The accompanying music video was directed by Young Black Youth and features Im's character growing up and training to become a powerful evil-fighting gladiator.

[5] The song impacted Australian radio stations on 31 July 2014 and was released both digitally[6] and physically[7] on 8 August 2014, as the second single from Im's third studio album Heart Beats.

However, this art work was not approved by Sony and instead, they label opted for a photo used in the same shoot from "Super Love", changing the colour from red to blue, much to the disappointment of Im and the creative team.

[6] It consists of "airy, tribal beats", which Andrew Le from Renowned for Sound noted resembles Katy Perry's single "Roar" (2013).

[14] Kevin of the website Direct Lyrics wrote that "Gladiator" sounds like a song "Ryan Tedder would do circa the Jordin Sparks 'Battlefield' days".

[17] The writer also noted that "Gladiator" sees Im's "soaring vocals take off and fly" and predicted that the track will "rise to the top of the charts".

[16] Nathan Pike of Project U noted that the track "showcases the vocal power" that made Im the winner of The X Factor Australia.

[20] Phillip Kuoch of the website Hellokpop described the song as "an infectious pop anthem" and praised "Im's big vocal range".

[21] Jordan Hirst of Q News wrote that "Gladiator" is "another slice of pure pop that features the incredible pipes Dami put to good use on previous singles 'Alive' and 'Super Love'".

[22] David Lim of So So Gay called it a "radio-ready" single that is "armed with a titan chorus you can't imagine lip-synching to without a wind machine present".

The video clip is very special because I got to work with stuntmen and I had my own stunt double, a double-Dami, who was a male dressed up as a female outfit doing Ninja fighting.

[12][16] In between these scenes, Im is shown singing the song's lyrics in a room filled with cherry blossoms, orchids and South Korean historic paintings.

[16][20] Spotlight Report called the video "beautiful",[30] while The Hot Hits described it as "spectacular" and noted that Im looks "stunning" as "she embraces her inner Avatar with scenes involving fire ninjas and water benders".

[20] Phillip Kuoch of Hellokpop noted that the clip "is themed around historical Korea" and felt that it reminded him "of Mulan and Avatar combined".