Barbarossa

A credible epic that concerns the German warlord Barbarossa and his extended empire (that reached deep into Europe). A fab acting performance by Raz Degan but not such a great script. Ultimately these type of movies live or die in the battle scenes and these are not the most exciting or memorable.

I have only one word for this movie. RIDICULOUS. Ok maybe two. STUPID. Every aspiring filmmaker out there needs to watch this movie bcos it's a lesson on 'HOW NOT TO MAKE AN EPIC MOVIE'.

Rousing movie based on historical events , including impressive battles , intense drama , love stories and noisy action . It deals with German Emperor Barbarossa who wants to return the Holy Roman Empire , following his ascendant , the great emperor Charlomagno. Federico I Barbarossa , Rutger Hauer , of the dynastic Hohenstaufen (1122-1190) married a very young Queen called Beatriz , Cecile Cassel . Federico I of Suabia will stop at nothing to conquest , and defeat his enemies and to build his powerful empire . However, a young man from Milán called Alberto de Giussano : Raz Degan, along with his troops of 1000 men known as the Company of Death , is prepared to challenge to the emperor . Battlefields run Red with warriors' blood .

Breathtaking and overlong miniseries dealing with historical happenings , about a merciless war between Emperor Federico I and the bustly city of Milan. It delivers acceptable interpretations from Rutger Hauer as the cruel emperor , Cecile Cassel as his wife Beatrice , Raz Degan as Alberto da Giussano , Angela Molinas as a rare clairvoyant and F. Murray Abraham, the Oscarized Salieri, as traitor Barozzi , the latter gives overacting , as usual . The picture contains spectacular scenarios , being shot on several locations from Bucharest , Hunedoara, Transylvania , Alba Lula , Romania .Being sponsored by Italian Cultural Ministry and partially financed by the Northern league or Lega Nord , a political party presided by Umberto Bossi that wants the Italy separation between North and South. Having as main symbol the famous rebel warrior Alberto de Giussano. The motion picture was professionally directed by Renzo Martínelli, though it has some flaws , gaps and failures. Martinelly subsequently made another epical, historical film in similar style : "Day of siege, September Eleven 1683", about the Vienna siege by the Ottoman Empire, also starred by F. Murray Abraham.

Based on facts , these are the following ones : Emperor Federico I carried out 6 campaigns in Italy . In the first Federico battles Armando Brescia rebellion in exchange for being appointed Emperor by Pope Adriano IV. In second one Federico battles Milán , he supported anti-Pope Victor V , against Pope Alexandro III . In third campaign combats Italian cities headed by Verona. In fourth campaign (1166-1168) Imperial army was vanquished by the Lombard league supported by Pope Alexandro III. In fifth campaign (1174-1178) Federico was again defeated in battle Legnano . Later on , Federico I headed third Crusade (1189-1193), accompanied by known kings as Felipe August II of France and Richard LionHeart of England . Federico I embarks in Ratisbona , after crossing Balkans and arrives in Asia Minor . There he defeated the Muslims in batalle Iconio (1190). A bit later on , he died drowned in River Salef , Asia Minor. Federico I was succeeded by his son and heir Henry IV , being crowned in Italy , he married a daughter of the Normand King of the two Sicily kingdom.

The only reason I didn't give this a "1" was because some of the cinematography was decent. However, even the best cinematography can't save a film from truly bad acting, a horrible script, poor directing and sloppy editing.

The only good acting I saw in this movie came from F. Murray Abraham. All the rest were... well, not even good amateurs. They seemed to have no training or experience in acting at all. Their characters were entirely unbelievable.

I'm not the least bit surprised to see that this flick lost money. Someone should do us all a favor and lose all the prints, copies, DVDs, etc. Don't waste any portion of your life on this movie -- find something, anything else to watch.

First, while I only gave this film 5 stars, it really isn't bad. Apart from an instance where a horse made a sound I considered unlikely under the circumstances based on my experience with them, my beef is that this movie is so much less than what it could have been. It could have been an epic, but they missed the bar. It could also have made a good patriotic film such as the Russian film 1612, had they shifted the focus a little more on the Milanese and slightly less on Barbarossa, filmed it in Italian (It is an Italian film, after all.), and livened it up a tad.

Bottom line, if you're a fan of this sort of movie as I am, watch it. It isn't that great, but I do not regret the time spent watching it. It just could have been better. If, on the other hand, you feel no attraction to films of this type, and are merely looking for a good movie to burn some time on, you might want to look elsewhere. Not to scare you off, though. Who knows, you might enjoy it.

If you like this movie, try 1612. That is the movie I was most reminded of watching this one.