Gladiator
director Ridley Scott shares Russell Crowe’s reaction to the tiger attack scene and points out a hidden detail involving the animal’s trainer. Released in 2000, the sword-and-sandal epic remains one of Scott’s most beloved movies. Gladiator features Crowe starring as Maximus, a Roman general who is betrayed and forced into slavery, eventually becoming a hero of the Colosseum. The film features a handful of intense fight scenes in the iconic Roman arena, including one in which Maximus does battle against Bengal tigers.

During a recent interview with GQ in which he breaks down various films from his career, Scott shares behind-the-scenes information regarding how Gladiator‘s tiger scene was brought to life. According to the director, Crowe was a little apprehensive during the filming of the scene, expressing concern about how close the tiger got to him. It was the trainer, however, who the tiger tackled to the ground, and Scott points out a subtle detail in the scene that gives away how he controlled the animal. Check out Scott’s comment below:

You know, Russell said, “the tiger was this close.” I said, “I was standing there as well, dude. He’s on a chain.” He said, “it just missed me.” But that was a real tiger, 11-foot Bengal. But the guy, the trainer, if you watch closely, as he hits the ground, the tiger is on him, he’s putting something in his mouth, he’s feeding him. He’s saying, “Thank you.” That means, “Get off me.” Because if he hits the red zone he’s going to eat you. He hits it and he does that [mimes feeding the tiger] and it’s new cut.

What The Tiger Scene Meant For The Gladiator Franchise

How Ridley Scott Took The Idea To The Next Level For Gladiator 2

Throughout most of Gladiator, Maximus is fighting other slaves or soldiers. The fights in the Colosseum ramp up over the course of the movie, and the tiger fight is a major change from what Crowe’s character has experienced thus far. Visually, the sequence, which comes not long before the climactic Gladiator ending battle with Commodus (Joaquin Phoenix), still holds up remarkably well, but the director did double down on the inclusion of animals in the sequel.

Gladiator 2 reviews have not been as positive as those for the original, and the writing has a lot to do with this. There have been complaints, however, that the sequel also includes too many animal fight sequences. In the movie, Paul Mescal’s Lucius fights baboons and a rhino, and that’s in addition to the sharks that swim about the Colosseum when it’s filled with water. Unlike in the first Gladiator, though, all of these animals are brought to life using CGI, and it ultimately made some fight scenes a little less powerful.

Our Take On Gladiator’s Tiger Fight Scene

The Fight Is Still An Original Movie Highlight

When it comes to the fight scenes in Gladiator, it’s hard to pick a favorite. The opening battle features a mᴀssive scale that Scott is so good at bringing to life, while some of the later fights are especially intense because of how contained and intimate they are. The tiger fight scene is very inventive and surprising, and the use of a real tiger means it still looks great even 25 years later.

Even though Scott may have gone overboard with the CGI animals in Gladiator 2, the tiger scene in the original is proof that these scenes can work when utilized sparingly. This Gladiator fight scene feels real, and Scott’s latest comments affirm that it felt a little too real for Crowe while they were filming it.

Source: GQ