Ursus le rebelle

Until fairly recently, I hadn't heard of director Domenico Paolella and the only films of his I'd seen prior to this one were two good Italian comedies featuring legendary Italian comic, Toto'; one of them, IL CORAGGIO (1955), was a revamping of Jean Renoir's BOUDU SAVED FROM DROWNING (1932), tailored to suit the star's unique brand of mimicry! As it happens, this muscleman epic is quite another thing, with the mythical giant Ursus – who was made famous by Buddy Baer in the MGM super production of QUO VADIS (1951) and played here by the aptly (and hilariously) named Dan Vadis! – somehow incongruously inserted into another retelling of the events which were much better, and more spectacularly, handled in Anthon Mann's THE FALL OF THE ROMAN EMPIRE (1964) and Ridley Scott's GLADIATOR (2000). Unfortunately, I was unable to keep a straight face most of the time especially with Alan Steel (another muscleman who featured heavily in such fare) playing a very athletic Commodus – rather than the mad wimp which history tells us he was!

The stereotype of 1960's European gladiator movies is that the lead is a muscle bound non-actor and everyone else yelling as their dialog is dubbed into English. It is movies such as The Rebel Gladiators that show the stereotype is true. Evil Emperor Commodus (Sergio Ciani) inherits the throne of Rome and the hand of lovely Arminia (Jose Greci). Proceeding to ruthlessly oppress a village he is defeated by strongman Ursus (Dan Vadis). Senator Emilius Letus (Gianni Santuccio) realizes that only Ursus is strong enough to defeat Commodus and forces Ursus to become a gladiator by kidnapping Ursus' girlfriend Marzia (Gloria Milland). Commodus seizes Marzia to force Ursus to fight him. Guess who wins! Essentially Dan Vadis was a muscle bound non-actor and is least interesting. The Italian actors in support give much more lively albeit not nuanced performances. The acting honors there go to Sergio Ciani, enjoying himself as the evil Emperor, and longtime character actor Andrea Aureli as the gladiators' instructor. Technically the credits were OK but the version I saw was in black and white while the IMDb database says the movie was shot in color. OK movie for gladiator fans (i.e. those who don't expect acting) but better alternatives are available in the genre.

I'd like to correct an error made by a previous reviewer, who tells us, "I was unable to keep a straight face most of the time especially with Alan Steel...playing a very athletic Commodus – rather than the mad wimp which history tells us he was!"

In fact, the historian Herodian tells us that Commodus "was the handsomest man of his time, both in beauty of features and in physical development...inferior to no man in skill and in marksmanship." It is Hollywood, not history, that insists on making Roman emperors into effete wimps. For historical accuracy, Russell Crowe would have been better cast to play Commodus than wimpy Joaquin Phoenix. But Hollywood will insist on making the worldly villain "less manly" than the straight-arrow hero.

Another reviewer here berates the performance of Dan Vadis as the hero in this movie, saying he "resembles a happy monkey half the time, smiling inappropriately or staring blankly..." But remember that Vadis is playing a slap-happy Christian, and doesn't that description fit a lot of the Christians you know?

Alan Steel's muscular and brutish portrayal of Commodus is probably the cinema's most accurate, even though this movie, no less than "Gladiator" and "Fall of the Roman Empire," pulls its punches when it comes to Commodus. The truly shocking, hair-raising accounts of his reign (found in Dio Cassius, Herodian, and the Historia Augusta) go far beyond anything Hollywood or Cinecitta have ever dared to put on the screen!

One of countless Italian gladiator movies, this one covers some of the ground that made up the more recent success "Gladiator" starring Russell Crowe, though most of the elements of the story differ to some degree. Ciani plays a strong, tough, spoiled soldier who stands to inherit the crown of Rome as his father the emperor has died. His endless terrorizing and pillaging is threatened only by Vadis, a former Roman soldier who is now a Christian who expounds the virtues of non-violence. When Vadis offends Ciani by refusing to kill him upon capture, he in turn kidnaps Vadis's girlfriend, holding her hostage in order to force Vadis to fight in the arena. The two square off in a first encounter and later in an extended and well done bout. A later battle sequence contains a massive assembly of extras and the destruction of a bridge (this being handled primarily in close-up.) Though Ciani (who looks like a pumped up James Brolin) only holds a limited amount of acting skill, he is Olivier compared to Vadis who resembles a happy monkey half the time, smiling inappropriately or staring blankly and failing to bring any significant dramatic weight to his role. The female cast here is utilized a little better than in some gladiator movies. As is usually the case, the film has large amounts of sword-clanking, battle, exotic women and badly dubbed voices. However, this one appears to have had a sizable budget with some impressive sets. It also contains some reasonably good directorial touches and camera-work, not always strong points for this genre. It might even be a little more impressive if a better print were in circulation, but that isn't the case at present. Even so, despite his impressive physique, Vadis is not one of the better leading men of this realm.

Stoic Emperor of Rome, Marcus Aurelius has died leaving his sole heir, Marcus Commodus (Alan Steel) as the new ruler. With Aurelius' dying wish that his son maintain peace, Commodus decides instead to use force and brutality to suppress the frightened people in his kingdom.

With Christianity spreading throughout Rome, the maniacal Commodus attempts to wipe out any one associated with the religion. When his village is attacked by Commodus, Ursus, a newfound follower of the Christian faith, easily overpowers the mad Emperor and his soldiers.

Greatly insulting Commodus, Ursus' lover, Arminia is kidnapped forcing him to become a gladiator in order for her to be set free. However, it is learned that Commodus was not responsible for her abduction and that a plot within the Senate to assassinate the brutal Emperor is discovered.

Despite abhorring violence and transgression, Ursus is pressured to use his strength in an effort to topple the ferocious regime of Marcus Commodus and restore the peace promised by the deceased Marcus Aurelius.

The Rebel Gladiator is a thoroughly gripping Italian peplum with a strong plot, some intelligence and edgy action - the characterisation is quite good for its kind, and Gloria Miland as Commodus' girlfriend comes out on top in the acting stakes, and is throughly conflicted over her feelings. She loves him but he's a war-loving brute. He just loves a fight and the powers-to-be use that " love" to bring him down in the form of Dan Vadis as Ursus. He's quite good, but Alan Steel impresses, sharply conveying the character's unhinged ways. Enjoyed this far better than the overrated Gladiator which bored me to tears most of the time.