Artivels Undescribable Perfection

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UnowPriceless hyped garbage

CommentsXp Best movie ever!

Tweekums This four part series tells to story of the siege of Masada; a seemingly impregnable mountaintop fortress were a small band of Jewish fighters attempted to hold off the might of the Roman Tenth Legion. The Zealots, under the leadership of Eleazar Ben Yair retreated to Masada after an uprising has been put down by the Romans; from here they strike out on a number of raids. Eventually Eleazar tries to negotiate a peace with Roman leader Lucius Flavius Silva. Silva thinks his terms are reasonable and takes them back to Rome; unfortunately politics gets in the way and he is ordered back to Judea. Here he lays siege to Masada and with the guidance of Rubrius Gallus, an expert in siege warfare, orders the building of a massive ramp and a siege engine topped by a giant battering ram. This will be a mammoth undertaking and while his men swelter in the heat the Zealots taunt them; the Romans are on minimal water rations and the Zealots and their families have so much water they can swim in it. This leads to rising tensions in the Roman ranks, not helped by the fact that Silva has taken a Jewish lover and is constantly drinking. Inevitably though the ramp is completed and the people of Masada must make a decision about what to do next; they know they can't defeat the Romans at this point.I really enjoyed this series; the story is told at a moderate pace, it isn't rushed but nor does it feel boring. We are introduced to the key characters early on and it is inevitable that one will grow to care about what happens to them as the story unfolds. Peter O'Toole dominates proceedings as Silva; a general who respects his enemy while also being frustrated by him. The rest of the cast, which includes Peter Strauss as Eleazar, Barbara Carrera as Silva's lover Sheva and Anthony Quayle as Gallus does a solid job. Since it was made for television in 1981 it isn't surprising that the violence is less gory than one might expect of a more modern production; this isn't a problem though; in fact it means it can be watched by those who don't like gory scenes. While the series was impressive I think it could have done without the prologue and epilogue where we see modern Israeli soldiers taking part in a ceremony at Masada while a less than subtle narration makes it clear that we are meant to be sympathising with the doomed Zealots in the fort not the besieging Romans… perhaps because we spent more time with the Romans I found them to be more sympathetic, especially Silva and Gallus. That said these scenes didn't spoil the series; they were only a few minutes out of six hours.

CinefanR Brilliant historical epic, and one of the finest productions I've had the pleasure to watch. Dealing from multiple points of view with perplexing issues such as honor, courage and patriotism, the series gets into the intricacies of military strategy and politics. 'Masada' is a fascinating character study, a most compelling commentary on the futility of war and a love story all together. Outstanding performance given by Peter O'Toole and excellent acting from David Warner, Barbara Carrera and Anthony Quayle. O'Toole is the main star in any setting; he steals the show and his presence is overwhelming. O'Toole's Silva is so complex and believable, it's impossible to match. Outstanding music score.Excellent script, with strong character development and psychology, historical detail, complexity of themes and good dialogues. I was also impressed with the tact and sensitivity displayed given the subject matter, an intelligent approach that didn't diminish the emotional impact whatsoever. Six-hour long series, and not a single minute to get bored. A cleverly built anticipation will keep your eyes on the screen. Good 2-disc DVD release for its price. A must-have! However, it's about time for a properly restored and subtitled edition, and maybe some extras.

donnabarr If you're watching this in the early years of the 21st century, and you've been part of or watched 1/2 the history of the 20th, be prepared for a bad case of the willies.Spoiler alert (some reference to field action): Soldiers pushing into olive groves. Farmers and children with no weapon but stones. Military units champing at the bit to go home. Resistance refusing to give up, and even the children setting traps for the occupiers. Here we go again.Those of you from the '70's will see the burning and scattered thatch and think of the Zippo Wars.More up to date than ever. And Peter O'Toole in one of his most magnificent turns as the commanding general of the tenth legion. The rest of the cast puts in superb performances. Nobody phoned it in.Timothy West makes a wonderful Vespasian.Only one question: why didn't O'Toole receive the reward for Best Actor?Accuracy of costume complete, right down to the lack of stirrups on the saddles. The Romans never had 'em.

gcapp-1 **Spoiler Warning** This series was very informative and spellbinding. It gave me insight to the Romans' technological abilities, for example, the assault tower which could be adjusted to tilt straight up while being drawn up the ramp.The engineer who designed it would have been quite at home in the US Army Corps of Engineers, in terms of using science and engineering know-how to accomplish military objectives. His dying words included vital information about the moon, reminiscent of D-Day being planned for the right tides and moonlighting for the Normandy assault.One person commented about the zealots blowing a good deal. This is the nature of zealots: to want it all, or at least to have more than they now have. The zealots didn't want Rome in their land at all, not now, not when Christ came (Judas Iscariot was a zealot). Eleazar was willing to cooperate with Rome, asking for home-rule during his hillside late-night meeting with Silva. Silva could not get the Caesar to agree.It must have been galling, when Silva was sitting in with the Senate, to have critical questions asked about him but he could not speak to them because he was a guest, not a member of that legislature.I eagerly await this series' uncut release onto DVD for Region 1. I don't have the VHS, simply because I expect a DVD release. If the miniseries "The Martian Chronicles", "V" and such merit a DVD release, then the true history of "Masada" is at least ten times worthier.