Leofwine_draca 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

Chase_Witherspoon Better than average sword and sandal time-filler with the underrated Richard Harrison starring as Claudius, solider of fortune selected with three others by Caesar to undertake a deadly mission to destroy a secret weapon that the Druids are using to repel Casear's forces. Along the way, the quartet become a quintet with the addition of the young and impressionable 'boy who wants to be a warrior' type (Guida), and then a "magnificent seven" when they encounter captured Romans Edua (Tessier) and her cowardly guard Drussus (Hersent), being tortured by the Druids.Unencumbered by the usual overdeveloped musculature, an athletic Harrison employs his trained acting to good effect as the aggressively loyal Roman solider who'll give to the last drop to secure Caesar the platform he needs to succeed. Ably supported by Italian leading man Ettore Manni and with good performances by the supporting cast, Anthony Dawson (aka Antonio Margheriti) delivers a consistently watchable, gritty and engaging picture, far more worthy than the paltry four stars it currently attracts.Some superb battle scenes, suspense, occasional light humour, romance and tragedy are complemented by colourful characters, given extra definition through Harrison and Manni's balanced performances. It's not "The Fall of the Roman Empire" by any stretch, but as a "Guns of Navarone" of Ancient Rome (you'll see the similarities with Stanley Baker and Gia Scala's characters in particular), it does okay and should entertain.

ma-cortes "Giants of Rome" is an average storytelling about Caesar and Vercingetorix , dealing with adventures of a brave group behind the enemy lines . This is a fairly Sword and Sandals standard from the 60s starred by the American hunk Richard Harrison who acted in several Spaghetti and Musclemen epics . It's made middling scale with some spectacular scenes and Peplum style. It concerns about Julius Caesar and his famous existence on Gaul, including feats, fights, political events , betrayal, wars and the known battle of Alesia . Vercingetorix provokes a general rebellion against Roman domination, he rallies his people and tribes when they are threatened by army commanded by Julius Caesar (Alexandro Sperli). Caesar asks troops to senate ruled by senator Pompeius( Piero Lulli) for fighting against the Barbarians . Caesar assigns a risked mission to Claudius Marcellus (Richard Harrison) who enlists a squad of specialists (Ettore Manni ,Alberto Dell'Acqua )and swears Caesar that they will encounter the giant arms before Caesar carries out his attack some days later. Our heroes get trapped and tortured repeatedly but arrange to getaway . Along the way, they flee from a Druid jail and take a prisoned Roman soldier and the gorgeous Livilla (Wandisa Guida) who falls in love with Marcellus . Although the deeds described are historical inaccurate, some events are vivid and authentic.The action is regularly done and the story drags occasionally, however to be liked for hardcore Peplum lovers. This Sword and Sandals movie is a crossover in Peplum ink of ¨Guns of Navarone¨ with a powerful weapon that threatens the army , including a traitor and ¨Dirty dozen¨ also with a team of experts on diverse skills . The picture is partially based on historical events when happened Roman-Gaul wars. These are the following : Gallic chieftain Vercingetorix (dead 46 a.c) was an insightful and valiant warrior, whose father was captured and executed by Romans, he was leader a rebellion against Roman domination. He seeks justice by winning freedom for Gaul from the Romans, and soon he raises an army of his own to defeat Caesar . Vercingetorix was definitely defeated in Alesia, where took place a long siege. Other adaptations about Caesar and Vercingetorix are the following : ¨Julius Caesar the conqueror¨(1962) with Rik Battaglia as Vercingentorix and Cameron Mitchell as Caesar ; 'Vercingetorix(2001)' by Jacques Dorffman with Chistopher Lambert and Klaus Mara Brandauer ; 'Julius Caesar(2004 TV)' by Uli Edel with Jeremy Sisto as Caesar and Heino Ferch as Vercingetorix.The motion picture is professionally directed by Anthony M. Dawson or Antonio Margheriti , an Italian craftsman expert on adventure and Peplum as he proved in 1964 Ursus, Il Terrore Dei Kirghisi , 1964 Soraya, Queen of desert , 1963 El Justiciero Rojo , 1963 Il Crollo di Roma , 1962 La Freccia d'Oro , among others . Rating : 5,5 ; passable and acceptable.

MARIO GAUCI 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!!)