Theseus, Held von Hellas

Well made, good looking " Sword And Sandal" fantasy with famed athlete Bob Mathias in his sole acting role and he gets to show off some of his athletic skills.Rosanna Schiaffino is lovely in both twin sister roles and for it's time and aimed as a family entertainment. it is at times quite violent.The actual monster itself, isn't seen fully until the film's last four minutes and although it does not have the Bull head as in the legend, it is a passable effect. Entertaining film.

Fanciful rendition of one of the most famous Greek myths.To write that the movie takes liberties with the tale is to state the obvious:first of all,Phaedra and Ariadne are twin sisters both played by Italian beauty(and an usual sword and sandal heroine of the era)Rosanna Schiaffino : the former is the villain ,a wicked princess ,whereas the latter is an innocent clueless good girl .Theseus is still the king of Athenes ' son but his father won't throw himself into the sea which bears his name (Aegean sea);and if my memory serves me well,he marries Phaedra after abandoning her sister on an island.

People who are eagerly waiting for the Minotaur will be disappointed for the monster looks like King Kong and would not scare a four -year- old .They did include Ariadne's thread and she is devoted enough to go and meet him in the labyrinth.

Closer to Robert Siomak's "Cobra woman" than to Greek tales.

This is a pretty good peplum film, based on the Theseus legend. It leaves out the ball of yarn gimmick that I recall from Bullfinch, alas; that made it a better story for me, showing Ariadne not only looked good in a short chiton, but had some brains.

Still, that's not what people watch swords-and-sandals flick for. The costume design is handsome, and there's some very nice photography under the supervision of Aldo Giordani, particularly the sequence with Theseus' rescue from drowning and Susanne Loret as Amphytrion. Bob Mathias plays Theseus and there's a bit with him throwing the discus. His principal claim to fame was winning Decathlon Gold at two Olympics, and he played himself in a cheap Allied Artist biopic, but his acting career was uninspiring.

Theseus of Athens (Bob Mathias, an actual Olympian) and his companion Demetrio (Rik Battaglia) rescue beautiful Ariadne (Rosanna Schiaffino) from brigands, only to discover that she is the twin sister of wicked Phaedra, princess of Crete (also Rosanna Schiaffino), who has no filial love for this potential rival for the throne. The malignant princess' power in Minos is maintained by fear of the Minotaur, a fearsome beast imprisoned in a labyrinth beneath the palace in Minos, a God to whom Phaedra sacrifices dissenters and their families. As Italian sword and sandal quasi-epics go, this one is not too bad. Decathlete Matthias has a heroic physique (although not quite as impressive as that depicted in the posters), the fight scenes are entertaining (despite numerous unconvincing armpit stabbings), and the women, especially Ariadne have skimpy outfits and very big...hair. The final showdown with the titular monster comes very late in the film and is somewhat anticlimactic as the film's Minotaur does not much resemble homo-bovine hybrid of myth. The film is a simple adventure that would appeal to kids but does contain some grim scenes of torture. I watched an adequately English-dubbed version on TCM which was OK, but there were some very abrupt cuts (when a woman's blouse is pulled off during the attack on Ariadne's village or when a character gets a red-hot poker in the eye) that suggests that a more 'adult' version may have been lensed. Entertaining but not great (but 'great' is not what the genre is known for).

After having seen The Minotaur I'm surprised that no one recognized the plot elements from Alessandre Dumas's Man In The Iron Mask. Maybe there was no mask for Rosanna Schiaffino to wear, but she plays the twin princesses of Crete as both good and evil.

The star of this peplum epic is Bob Mathias two time decathlon champion and he gets to show off some of the prowess that got him that gold. He's a visiting prince from Greece who rescued good twin Schiaffino where she's been brought up by peasants to keep her safe from the Minotaur. He's one nasty looking 7 foot tall dude with the head of an American bison and teeth like a shark. Virgins are sacrificed regularly to him and royal virgins are his special delicacy.

Evil Schiaffino has overthrown dad with her boyfriend Alberto Lupo and they run things. Mathias as Prince Theseus from Athens is our hero.

I kind of liked the makeup done for the Minotaur. It's not Ray Corrigan in a gorilla suit, some care went into the creation of the beast.

Nothing too special in this peplum. It's a combination of the myth of the Minotaur with the plot The Man In The Iron Mask. Take it fromm there.