Die Schlacht von Marathon

This is an OK sword and sandal flick. Not the best I've watched and it doesn't have any super natural creatures involved so this is just human vs human. However, they really abuse the poor horses in this thing. 5 of 10, best if watched in a riffed variety like The Film Crew did which is pretty amusing (the team pre-Rifftrax). It's on the internet free as a regular film (bad copy) and on places like Tubi to watch riffed by The Film Crew.

A momentous collaboration between two (past and future) masters of the horror genre which should perhaps have been made in that particular field, especially since the overall effect (as with most Italian low-grade epics) is somewhat juvenile - unlike either's best work - but also because there are no monsters involved (unlike, say, THE GIANTS OF THESSALY [1960])!

Steve Reeves and Sergio Fantoni make for an above-average hero and villain; Daniela Rocca fares a lot better here than she would do in COLOSSUS AND THE AMAZON QUEEN (1960); and Mylene Demongeot is one of the loveliest heroines in all peplums, evoking memories of the early Brigitte Bardot - who had herself appeared in a supporting role in HELEN OF TROY (1955), one of many film versions centering around another legendary Greek battle (among them THE Trojan HORSE [1961], starring Reeves himself and which I watched later on in my peplum marathon!).

The slow-starting film (which, thankfully, features no intrusive comic relief) eventually picks up with the impressive battle sequence, which occupies about half its length! Bava's camera-work is exemplary and his special effects are apparent in the over-the-top violence, particularly towards the end.

Giant Of Marathon is a cut above the peplum films of the Italian cinema, being directed by Jacques Tourneur. The film concerns the activities of one Phillipides, played by Steve Reeves who goes running around all of Greece as an ancient Paul Revere arousing the populace with the sum and substance cry of 'The Persians Are Coming'. Indeed they were.

The ancient histories beginning with Herodotus tell of the athlete/runner who brought news of the Greek victory and then promptly died as his body gave out. Here Tourneur opted for a happy ending, but the film is still good with some very nicely staged battle scenes.

Phillipides was probably the first celebrity athlete in the history of the world. As the winner of one of those original Olympic games he was a sports celebrity figure back in those ancient times. And because of that he's the guy sent on a diplomatic mission to Sparta to get those rival city states working together to beat back the Persians.

Of course Phillipides does just that, but Athens is facing some problems from what would later be called fifth columnists in the city. Phillipides has to deal with them as well.

Steve Reeves as athlete is not shown as a runner, he's shown heaving a discus which would be more in line with the kind of a support his upper body would be an asset for. In fact as a runner all that weight on top would be quite the liability. But he sure looked good.

Giant Of Marathon would not be considered a great film in most quarters. But it is Citizen Kane next to some of the peplum films I've been viewing lately.

Giant of Marathon was made during a very busy 1959 for Steve Reeves, as he completed "Hercules Unchained", "The Great White Warrior", and "Goliath and the Barbarians" while also making Giant of Marathon. Steve Reeves was by far the king of these so called "sword and sandal" epics churning out of Italy during the late 50s and early 60s...and why not? Reeves had a muscle bulging physique second to none and was by far the best looking of the muscle guys who made these Hercules type films in Italy. The story concerns the city of Athens and all of Greece being invaded by sea and land by the traitor Darius and his Persian army. Reeves is the hero of the olimpic games and a hero to all of Greece. As such a duo of traitors tries to convince him to team up with the Persians and attempt to lure him with wicked women and seduction. Along the way a very lovely Mylene Demengeot, a 1960s Angelina Jolie look alike with the big lips becomes his love interest. Plenty of action on land and sea and a good wresting match with Reeves and a blubber gut wrestler who feels insulted by Reeves. Check out the underwater scenes with Reeve's greeks planting long speared boulders in the water to sink Persian ships. This is a typical Reeves muscleman epic. Just watching the lovely Demengeot throughout is fun for the male audience. Reeves basically single handedly wipes out the persians and the traitors and wins his love interest in the end. Good fun for the Saturday afternoon crowd and Reeves fans in general.

Fairly decent Greek epic starring none other than the great Steve Reeves.

I've first read about Steve Reeves in Arnold Swartzenegger's book that he was the first modern body builder with perfect body symmetry. This is the first movie of his I've seen knowing that it's Reeves who's acting on the screen. I may have seen his other movies without knowing that it was him, because I've seen many Hercules movies as a child, and he might have been in it.

I could see that he was a ground breaking talent who was good looking enough to be an actor even if he wasn't the Adonis that he was.

Do I dare say that the Italians knew how to make male exploitation films done in good taste ? Reeves' masculine beauty is highlighted to its max in this movie. I'm sure this was not accidental.

It's a pretty feel good movie, that's not a pure clash of the muscle men type of production.

Steve Reeves was all that he was said to be. A great natural body builder who also had beautiful appearance.