Gladiator II 4K Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		3.5
Video		5.0
Audio		5.0
Extras		3.0
Overall		4.5

Gladiator II 4K Blu-ray Movie Review

"Strength and honor..."

Reviewed by Kenneth Brown March 4, 2025

Legendary filmmaker Ridley Scott's Gladiator II has finally emerged from the long road of development hell into the light. Quite literally, actually, considering the long-gestating drafts for the Gladiator sequel followed series hero Maximus into the afterlife and beyond. Alas, Hollywood isn't that bold or creative, leaving us with a Part II that retreads much of the original, this time with Maximus's son and a new antagonal duo of emperors hellbent on Rome's deification of their persons and positions. Our new everyman turned pit fighter, Hanno, is played with fiery stoicism by Paul Mescal, who rages against the Roman machine with the secret that he's the long-lost heir to the throne, a dangerous role to live outside of the Colosseum, much less within its deadly depths. But the real show is the battles; bigger, badder, leaner and meaner than ever before, swapping tigers for rhinos (oh my) and chariots for warships on a mock raging sea, all to the tune of a $310 million budget that waves every dollar in its audience's face. Does it live up to the original Gladiator? Not quite. But it has one helluva good time coming in second.

Gladiator II tells three overlapping stories. First of Geta (Joseph Quinn) and Caracalla (Fred Hechinger), twin emperors seeking glory and immortality by way of worldwide conquest and military acclaim, and their growing reliance on Macrinus (Denzel Washington), a clever slaver eager to manipulate his way closer to the throne on the good graces of the dual Caesars. Second of reluctant General Acacius (Pedro Pascal), a war hero and master strategist who plots a coup with his wife Lucilla (Connie Nielsen, one of only a few returning actors from the original film), the daughter of the former emperor and mother to Lucius Verus Aurelius, whom she sent into hiding as a boy to protect his life from those who would lay claim to the throne by any means necessary. Third, and initially the least important of the three, is the story of Hanno (Paul Mescal), a warrior whose wife (Yuval Gonen) is killed in Northern Africa amid a brutal clash with the Romans, leaving him to live out his grief as a prisoner. Hanno is soon sold as a gladiator to Macrinus, who has a keen eye for skilled fighters. Macrinus promises Hanno a shot at Acacius if he wins enough gladiatorial battles, and Hanno, desperate for revenge, complies.

These three stories come crashing together as Lucilla discovers Hanno is actually Lucius, her long-lost son. Lucius, though, has little desire to reconnect with his mother, bitter that she sent him away at a young age and confused as to why she never had him brought back to Rome. Rejecting Lucilla and committing himself to the service of Macrinus's trainer Viggo (Lior Raz) and the kill-or-be-killed rules of the Colosseum, Lucius begins to spill blood in his quest to fight Acacius. All the while, Macrinus schemes and cleaves his way closer and closer to the emperors' sides -- manipulating numerous senators along the way, including the corrupt Thraex (Tim McInnerny) -- offering the Caesars his loyalty, counsel and expertise in exchange for power. Directed by Ridley Scott from a screenplay by David Scarpa, Gladiator II also stars Derek Jacobi (returning from the first film), Peter Mensah, Matt Lucas, Alexander Karim, Richard McCabe, Rory McCann and Alec Utgoff.

Let's cut to the chase. Gladiator II belongs to three actors: Washington, Quinn and Hechinger, who maul every scene and take giant bites out of every bit of screentime they earn. (Scratch that. It's actually four actors, if we count Dondus, gods love 'im.) Washington is clearly having a blast, barely pretending to be a character steeped in history, instead settling somewhere nearer to Detective Alonzo from Training Day. He laughs, claps, sneers and leers his way to the top, and turns out to be as dastardly and bloodthirsty as any mustache-twirling screen villain of old. Quinn and Hechinger overact and overreach with the best of them, and if you warm to their portrayals, you'll have a grand ol' time with Gladiator II. Twisted, sickly and mentally ill, the twin emperors all but beg for a spin-off road trip movie, peering at each other with suspicion at the slightest hint of treachery. When the film cuts to Macrinus and the Caesars, it's all sorts of fun. When it dips into the catacombs below the Colosseum, wanders toward the gardens of Lucilla or meanders about the Senate, though, all the air squeals out of the balloon.

As a slice of historical fiction, Gladiator II struggles to convey the innate complexity and capture the disarming believability of Scott's original Gladiator. Everything is grander and gaudier. But gone is the grime, the mud, the blood, the intensity of spirit and the searing rage of Russell Crowe's Maximus. Mescal does a fine job with what he's given but really is left with little to do other than run through the motions of his character's father, which leaves too much dramatic weight hanging on the battles themselves. Don't get me wrong, sequences like the mid-arena sea battle are electrifying. But sharks? Did we need to add sharks (moving at speeds that suggest they've been outfitted with rocket packs)? All I could do was sit there and try not to be distracted with thoughts of how early Romans managed to get sharks from the sea to the Colosseum, which all feels like a step too far. Nielsen is also a weak link, languishing in melodrama that... suddenly turns around when the film needs to move in another direction? Did I miss a scene? Editing shortcuts abound, no doubt the result of Scott whittling a three-plus-hour cut down to a more manageable theatrical version. Gone is the woman who wielded such nuance and incestuous control over Joaquin Phoenix, replaced by a dutiful wife who continually weeps over a son who wants nothing to do with her.

