Are you not entertained? After watching this YouTube video of Gladiator characters speaking in surfer-bro voices, indeed we are. The clip is exactly what it sounds like, with YouTuber Paul L Benton overdubbing an early scene between Maximus (Russell Crowe) and his mentor Marcus Aurelius (Richard Harris) with a SoCal surfer-bro inflection.
Most impressive of all is that Benton hardly had to change any of the lines for the bit to work. Aside from the occasional “like” and “bro,” the dialogue remains completely intact. Proving that context always trumps content, the scene now plays like two dudes waxing philosophical after surfing a gnarly barrel roll and ripping a fat-ass bong hit. Truly, a line like “The soil, Marcus, is black. Black like my wife’s hair” is just as likely to be heard around a bonfire on a beach.
Benton also finds a surprising amount of variety between the two characters. His Marcus has the deeper tone of a seasoned beach bum, while Maximus is younger, higher-pitched—more akin to a giddy valley girl, especially when he giggles at the profundity of his descriptions of home. It’s definitely the sweetest and most endearing film role you’ll see him in this year.
Finally, there’s a music cue that’s far too good to spoil here. Let’s just say it’s not Hans Zimmer and Lisa Gerrard’s score. Check the whole thing out below.
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