SpuffyWeb Sadly Over-hyped

PodBill Just what I expected

Console best movie i've ever seen.

Stoutor It's not great by any means, but it's a pretty good movie that didn't leave me filled with regret for investing time in it.

Rainey Dawn Julius Caesar handpicks an army of men, lead by Claudius Marcellus, to fight against the Druids. The Druids are harboring a secret weapon - the Catapult.Not as good as I was hoping it was going to be. I was hoping for at least a 4 or 5 star out of 10 film but 3/10 is as good as it get for me. It's not a horrible film but it is luster-lacking and a bit drab the way the story is told. With that being said, it is one of the better films from Mill Creek's Warriors 50-pack. It's not the best of the Mill Creek peplum batch but it's not the worst from the pack either. I'll admit I was hoping for a bit more out of this one. I actually preferred the way the story was told and the way Caesar the Conqueror (1962) was filmed. I was hoping this movie would be as good as "the Conqueror".3/10

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

Red-Barracuda Directed by Italian jack-of-all-genres Antonio Margheriti, this action-adventure flick is set in classical antiquity. Rome is threatened by a mysterious doomsday weapon devised by their enemies, the Druids. The Emperor Julius Caesar assembles an elite team and dispatches them to Gaul on a search and destroy mission.Unlike a lot of other peplum flicks, Giants of Rome does not have a mythological fantasy story. Instead it sets its action in the real Roman-Gaul wars. But like all in the sword and sandal genre its ram packed with the usual staples of the sub-genre, i.e. lots of fights, heroes being captured and heroes escaping again. Consequently, like other similar films, it does get a little repetitive after a while. But the biggest disappointment for me was when we discover the true nature of the terrible weapon. It's simply a big catapult and I'm pretty sure no one in the audience could have been too impressed with that big reveal! I thought the mysterious Druids would have come up with something a little more impressive than that.

bkoganbing 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.