Still, there's a magnetism to Ridley Scott's ambition. Like Napolean, Gladiator II is at its best when you sit back, switch off your critical core, and enjoy the visuals, the grasps at greatness, the immaculate production design and costuming, the swordfights, and the battles. Oh gods, the battles. Larger pursuits are secondary, and Scott seems to make few concessions that suggest otherwise. Will we live to see a Gladiator III? Most likely not, unless another evil emperor crosses the spawn of Maximus or Lucius, or Hollywood finally gives Scott the go-ahead for a trip through hell with the Meridius boys. Until then, take Gladiator II as the popcorn sequel no one asked for, the Fast and Furiousification no one needed, but the overambitious follow-up plenty of folks will have a good time watching.

Gladiator II 4K Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Gladiator II boasts a phenomenal 2160p 4K video presentation that, quite simply, could not look any better than it does here. Colors are rich and sumptuous one minute, dusty and grimy the next, but always in keeping with cinematographer John Mathieson's intentions. Golds shimmer, reds bloom and splash in the dirt, purples and greens pierce through the mud and blood, and black levels remain deep, inky and oh so satisfying. Dolby Vision enhancements are especially noticeable; perhaps more so than in any other release I've reviewed. Skintones are utterly lifelike and perfectly saturated, primaries have real power, and the entire production looks reach-out-and-touch-it gorgeous. Detail is exceptionally well resolved too. Edges are deadly sharp, fine textures are crisp and beautifully refined, and delineation is terrific, without anything in the way of crush or other unsightly business. Moreover, blocking and banding are nowhere to be found, and the encode is as proficient as it is precise. Standout scenes? Goodness, what sequence isn't a standout here? The mid-Colosseum naval battle is littered with arrows, flame and waves of water crashing all around. The rhino fight, with its gritty, gristly, bone-splintering delights. The palace face-offs, the late night rendezvous, the final battle spilling out into the outskirts of the city. It's early in 2025 to declare a standout 4K release but if I had to do it today, it would be Gladiator II. Stunning.

Gladiator II 4K Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

As if that weren't enough, along comes Paramount's Dolby Atmos experience, which accomplishes sonically exactly what the video encode accomplishes visually. Dialogue is intelligible and perfectly prioritized, even amidst the most chaotic battles. Voices are realistically grounded within the roar of war yet remain clear and viable no matter what erupts, explodes or crashes into view. The soundscape is awash with activity; crunching bone, metal clashing against metal, skin tearing, dirt kicking up, water splashing in every direction, ships smashing into one another, and beasts of battle crying out in pain. It's all at once overwhelming and an absolute feast for the senses. LFE output is aggressive and chest-thumpingly powerful, adding weight and heft to every low-end element. The surround channels, meanwhile, create a magnificent, wholly immersive soundfield that drags the listener into the center of the fight and refuses to relent. Directional effects are startlingly precise, pans are smooth and surprising, and spatial dimensionality is convincing, especially when the noise dies down and tension creeps into the quietest scenes. Ambient effects keep every environment sounding as believable as possible, and the thunderous arrival and clash of armies only serves to heighten the drama. I could not be more pleased.

Gladiator II 4K Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• A Dream That was Rome (HD, 11 minutes) - First up is an "origins" feature, touching on the genesis of the sequel, its many iterations, and the means that finally brought it to life.

• What We Do In Life, Echoes In Eternity (HD, 15 minutes) - A featurette focused on the film's cast.

• In the Arena (HD, 13 minutes) - The filmmakers and their vision.

• To Those About to Die, We Salute You (HD, 14 minutes) - Combat and the film's battle choreography.

• Building an Empire (HD, 21 minutes) - Post-production and visual FX.

• The Making of Gladiator II (HD, 20 minutes) - A more comprehensive look at the production.

• Deleted Scenes (HD, 10 minutes) - Ten deleted scenes are included: "Cento Bears Mark of Fugitive," "Lucilla and the Emperors," "Fortuna and Lucius at the Party," "Lucilla Looks Out of the Window," "Macrinus Sees Acacius Statue," "Lucilla in the Crypt," "Fortuna Visits Lucius in His Cell," "Lucilla Mourns," "Ravi Hands Out the Keys" and "Macrinus Greets Caracalla."

Gladiator II 4K Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Gladiator II never reaches the heights of the original film, but it tries. Oh, how magnificently it tries. You can almost hear Ridley Scott screaming, "are you not entertained? ARE YOU NOT ENTERTAINED?" Paramount's 4K UltraHD Blu-ray release, though, is everything you could hope for thanks to a stunning video presentation, killer Dolby Atmos experience, and more than an hour of special features. Your mileage on the actual movie may vary, but you can't go wrong with this 4K release.