Ready to be entertained? Before you head out to see Ridley Scott’s epic return to ancient Rome, find out all you need to know about the film below.
What is the age rating for Gladiator II?
We rated Gladiator II 15 for strong bloody violence, injury detail. This means that no one under the age of 15 may see the film in the cinema. Find our content advice on the film and its themes below, or for a quick glance you can check out our handy visual guide to the age rating and the film’s content here.
violence
Fight scenes include use of bladed weapons and projectiles, resulting in bloody detail. People are gored by animals in arena battles.
threat and horror
There are scenes of rioting and tense build-ups to fight scenes. A man has a vision of the afterlife.
language
Language includes use of 'whore', 'bitch', 'tits' and 'damn'.
sex
Undetailed references are made to incest and sexual diseases, and there is infrequent innuendo.
drugs
People smoke opium for pain relief.
sexual violence and sexual threat
References are made to the historical marriage of a child to an adult within Roman society.
injury detail
Wounds are tended to, and there is occasional focus on severed limbs, blood and dead bodies.
nudity
There is brief breast nudity.
Gladiator II at a glance
Twenty-four years after the release of the Academy Award-winning Gladiator, Ridley Scott returns to the ancient arena with this action-packed sequel. When the Roman army conquers a North African city, a defeated and vengeful young warrior, Lucius (Paul Mescal), is taken captive and transported to Rome to entertain the twin emperors as a gladiator. As his owner, Macrinus (Denzel Washington), seeks to manipulate Lucius to his own ends, the warrior’s true ancestry is revealed, making him a potent weapon in the power struggles and corruption plaguing the empire.
What can I expect from Gladiator II?
(Please note: this section may contain spoilers!)
Gladiator II ups the ante on the first film’s ancient warfare and gladiatorial combat; from an opening attack on a city by sea, fights with apes and a rhino, to recreations of sea battles in a flooded Colosseum, Gladiator II delivers plenty of action spectacle. The level of blood and gore across these scenes is very similar to its predecessor, and fans of the first film are unlikely to be surprised by the violence.
However, other scenes do linger on bloody detail and the infliction of violence longer than in the first Gladiator from 2000. In one notable sequence, a man is decapitated in bloody fashion during a political assassination, with his severed head later paraded before a shocked crowd. While bloodier than Gladiator, Gladiator II does not transgress BBFC Classification Guidelines at 15 which state that ‘violence may be strong but there should not be sustained focus on the infliction of pain or victims’ suffering. The strongest gory images may occur if justified by context (for example, war, medical detail). Prolonged sadistic violence is unlikely to be acceptable.’
The violence in Gladiator II is rarely sadistic - beyond the inherent brutality of gladiatorial games - and is primarily presented as thrilling action and scenes of ancient warfare. The historical context also distances the bloodshed from real-world violence today, which our research with people across the UK has shown can reduce the overall impact of the violent scenes compared to similar material in contemporary contexts.
While Gladiator II does feature some gory moments, there is greater focus on injury detail, especially in the context of tending to injuries in the aftermath of violence. Lucius helps splint a man’s badly broken arm, and his own wounds are tended to by a doctor, Ravi (Alexander Karim). Gladiator II’s content advice therefore signals ‘injury detail’ as opposed to Gladiator’s ‘gore’, alongside ‘strong bloody violence’.
The film also contains a depiction of drug misuse, in which Ravi offers the injured fighters opium to help with pain relief. Lucius and Ravi both use the drug, but as it is presented primarily in a medical context and is not glamorised or detailed, it could be contained at 12.
You can read more about how we classify violence, drugs and more in our BBFC Guides.
