KnotMissPriceless Why so much hype?

Noutions Good movie, but best of all time? Hardly . . .

Cleveronix A different way of telling a story

SteinMo What a freaking movie. So many twists and turns. Absolutely intense from start to finish.

MartinHafer Hannibal was one of the most brilliant military commanders of all time, so it's such a shame that "Annibale" (also known as "Hannibal") is such a ponderous and awful film. Instead of concentrating on his life and conquests, it centers mostly on a fictional relationship he had with a Roman lady....and a dull one at that.The title character is played by Victor Mature. And, when I think of Victor Mature I do NOT think about a North African military commander! Giving Mature support is a cast of Italians who are dubbed into English. The story is slow and the ending is a mess....nuff said. For history lovers like me, the film is too much fiction to be of any interest and for everyone else it's a slow mess of a film.

JohnHowardReid Produced by Ottavio Poggi. Executive producer: Jack Dietz. A Liber Film, photographed in Technicolor and SuperCinemscope in Italy and Yugoslavia. Released through Warner Bros. Copyright 1959 by Warner Bros Pictures. New York opening at neighborhood theaters: 3 August 1960. U.S. release: June 1960. U.K. release: floating from September 1960. Australian release: 26 October 1961. 9,291 feet. 103 minutes. Italian title: ANNIBALE.SYNOPSIS: In 218 B.C., Hannibal, the Carthaginian general, is planning an invasion of Rome. After making his historic crossing of the Alps with elephants transporting his troops and supplies, he begins his march on Rome. En route he falls in love with the beautiful Sylvia, the niece of a Roman senator. After defeating the Romans at Trebbia, Hannibal and Sylvia continue to meet secretly though the girl's uncle warns her she is committing treason against Rome. Then Hannibal's wife, Danila, arrives unexpectedly from Carthage.COMMENT: Quickie, extra-low-budget auteur hero, Edgar G. Ulmer, is hardly the man I would have chosen to direct any sort of an epic, let alone one about Hannibal and "his mighty army of mastodons that clobbered half the world!" (to quote Warner's publicity). My educated guess is that Ulmer merely directed the English-language dubbing, and that the movie was actually directed by Carlo L. Bragaglia.Despite the spectacle, the scenery and the occasional spurt of action, "Hannibal" emerges as pretty dull, both as a fellow and a picture. Particularly as a fellow. Indeed, in the inept persona of Victor Mature he's something less than just plain boring. The other principals struggle valiantly to bring a mite of conviction to their roles, with Milly Vitale making a fair impression in a small, thankless part as our hero's wife. But what's really needed to bring the picture up to par are a good pair of scissors.OTHER VIEWS: Directed and staged in a most desultory fashion by auteur hero Edgar G. Ulmer, with remarkably inept integration of studio and location material. Even the battle sequences, though staged on an impressive size, are all but ruined by slipshod continuity. In fact, the whole film suffers from maladroit editing which is undoubtedly more the fault of director Ulmer than editor Cinquini. Only a couple of sequences (the aftermath of the battle) make any impression. Mature goes through his usual range of mugging and facial contortions as Hannibal and Rita Gam, looking thin and sharp-featured in an unbecoming up-swept hair style, gives plenty of evidence for her present-day lack of demand. The two "stars" use their own voices while the rest of the cast (with the possible exception of Milly Vitale — her role is too small to tell) are dubbed. The film's sole redeeming features are the attractive costumes and the bright (though occasionally inexplicably washed-out — most notably in the scenes in the Roman Senate) color photography. — JHR writing as George Addison.

esteban1747 This material is difficult to see, the photography and color are not the best, and from time to time you see cut scenes. Poor Annibale that Hollywood never wanted to make a film about a real revolutionary and hero. This Italian film tries to give an idea of what Annibale did, but it might have a lot of invention. For example, I am not sure about his love for a woman called Sylvia, who was the nephew of Fabius. Annibale (Victor Mature) was famous because of using elephants in his battles. The animals are seen at the beginning of the film when Annibale and the troops were coming to Italy through very snowy roads in France, but at the time of the battles the elephants were not seen anymore. The force of antique Rome is once again shown here, the Romans were defeated at the beginning by the Annibale's troops, but once they got united in the Senate and all power was given to Fabius, Annibale started to loose. This film is perhaps one of the first one of the then young Terence Hill. In addition, Victor Mature showed once again that he was probably the best actor in epic films. In my personal opinion, he was much better than Charlton Heston. The film can be seen, but one may need to read the history to know what was real or not.

Xlegion The print that I viewed was the one available from "Belle and Blade Video". The print quality is not great but watchable. This one really needs to be seen in the widescreen format as this Pan and Scan version has many scenes where actors are speaking and are not even in frame. I can only guess how this would effect some of the many battle scenes. The problem with this movie is not so much in the screenplay, with all the elements we have come to expect in the Italian Sword and Sandal movies. The obligatory "love story" and the not too historical depiction of Ancient Combat. Trying to tell the complete story of the Great Carthaginian leader who kept Rome in Terror for nearly a decade is not an easy one. The direction and editing is what I think is the real problem here. Some scenes are just too long while others cry out for more attention. There is a disturbing quality to some of the battle scenes, which switch from outdoor photography to sound stage. Since it is the only movie out there on Hannibal, it wins by default. I am amazed that this story has not been redone. Overall, if you are into Ancients and the Sword and Sandal Genre you probably will like this film. Oh, by the way the obligatory "Elephants" are there, and handled as well as one might expect from this type of film.