The 'Noah' Trailer Is Classic Russell Crowe

Russell Crowe is at it again. The trailer for Darren Aronofsky's biblical adventure Noah has finally been released for your viewing pleasure and it's actually amazing. Not only do we get to see Russell Crowe doing what he does best (struggle to overcome seemingly impossible obstacles) but also a peek at the star-studded cast that includes Oscar-winners Anthony Hopkins and Jennifer Connelly and everyone's favorite actress, Emma Watson. The film, which will hit theaters on Mar. 28, 2014, is about—you guessed it—the story of Noah's arc and a large-budgeted storytelling it will be.

But is anyone else immediately reminded of Gladiator any time they look at Russell Crowe? And hear the immortal line:

My name is Maximus Decimus Meridius, commander of the Armies of the North, General of the Felix Legions and loyal servant to the TRUE emperor, Marcus Aurelius. Father to a murdered son, husband to a murdered wife. And I will have my vengeance, in this life or the next.

Because I do and I found myself immediately floating into a nostalgia cloud that dropped me off in front of the original trailer for the film that was released in 2000. The Noah trailer WILL make you nostalgic for Gladiator and here's why:

RUSSELL CROWE AGAINST THE WORLD

Russell Crowe's characters are always against the world. In Gladiator, Maximus lost his family and his high-ranking position in the army and became a slave and then a gladiator. He essentially fought for his cause (aka his life) pretty much alone for the entire duration of the movie until he finally beat crap out of the sniveling emperor. In Noah, Crowe is at it again as the film's namesake. The big man upstairs comes to Noah in a dream and let's him know that he's going to kill off humanity with a great flood but with the upside that life will begin again (yay!). Thankfully for Noah, he's got wise, old Anthony Hopkins to help him set his plan to build the arc.

THE MAN IN POWER IS A JERK

Joaquin Phoenix's Emperor Commodus was the biggest jerk to reside in the Roman Empire. Not even his own father, Marcus Aurelius, wanted him to be in charge, so if you needed further proof beyond the fact that he actually killed his father and then had Maximus' wife and son burned to death there it is. Noah's King is the leader of the men that God just wants to "annihilate" so we can assume he's a pretty shitty guy as well. In the trailer, he comes to Noah (who's busy at work building his arc to save the animals and humans) and accuses him of defiance. Sound familiar? That's because Maximus was "a gladiator who defied an emperor."

THE MUSIC

Remember those haunting, high-pitched voices that sang in an indecipherable ancient language over the dull rumbling of drums of war at the beginning of the Gladiator trailer? They're baaack, well, sort of. The opening of Aronofsky's first trailer for Noah features a similar sound (going full band-geek for a second and suggesting it's made by woodwind instruments) over the equally haunting sounds of whistling wind. When the trailer's action starts the amp up, so does the music until it reaches its epic crescendo at the end before it cuts out abruptly and then comes back softly and eerily again at the end.

THE FILM TITLE DEBUT

Gradually appearing out of the background, on cue with the soft, eerie music, the title of the film appears in all caps. Instead of appearing out of the smokey shadows like Gladiator, the shadows appear on the actual letters of Noah.

Last but not least,

RUSSELL'S FOREHEAD WRINKLE

In 2000...

In 2014...

Time and the weight of the world has chiseled the wrinkle to new depths, but nothing could ever make us more nostalgic than Russell Crowe making his signature, knitted-brow face with that epic forehead wrinkle.

Here's the full trailers for 2014's Noah and 2000's Gladiator to satisfy your Russell Crowe fix for the week: