Gladiator - Recreation of the Battle of Zama

CASSIUS (announces) : 

On this day, we reach back to hallowed antiquity to bring you a recreation of a second fall of mighty Carthage. On the barren plain of Zama, there stood the invincible armies of the barbarian Hannibal. Ferocious mercenaries and warriors from all brute nations .. bent .. on merciless .. destruction.. conquest .. Your Emperor is pleased to give you THE BARBARIAN HORDE!!

(On the arena floor, Maximus talks to the Gladiators, instructing them)

MAXIMUS: Anyone here been in the army? 

Fellow - Fighter #1: Yes 

Fellow - Fighter #2: I served with you in Vindobona. 

MAXIMUS: You can help me. Whatever comes out of these gates, we have a better chance of survival if we work together. Do you understand? We stay together, we survive.

CASSIUS (introduces the opponent):  But on that illustrious day the Gods sent against them Rome's greatest warriors...!  The very life-image of nobility and glorious valor... who would on this day, and on these same arid Numidian deserts, decide the fate of the empire... Your Emperor is pleased to give you... THE LEGIONNAIRES OF SCIPIO AFRICANUS!!

As a chariot heads towards them, Maximus is heard calling out as they huddle together "Hold as one. Hold. Diamond, diamond." the Barbarians move towards the chariot as it approaches them, and with that manoeuver, the chariot is overturned and the Legionnaires are sent flying to their death. The crowd cheers uncontrollably. 

Hagen gets an arrow to the calf and unknowingly stands in the way of a charging chariot. Maximus calls out to him, then runs and knocks him out of the way, saving his life. Without hesitation, Maximus continues to call out orders, "This column to the chariot. This column stay with me." Maximus climbs upon one of the chariot horses that has been unharnessed and rides with the chariots, attacking the Legionnaires one by one until most have been disabled or killed. All the while, Commodus sits on his throne, clearly enjoying himself like a child. His mouth falls open and his tongue laps the air. He tosses his head side to side in glee. 

On the arena floor, Hagen is back in place, fighting the Legionnaires. As Maximus rides, Juba cries out "Maximus" as he tosses him one of the Legionnaires' sword. Catching the sword, Maximus continues to call orders to the Barbarians, "Single column, single column..."as they successfully attack and kill the remaining Legionnaires. Having won the battle, Maximus is seen magnificently atop the white horse, sword raised in triumph as the cheers from the "Barbarians" and crowd burst out uproariously.

(Following the battle, in Caesar's box..)

COMMODUS: My history's a little hazy Cassius, but shouldn't the Barbarians supposed to lose the battle of Carthage ?!

CASSIUS: Aww..Yes, Sire. Forgive me, Sire. 

The Glorious Finish

"One man's life touches so many other lives, when he is not around it leaves an awfully big hole."

- It's a Wonderful Life (1946)

Rank #1, American Film Institute's 100 Most Inspiring Movies ever made.

IMDB: 8.7

Director: Frank Capra

Plot:

# An angel (a old man named Clarence) helps a compassionate but despairingly frustrated businessman, George Bailey, by showing what life would have been like if he had never existed #

George Bailey (James Stewart) is the quintessential good-natured man whose sparkling sense of humour makes up for his being just a touch sheltered. The young man dreams of wiping the dust off his provincial upbringing by travelling the world and making the big time. His hometown of Bedford Falls, however, is reluctant to let him go: after being called upon to run his father's modest real estate company, and later getting reeled into financing his younger brother Harry's college education, George becomes an invaluable asset to the community of the small town of Bedford Falls, regardless of his own desires.

George aborts his plans to draft metropolitan skyscrapers and build low income housing instead, saving impoverished people of Bedford Falls from the clutches of the old greedy sinister, Mr.Potter (Lionel Barrymore), on numerous occasions. That is, until the day, his dear uncle makes a business error (he tragically misplaces $8000 in a shop) that drives George into the ground financially. Potter finds the misplaced money and hides it from Billy. When the bank examiner discovers the shortage later that night, George realizes that he will be held responsible and sent to jail and the company will collapse. Thinking of his wife, his young children, and others he loves will be better off with him dead, he contemplates suicide.

Enter the old Clarence, a guardian angel. Through his magic, Clarence shows George what life in Bedford Falls would be had he not been born. The Potter controlled town is an uprooted ruin: a haven for  the corrupt and the culprits. It is a place where a young Harry drowns in water and dies because George isn't there to rescue him, and where George's would-be wife Mary (Donna Reed), no longer the mother of his 3 children, as she lives her life as an old maid.

The nightmarish alternate reality brings George to his senses, an enlightening experience that helps him to dismiss the idea of suicide and he rushes back home to celebrate Christmas with his family, running and cheering all the way. The Bank examiners wait for his arrest for the $8000 deficit at his home, and before they could do so, the whole Bedford Falls community run helter-skelter, collect the deficit money, and save their honest and beloved George.

Widely regarded as a seminal work in both Frank Capra and James Stewart's career.