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The Gladiator (1986)

Dir: Abel Ferrara

A psycho (Jim Wilkey) in a black '69 Dodge Charger (in fact the cars used were the "Dukes of Hazard" Charger's that had been sold off) is trawling the highways running any motorists, he thinks are unsafe, off the road to their deaths.

One night the killer runs the car of mechanic Rick Benton (Ken Wahl) off the road and kills his younger Brother Jeff (Brian Robbins) who was learning to drive.
Frustrated at the lack of action by the Police Detective in charge (Robert Culp), Rick soups up his tow truck with a grappling hook and becomes 'The Gladiator', a vigilante who puts a stop to dangerous driving and who is forever on the look out for the mysterious black Dodge…..

 

Abel Ferrara's only stand -alone, feature length TV movie (as opposed to a TV pilot like "Crime Story") has at it's heart an idea (screenplay by William Bleich) that brings up many interesting ideas.
We have a villain being stalked by a vigilante who has all the moral reason he thinks he needs to do what he does to get justice for his dead Brother and to save other lives.
And yet this 'mission' of Rick's has started from the exact same point as the villain's (seeing as the guy in the Dodge only targets those he sees as driving dangerously, we have to assume he has a personal reason, or loss, to do so. Just like Rick in fact). And just like the 'villain', Rick himself could easily become that which he is hunting and could himself create another vigilante who sees 'The Gladiator' as the villain.
Given this, you can see why Ferrara would be drawn to the movie, as this ambiguous definition of 'hero' and 'villain', right and wrong and all the shades of moral and legal grey that permeate such a set-up, are something that have appeared in many Ferrara movies. For example "King of New York", "Bad Lt." And "Ms.45" which all have characters who think that what they are doing is right and 'good' and yet are seen as wrong doers by other characters in the film, as well as (often with an ebb and flow) by the audience.

Sadly though these aspects of the movie (as well as a nice scene where Rick sees he is actually creating dangerous drivers via those who want to emulate him) are purely background for the most part, and don't do anything to actually enhance the movie as a whole. They are simply interesting thoughts brought up in the screenplay that pay no further service to what we actually view.

The film, as all 'car' films, does tend to 'worship' the vehicles, their look, their noise, their speed. Just like 'gun' films with a message, 'car' films with a message have to tread a fine line. That we think the black Dodge is cool (especially as Rick's pick-up, even after being mad up, is not as cool) means we have a positive link to the killer that really we shouldn't have at all.

The movie itself is overlong and stuffed with filler, and in fact it's half over before Rick even has his custom 'pick-up' running and becomes 'The Gladiator'.
The constant repeating scenes and images are rampant in fact and the film could easily have been trimmed by a good 10 minutes.
And all the while we are being subjected to a truly awful soundtrack of rock-jazz fusion's and bad rock ballads, all of which date the movie in the worst possible way.

A sequence where Rick goes out driving, after he hears of some girls being killed by the black Dodge driver, is a classic example of TV movie padding that goes nowhere and does nothing except force yet another crap AOR ballad into our ears. Then, after a brief scene with a totally inconsequential talk show host character played by Nancy "RoboCop" Allen, he's back doing the exact same thing again. A simple, quick cut montage of him driving the streets would have been far more effective than these overly extended sequences.

Wahl (who was so good in Philip Kaufman's excellent "The Wanderers") does an okay job, but that's as far as it goes. There is little memorable here.
The likeable Robert Culp is pretty much wasted, as is Stan Shaw ("The Monster Squad") as Rick's Auto Parts selling best friend whom abruptly vanishes from the movie.
Allen is okay, but her character serves no purpose and it's obvious she is but a token female in an inflated role, something Ferrara does not normally bother with. Women in his films are either at the forefront ("Ms.45", "R'Xmas", "The Addiction") or only appear in any real detail if they bring something vital to the story ("Bad Lt.", "Cat Chaser", "King of New York", "Fear City"). Allen's character falls between these two stools, her character plays no part in progressing the story (the very opposite in fact) but is given too much screen-time. The kind of excess character that Ferrara has nothing to do with on his more personal projects.

The cinematography (not helped by the TV movie look it has to be said) is also a disappointment. The film looks lifeless and flat and seeing as Cinematographer James Lemmo worked on "Ms.45", "Fear City" and "Driller Killer" for Ferrara it's a real shame. Perhaps it's more to do with the medium than Lemmo, but whatever the reasons this has none of the essential, gritty 'street' atmosphere that is normally such a strength of Abel's movies.

There are some effective moments (like when a drunk driver is literally pulled through his garage door by 'The Gladiator's' grappling hook), parts of the final 'duel' are pretty good, and the idea that anyone, even with the best intentions, can become everything he hates and actually cause far more harm than good in the end is an interesting concept.
But despite this "The Gladiator" basically looks and plays like it is…a cheap, shoddily crafted, production line TV schedule filler that bares very little of it's unique Director's personality and is in fact Ferrara's weakest film.