Millennial Movie Dad

In this episode, MMD kicks off a “movies that made dad cry” series with Ridley Scott’s Gladiator, using it as a lens for fatherhood, honor, revenge, and the value of a strong story. He also uses the movie to argue that modern filmmaking has lost some trust by leaning too hard on CGI, sequel bait, and villain rehab. We discuss why Gladiator still lands emotionally, why Russell Crowe and Joaquin Phoenix make the film work, and why the ending hits differently once you’re a parent.

Key topics

• Why Gladiator is the first entry in a series of films that make dad cry
• Why MMD sees Gladiator as a standalone story, and why a sequel like Gladiator 2 feels unnecessary to him
• Ridley Scott’s career, including Alien, Blade Runner, Black Hawk Down, and The Martian
• Why modern movies can overvalue visuals and CGI at the expense of story
• The erosion of trust in filmmakers, even directors MMD once would watch automatically, including Christopher Nolan and James Cameron
• Russell Crowe as Maximus—and why MMD calls it Crowe’s best role
• Joaquin Phoenix’s Commodus as one of the greatest villain performances in film history
• How the supporting cast—including Connie Nielsen, Oliver Reed, and Richard Harris—adds gravitas
• Maximus’s changing motivation: duty, survival, revenge, and avenging his family
• How becoming a father changes the way the film lands, especially its ending and Maximus’s desire to reunite with his family in Elysium
• Why villains should be allowed to remain villains instead of receiving sympathy-heavy origin stories
• The film’s “show, don’t tell” approach and its use of locations and practical scale

Timestamps

00:00 — Episode intro and the start of the “movies that made dad cry” series
01:52 — Why Gladiator is the first pick
03:22 — Ridley Scott’s peak-era filmmaking and why his catalogue matters
06:40 — Skepticism about Gladiator 2 and sequel fatigue
09:03 — The broader loss of trust in filmmakers
11:57 — Why story matters more than visuals alone
13:24 — Why Gladiator works as a sword-and-sandal epic
14:21 — Russell Crowe as Maximus and the strength of the lead performance
16:50 — Joaquin Phoenix as Commodus and one of cinema’s great villains
19:17 — Supporting cast that adds gravitas without stealing focus
21:16 — Plot walkthrough: Marcus Aurelius, Commodus, betrayal, and Maximus’s fall
24:26 — Why fatherhood changes the way the story hits
26:30 — Why a strong villain is essential to the movie’s structure
28:45 — Why MMD rejects villain rehab and origin-story sympathy arcs
30:57 — Great script, great cast, and why the film still has cultural pull
31:24 — Show, don’t tell, and why exposition-heavy movies fail
32:58 — Practical locations versus obvious green screen
34:04 — Why the ending still gets him every time
36:15 — The fatherhood takeaway: walking through hell for your family
37:10 — Parenting tip of the episode and closing thoughts

Indiana Jones is supposed to be timeless - but what happens when a beloved franchise leans on nostalgia, de-aging, and CGI until there’s almost nothing left to grab onto?

In this brutally honest debut, MMD breaks down why Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny landed on his worst-movies-ever list and why it left a bigger hole than Kingdom of the Crystal Skull ever did.

MMD grew up on Indiana Jones, Star Wars, and the kind of movies you can quote for life - so when Dial of Destiny finally got a shot, he gave it a real chance. Instead, he walked away thinking the film had some of the worst ideas ever put to a script, from its time-travel plot and awkward “remember berries” to its uncanny de-aged opening and prop design that looks surprisingly cheap for a Disney blockbuster.

You'll hear him unpack why Harrison Ford still shines in the right role, why Phoebe Waller-Bridge’s Helena Shaw feels more like a plot device than a co-lead, and why Mads Mikkelsen and Antonio Banderas are left stranded in a story that can’t justify its own stakes. He also gets into the franchise problem behind modern blockbusters - how studios keep squeezing familiar IP for juice while the magic, texture, and tension keep disappearing.

This episode is more than a takedown of one movie. It’s a sharp, funny, occasionally furious look at what makes a film worth your time, why practical storytelling still matters, and how a dad thinks about the movies he wants his daughter to grow up with.

If you care about films, franchises, nostalgia, or just want a no-BS take on a movie everybody seems to have an opinion about, this one is for you.Perfect for movie fans, parents, and anyone who has ever left a sequel wondering, “Why did they make this?”