Earlier this year, I watched Gladiator from Sir Ridley Scott for the very first time. I thought it would be a good idea to utilize the longest version available for that occasion. Now, to prepare for Gladiator II, I decided to re-watch the original movie and give the theatrical cut a shot.
As it turns out, that one works better for me. A tight cut with a fast pace, a steady flow and the ability to know when to use Commodus and when to stop digging into his character. Yes, Commodus is an interesting villain, that develops very fluidly in his behaviour throughout the movie. No, that does not mean I need additional footage of him to gain more, mostly not very notable, details about his descent into madness.
The theatrical cut does not forget that, while being a movie of epic and visually spectacular proportions, it's a revenge tale and at its core not much more. A tale busy with keeping the social aspect of Maximus' success very much alive, without kneeling into it so deep that the next scene has to dig it outta the void of needless dialogues.
With everything more concentrated, tight and back-to-back, I, surprisingly, found myself much more invested into the ending. I think it's because the theatrical cut is more about Maximus, the warrior and less about Maximus, the human.
At the end of the day, I guess both cuts of Gladiator have their right to exist. But for me, the theatrical one felt way better. 150 minutes just flew by.