Amazons of Rome (1961)

Who payed the critics

Excellent, Without a doubt!!

This movie feels like it was made purely to piss off people who want good shows

I enjoyed watching this film and would recommend other to give it a try , (as I am) but this movie, although enjoyable to watch due to the better than average acting fails to add anything new to its storyline that is all too familiar to these types of movies.

You know you might be in for a less than stellar time when a film has more than one screenwriter. There are exceptions, of course, but this one has at least four, and thus is no exception to the rule.My favorite part in this turkey is during the fight at the flimsy wooden bridge at the beginning of the film when one of the extras playing a barbarian puts his hands up to his face and you can clearly see a Band-Aid on his thumb. Once you see something like this, it's hard to take the rest of the film seriously.It's amazing when you think that Sylvia Syms played the female lead in the excellent Dirk Bogarde film, "Victim," in the same year she appeared in "Amazons of Rome."

The US title of this movie - "Amazons Of Rome" - is rather misleading: the Roman women do occasionally dress up as warriors and carry weapons, but they almost never fight. And since there are so many of them, the accuracy of the original title - "Virgins Of Rome" - cannot be guaranteed, either! Never mind, this film is an above-average sample of its genre, mostly thanks to its cast: instead of having a muscleman who can barely talk as the lead, it has the witty, distinguished Louis Jourdan, who plays a noble barbarian; a contradiction in terms, perhaps, but then again, Jourdan's character describes himself as a "strange bird". He is paired with the very appealing, courageous, smart Sylvia Syms, a great beauty who should be better known: together, they make the thinking man's sword-and-sandal couple. The rest of the cast is also good, and we even get to see Michel Piccoli with hair! The battle scenes are a bit clunky, but you have to admire the authenticity of the stunts - when the women cross a deep river on horseback, it's really them doing it. I watched the US version - the print was quite nice but according to IMDb the original version is 12 minutes longer, which may explain why the narrative feels a bit rushed at some points. **1/2 out of 4.

Good looking spectacle with a cast of tens. You can see that actors are playing both sides in what amounts to a Euro-western set in the ancient world. Its Etruscans vs Romans with the woman taken hostage after they dressed as Roman soldiers after their side lost. The dialog is stupid and the romances wobble any hope of a decent story. Its the kind of film that almost seems good but isn't so seems much worse as a result. I've seen it twice by accident and I hope never to see it again.

This is a well-made historical actioner with the most memorable performance being given by Ettore Manni, who is much more comfortable in this early Roman period than either of his costars Sims or Jourdan. Manni, as in so many of his other films, steals the whole show. In this case he's the heroic and ill-fated Horatio who dies defending the bridge.