Giants of Rome (1964)

The Age of Commercialism

Excellent film with a gripping story!

A very feeble attempt at affirmatie action

The movie runs out of plot and jokes well before the end of a two-hour running time, long for a light comedy.

Despite being one of the late entries in the peplum genre, GIANTS OF ROME is one of the better historical adventures from the period – and that's mainly down to the plot. Instead of utilising the tired, unoriginal uprising/court intrigue-style plot, top Italian scriptwriter Ernesto Gastaldi opts for a storyline that's more akin to a WWII spy thriller than a standard historical adventure. This makes for a fresh-feeling adventure yarn full of intrigue and a surprisingly high body count. I've always enjoyed films where a select band of characters are whittled down one by one, whether it be a swords-and-sandal adventure flick or a backwoods slasher.Here, the characters are varied enough to remain different and interesting. Harrison, one of my favourite actors, is the clear-cut hero Claudius; instead of being a warm good guy, Harrison is a ruthless leader, in one scene allowing a boy to be tortured to death – all for the sake of the mission! Harrison's coldness makes him an atypical protagonist and the film's all the better for focusing on his ruthless characteristics. A varied bunch of actors support him, including Ettore Manni (almost unrecognisable without the beard), sexy love interest Wandisa Guida (great in GOLIATH AND THE DRAGON and just as good here), a teenage boy, a strongman barbarian-type (played by Rulph Hudson, unfortunately his only role) and a cool bald knife-throwing guy. Facing them is a bunch of druids (!) led by a guy who looks like that chap out of KNIGHTMARE.Although the dubbed dialogue is about average for this genre, what I enjoyed were a bunch of well-directed action scenes that never disappoint. There are some fine battles on horseback, and a great, claustrophobic climax in a cave where our surviving heroes are picked off one by one. An underwater attack on a couple of rafts is very well shot, as is the bit where the strongman meets his fate as he faces down a horde of attacking cavalry, using his axe to cut the horses' legs out from under them! As well as this, there's a crucifixion, a bit of self-imposed torture from Harrison, and even a traitor in the group to keep things moving nicely along. Antonio Margheriti is one of my favourite Italian directors and he does himself proud once again with this adventure flick. Fans of historical films will have a ball

In Giants Of Rome Richard Harrison leads a handpicked crew to seek and destroy a legendary secret weapon that the Druids have constructed blocking a pass. Given that this is an ancient world epic, how advanced technologically could the weapon be? The plot is a homage to The Guns Of Navarone and while it isn't anywhere up to the standard of that film, it's a bit better than some of the peplum films I've been viewing lately. The dialog is a bit much however. When the band of warriors have to kill some Gauls and take a couple of prisoners, one of them is a woman. To which Harrison asks her why she hates the Romans so much. I mean really.None other than Julius Caesar himself gives Harrison and his band their mission orders. Just what is this terrible secret weapon? All I can say is it's nothing the Roman legions hadn't faced before, just bigger.

Playing almost like a Roman-era version of THE GUNS OF NAVARONE (1961) – with an elite group of specially-skilled soldiers handpicked by Julius Caesar to go on a suicide mission and destroy the Druids' secret weapon – this is an agreeable time waster which is moved along at a brisk and efficient pace by prolific director Margheriti. He was perhaps the most erratic of the three Italian genre specialists (the others being, obviously, Riccardo Freda and Mario Bava) who basically set the foundation of what today is referred to as "Euro-Cult"; I've now watched some 9 of his films and the most satisfying have been his 2 horror outings starring Barbara Steele – THE LONG HAIR OF DEATH (1964) and CASTLE OF BLOOD (1964).Sensibly, THE GIANTS OF ROME does not opt to make its heroes invincible (as was usually the case in films of this type) and despite a happy ending, all but one member of the group lose their life in accomplishing the all-important mission. The "secret weapon", however, turns out to be a major let-down: though one of the Romans expresses great surprise at never having seen anything like it, a little while later the leader of the group refers to it by name as if he had been around such devices all his life! Still, the most hilarious moment of the film came when the leading lady solemnly tells our hero her life-story which includes the fate of her father, one Fulvius Lucisanus (Fulvio Lucisano being a leading Italian producer of the time, though he doesn't seem to have had anything to do with this particular title!!)

Julius Caesar (Alessandro Sperli)is poised to attack the evil Druids in this above-average 1964 Italian-produced and dubbed military adventure set in Roman days, but he has learned that his opponents have a doomsday weapon that may thwart his efforts. Claudius Marcellus (Richard Harrison) takes a team of experts (one throws a knives, the other uses muscular strength)and promises Caesar that they will destroy the weapon before Caesar launches his attack about three days later. Like all good behind-the-enemy-lines epics, the heroic bunch in "Giants of Rome" don't have an easy time getting the job done. At times, Anthony M. Dawson lets the pace sag, but he keeps the objective in mind. Our heroes get caught and captured repeatedly but manage to escape. Along the way, they escape from a Druid prison and pick up a tortured Roman soldier and a babe Livilla (Wandisa Guida)when they aren't battling the Druids. Indeed, there is no shortage of Druids here and they keep whittling away at our heroes. The scene in the prison is reminiscent of a World War II movie, because the suspicious Livilla doesn't believe that Claudius and his band of brigands are Romans, so she asks them a series of questions only a Roman could correctly answer. Later, Claudius reminds his men that they have orders to carry, like in a World War II adventure. Near the end of the movie after several guys in the gang have bitten the dust, Claudius and one remaining soldier discover the whereabouts of the doomsday machine, a gigantic catapult concealed in a cave with an elaborate mechanism consisting of ropes and chains. Think "The Guns of Navarone" Sword and Sandal Style. Although this isn't the best Roman soldier movie ever made, it is far, far from being the worst. The scene when our heroes attack a couple of rafts by swimming underwater is pretty cool. Diamond Video has released this brawny actioneer in a full-screen version in their 4-movie Gladiator Collectors Box Set that includes two other Richard Harrrison movies: "Invincible Gladiator" and "Gladiator 7." Again, this movie reminded me of those secret mission, World War II movies.