performance from the veteran actors (and even Cuba & James) were still good..... I just thought that the way it ended was pretty good, although I won't be seeing it again any time soon.
  • BenRogers84
    July 18, 2011
    BenRogers84
    This is a very impressive boxing movie from the early 90s staring James Marshall and Cuba Gooding Jr. before he started doing disney movies. An amazing cast full of familiar character actors such as Ossie Davis,Brian Dennehy,Robert Loggia and John Heard round out this tough guy w... read moreith a heart of gold movie. James Marshall did a great job as the struggling kid from a broken home who discovers his calling in life as a boxer,too bad he didn't really take off as a big name actor. Cuba Gooding is his friend/side kick who ends up having to square off against him. The drama in this sometimes comes off alittle heavy handed but the boxing/fight scenes make up for that. Even Brian Dennehy throws down in this and shows you he can get physical and kick alittle ass now and then. Overall this is really amazingly solid early 90s boxing underdog story that will really surprise you when you take the time to give it a watch. I'm sure even some of the ladies who hate sports/fighting type movies will sit down with their guys to watch this. You can't beat a sports/boxing themed movie with a solid story.
  • djroxygen
    March 8, 2009
    djroxygen
    Well, this is just another boxing movie... It's not good, it's not bad, it's just average. Best thing about "The Gladiator"? The soundtrack!

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Critic Reviews

Janet Maslin
May 20, 2003
Janet Maslin, New York Times

The mixture may be slightly unexpected, but it still manages to be predictable all the way. Full Review

Roger Ebert
January 1, 2000
Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times

The idea of the Dennehy's illegal boxing arena is a storytelling masterstroke; it explains the small crowds at the same time it permits the boxers to fight dirty. Full Review

Desson Thomson
January 1, 2000
Desson Thomson, Washington Post

Let's make things perfectly clear. Gladiator is utter trash masquerading as an action picture with a message. Full Review

Rita Kempley
January 1, 2000
Rita Kempley, Washington Post

The screenplay, contrived to suit the genre, is likewise replete with stock characters. Full Review

September 2, 2008
TV Guide's Movie Guide

Gladiator is filmmaking by the numbers, if a particularly glossily executed package Full Review

June 24, 2006
Time Out

Marshall makes a promising feature debut; and Herrington, pushing beyond the expected triumph-of-the-underdog clichés, underpins the crowd-pleasing Rocky-style fight action with some unobtrusive socia... Full Review

Eric Lurio
December 21, 2004
Eric Lurio, Greenwich Village Gazette

I prefer the remake.

Scott Weinberg
July 25, 2002
Scott Weinberg, eFilmCritic.com

Standard "boxing will keep you off the mean streets where you'll be shot" story.

March 26, 2009
Variety

Click to read the article Full Review

January 1, 1800
Entertainment Weekly

Click to read the article Full Review

Critic ratings and reviews powered by RottenTomatoes.com

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Gladiator Trivia

  • Before Russell Crowe agreed to play Maximus in Gladiator, who did the film's creators originally approach?  Answer »
  • Johnny Cash chose Joaquin Phoenix to play him in the film "Walk the Line", based on Joaquin's performance in what film?  Answer »
  • In which order of positions did Russel Crowe proceed to in Gladiator?  Answer »
  • What movie is this line from- "How dare you show your back to me? Slave! I order you to turn around and tell me your name."  Answer »
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