As the Film Listology season of Special Topics continues, hosts Garret Castleberry and Scott McMurry evaluate their first entry from the twenty-first century, Ridley Scott's sword-and-sandal tentpole epic, Gladiator. Ranking #105 on the McMurry Super Index (MSI), Gladiator signposts Hollywood's affection for nostalgia as a cyclical storytelling engine. The dialogic duo unpack key elements of Scott's peak commercial film, while noting its representation as apologia for the previously unrewarded works of Scott and his leading actor Russell Crowe. Debating how the film may or may not retain initial values assigned at its time of release, Garret assigns a Cultural Significance Factor (CSF) over two decades past IGladiator's Best Picture win. Does Scott's period blockbuster earn high marks for continued excellence, or has this once vaulted treatise on Imperial Twilight signpost artistic decline?

Hosts: Garret Castleberry, Scott McMurry

Producers: Garret Castleberry, Will McMurry (Audio Engineer), Alli Garner (Cover Art), Austin Foster (Music)

Recommended readings paired with our Film Listology season:
Adam Barkman, Ashley Barkman, & Nancy Kang (Eds.). The Culture and Philosophy of Ridley Scott. New York: Lexington Books, 2013.

Richard A. Schwartz. The Films of Ridley Scott. Goletta, CA: ABC-CLIO, 2001.

Vincent LoBrutto. Ridley Scott: A biography. Lexington, KY: University of Kentucky Press, 2019.

Rick Altman. Film/Genre. British Film Institute, 1999.

Jim Collins, Ada Preacher Collins, Hilary Radner (Eds.). Film Theory Goes to the Movies, 1st Edition. New York: Routledge, 1992.

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Garret's academic website is available at https://garretcastleberry.academia.edu/.