An Italian Spanish German action film directed by Sergio Leone, starring Steve Reeves and Fernando Rey.
A thief helps the military to expose a violent gang who pose as Christians.
This was not so great.The convoluted plot was made even more complicated by having too many characters that were difficult to differentiate. The bright, colorful visual style was good and I could hear all of the dialogue. The soundtrack was appropriate. Overall, I was just not interested and it did not hold my attention. I rate it poor because Sergio Leone is capable of much better.
A French Italian sword and sandal action directed by Jacques Tourneur and Mario Bava, starring Steve Reeves.
Phillippides is an Athenean military leader. He meets a young woman who turns out to be royalty and they fall in love, although another woman is trying to win his heart. There are also some political issues going on, which eventually start a war.
More sword and sandal. Oh boy. This was pretty standard for the genre, so I won't go into lots of detail. What I do want to mention is the epic sea battle at the end. It basically makes the film worth watching. The opposing naval forces use lots of different strategies and tools of war. So, standard and stupid peplum with a cool naval conflict scene? I rate it tolerable.
An Italian American fantasy adventure film directed by Arthur Lubin, starring Steve Reeves.
A poorly matched suitor comes to the palace to ask the princess' hand in marriage. A thief mugs the suitor and impersonates him to meet the princess and they fall in love. When the real suitor is found and the princess turns him down, he uses a love potion on her that will make her sick if she loves someone else. Since she loves a thief, she becomes sick and lots of men are sent to find the blue rose that will cure her illness.
Compared to the other films of this title, this one had a simpler plot that lacked many of the adventures of it's predecessors. There was nowhere near the amount of magic being used or fantastic genies and monsters. The video looked dirty like a '60s sword and sandal flick (hmmm, I wonder why) and the audio was inconsistent. Above all else, this lacked style and seemed forced or fake. If this was the only one, I would rate it o.k., but since there are 2 films that were made before this that are also better than this, I rate it bad. This is an empty shadow of the the films by this name. Don't watch it.
An American crime drama directed by Ed Wood, starring Steve Reeves.
A small time criminal who is the son of a plastic surgeon and his gangster partner rob a theater, killing the night watchman and wounding a woman. The gangster kills the surgeon's son to protect himself and orders the surgeon to change his face so he can get away.
I actually thought this was pretty good. The plot was interesting and I liked the ending. The style was typical of the time period, but good and almost gave off a Twilight Zone vibe. On the negative side, the characters were extremely shallow. The production was also sub-par (come on, 1954? You expecting CG in HD?). Anyway, I'm rating it adequate because I think it's worth watching.
A French Italian sword and sandal action adventure film directed by Pietro Francisci, starring Steve Reeves.
Hercules is captured and his memory erased while conflict over the leadership of Thebes takes place.
This one was produced a little better than the other sword and sandal films. The same stuff happened like bar bending, holding doorways and political intrigue. Hercules' wife looked very good and the film didn't have that "dirty" look that so typifies this genre. For doing a few things slightly better, I will raise the rating to poor, rather than bad.
