The Last Days of Pompeii

God bless the '80's. Only then could a mini-series be this long, have so many varied stars and near-stars and revel in the excess of squalor, silliness and Styrofoam. The little hamlet of Pompeii (where people pray before the Egyptian goddess Isis, Christians are tossed to the lions, gladiators fight to the death and female citizens wear makeshift tube tops in the steam bath!) is situated in front of a matte painting of Mt. Vesuvius. Over the course of the 245 hour mini-series (okay.......245 MINUTES.....it just seems like that many hours) a plethora of cliched, soapy situations take place. Hunky Gladiator Regehr longs to leave the game, hooker with a heart of gold Down is secretly a Christian (!), Greek Clay pines away over goddess-to-be Hussey and wealthy, but untitled Beatty strains for social credibility. Also on board are Nero as a villainous religious fanatic, Quayle as the stuffy governor, Borgnine as the keeper of the gladiators and Olivier as a reclusive man of means. Most preposterous of all is Purl as a blind slave who knows every nook and cranny of the city (this mere casting tidbit alone has caused some people to fall on the floor laughing.) Viewers will need an abacus (or some other ancient counting device) in order to keep track of who is who, who loves who and who wants to kill who. This is only a smattering of the large canvas of characters, a very uneasy mix of British and Americans and an even uneasier mix of talent and no-talent. Even the actors who are usually good are undone by the trite, pat script in which everything comes to a boiling head just at the moment when Vesuvius is doing the same. There is built-in camp in seeing flimsy, permed-haired men foppishly discussing all the "women" they are lusting after and it's nice to see ultra-hunky Clay in his teeny toga and sometimes even less. Also, Down gives a poor man's Joan Collins spin to her whore character which by the end has become a performance of such rich cheese that it lingers in the memory. Nero gives her a run for her money in a hammy, attention-grasping portrayal. Olivier swoops in, however, and mops the camp floor with them all in his big, important scene while McKenna looks on admiringly. (Someone forgot to tell him that Sam Goldwyn and Alfred Hitchcock are dead and he's wasting his talent in a by-the-numbers TV mini-series.) Predictible, ludicrous, but, to a point, watchable, this is the type of movie in which the city is falling apart yet characters can run around and find each other instantly, in some cases even falling inadvertently into the arms of the one they were screeching for! There's definite curiosity value in seeing 2 Lancelots, a Juliet, Heathcliff, and the Virgin Mary acting alongside Fonzie's girlfriend, Mr. Rogo from "The Poseidon Adventure" and the guy who got raped in "Deliverance", but it wears thin awfully fast.

79 A.D. 52 years into Pax Romana and 46 years after the death of Christ, Decadent Pompeiians make life uncomfortable for Christians when they aren't outright killing them. Wealthy citizens struggle to relate to their slaves whilst social climbing. Slaves, as depicted here generally appear more concerned with self-esteem issues than how back-breaking their labour is and the volcano behind them is set to blow any minute.

A decadent coast city with flaky rich people, wide-scale prostitution, and a dangerous cult all co-existing while the ground shakes? It is like modern Los Angeles only without the hard drugs or racial tensions.

The easiest criticism to make about this mini-series is that it tries to tell too many stories at once and tells none of them properly with an ending alluded to not merely by history but the title. A grab bag of subplots on offer have a few intriguing elements amidst the mostly boring ones but added together they make for an incoherent muddled mess interlocking too neatly at the end.

There are a lot of examples of clunky historical epic expositional dialogue beyond the narrator at the beginning which turns into heavy-handed metaphysical discussion the viewer might not be ready for.

Whatever potential appeal this mini-series might have had appears to have heavily been placed upon a location shoot and legacy casting of actors who had triumphed in roles set in the ancient world.

Olivia Hussey and Ernest Borgnine had both been in Jesus of Nazareth (1977) along with Lord Laurence Olivier who had of course also appeared in Spartacus (1960). Anthony Quayle had been in Masada (1981) and The Fall of the Roman Empire (1964). Brian Blessed and David Robb had been in I,Claudius (1976). Brian Coburn was in Julius Caesar (1979) and The Day Christ Died (1980). Howard Goorney was in Antony & Cleopatra (1981) and Peter & Paul (1981). Stephen Grief was in The Cleopatras (1983). Nicholas Clay played the title role in The Search For Alexander the Great (1981). Howard Lang had been in Ben-Hur (1959). Marilu Tolo is credited as having been in several gladiator movies in the 1960s.

As for the much celebrated homoerotic undertones, I cannot really say I know what those might be but my guess would be they has to do with Lydon - the gladiator played by Canadian actor Duncan Regehr. Different people look for different things I reckon and because of it they might see things which are not there.

This is definitely more than an antique soap opera. It's without a doubt the most beautiful interpretation of the novel. May be that the story is geared to the 80's generation, but the pictures it shows are unforgettable!

A magnificent set-decoration and the most authentic art-direction I've ever seen (look at the temple of Isis: even the number of stairs tallies with the original!), tasteful, opulent costumes and finally a few amazing visual-effects, phenomenal for a TV-mini.

Trevor Jones' music is another wonder. As a great fan of soundtracks I always listen more to the scores than to the dialogues, when I watch a film. Mr. Jones is a man of genius; able to give the worst movies ("G.I. Jane", "The mighty"..) grace and poesy through his music.

I never heard a more haunting, majestic music than his score for "The last days of Pompeii" and I get a goose-flesh whenever I hear the main-theme - still after twelve years.

The cast is marvelous, as well. Sir Laurence Olivier, Franco Nero, Olivia Hussey and two outstanding No-names: Lesley-Anne Down and Linda Purl. Both of them are beautiful AND talented, although they rarely were able to show what they are made of.

I traveled to Pompeii a few times, considering the magic of this forgotten masterpiece. What can I say... the most beautiful town of the earth! And this motion picture is its impressive monument. Thanks.

I´ve first seen in 1985, and was the first time that a movie touch my heart, then I read the book and I think that the traslation to the movie is very difficult, but Peter Hunt give us a masterpiece. The adaptation is amazing, and the cast is excellent specially by the beauty from Argentinian actress Olivia Hussey as Ione and Franco Nero as the the cruel Arbaces the Obscure.

I recommend as one of the best mini-series of all time.

I love this film! I have been looking for it for the past 5 years. I grew up watching this film over and over. In fact, for a brief history:

my parents recorded this film off the T.V station it played on (I can't remember which, though I've looked for it at the three major ones) and when we moved to Nigeria, I watched it for the first time. This was years after they had recorded it of course. I watched it often, since it's long and it took three tapes for the entire film, it was my favorite chore (self-imposed of course) to watch it and make sure the tape was not ruined. You can imagine how many times I took it upon myself to ensure this.

Basically, the last time I watched it was in 1998! And when I was coming back here that year, I did not have enough space in my suitcase to bring all the books and films I wanted to. So sadly, it got left behind.

I am a film student today, and I want to see if the film still holds up to the ideals it did when I was 17. It is definitely a must watch! If you like epic movies like "The Ten Commandments" and "Ben Hur" you will love this film. The history of the people, the effects of the explosion (which I must confess were a bit repetitious and made me think of foam buildings sometimes), the characters, the world the characters inhabited...WOW! I could go on...Films like this one (well, this film really) made me yearn to learn the Roman culture so much that I actually made it a goal (which I have met, and hopefully will again) to visit Rome and see the Colosseum. Gladiator, eat your heart out! This film showed the culture of the people and their lifestyles, not just blood and gore.Watch it if you can. I wish it were released in theaters--if they ran films that long.