The Last Gladiators
The Last Gladiators Image
Metascore
61 out of 100

Generally favorable reviews - based on 5 Critics What's this?

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  • Summary: Through interviews with hockey’s toughest players, director Alex Gibney explores the career of Chris "Knuckles" Nilan and what it means to be an enforcer in the National Hockey League.

Critic Reviews

Score distribution:
  1. Positive: 4 out of 5
  2. Mixed: 1 out of 5
  3. Negative: 0 out of 5
  1. Village Voice
    Reviewed by: Nick Schager
    Feb 6, 2013
    80
    Blending archival footage and new interviews with Nilan, his family, journalists, and fellow combatants, Gibney celebrates hockey's fisticuff traditions while also recognizing how such brutality ultimately takes its greatest toll on those who perpetrate it.
  2. The New York Times
    Reviewed by: Nicolas Rapold
    Jan 31, 2013
    70
    [Mr. Gibney] scales down his approach considerably here, generally for the better, rather than extrapolate a theory of violence and everything.
  3. New York Post
    Reviewed by: Farran Smith Nehme
    Jan 31, 2013
    63
    When The Last Gladiators treats brawls like greatest-hits clips for more than half the movie, then suggests fighting is behind Nilan's decline, it feels like trying to have it both ways.
  4. New York Daily News
    Reviewed by: Elizabeth Weitzman
    Jan 31, 2013
    40
    He tells his story honestly, but with no great sense of self-awareness or insight.

See all 5 Critic Reviews

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Score distribution:
  1. Positive: 1 out of 1
  2. Mixed: 0 out of 1
  3. Negative: 0 out of 1
  1. Mr_Muumi
    6
    This is an real-life hockey version of "The Wrestler". The movie is well-made and has a modern feeling to it. Nilan's personal story has various parallels with the autobiography by his friend (since deceased) NHL enforcer Bob Probert. The Last Gladiators raises questions on what types of persons are drawn to the role of enforcer and what is the price they have to pay.… Collapse

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