Maciste alla corte del Gran Khan

Gordon Scott, at the peak of his physical form, proudly displays his chiseled body in nothing more than a rather fetching orange loincloth, often glistening with sweat (only Helene Chanel gives him any competition for sexiness). The film itself is far from exciting, but it's slightly more bearable than others of its ilk, with a basic "save-the-princess" story and a mini-earthquake climax. *1/2 out of 4.

Ex-Tarzan Gordon Scott is the beefcake in this low-budget but exotic sword-and-sandal potboiler, set, oddly enough, in China. The set pieces are convincingly done for a mini-epic of this sort, and Scott appears to have done some amazing stuntwork in a chariot sequence. Les Baxter's recognizable GOLIATH AND THE BARBARIANS score has been superimposed once again by American International to good effect. One of the better retro-stud peplums for those interested.

SAMSON AND THE 7 MIRACLES OF THE WORLD stars Gordon Scott as Maciste / Samson, the bipedal piledriver of the title. Set in China, those Mongols are up to mischief again.

Enter Samson, knocking over a tree, and tossing bad guys like dolls, before teaching a sedated -stuffed?- tiger a lesson. This allows him to save an abducted prince. Samson sets out to right the wrongs of Asia, finding ample opportunity to stand around shiny and shirtless in his red mini-skirt.

It's not long before Sam rescues a princess (Yoko Tani) as well! Needless to say, this involves swinging large objects, and tossing men around like packing pellets. Garak (Leonardo Severini), the Mongol leader, is not amused, and causes big trouble for Big S.

A thrilling adventure involving a hermit, death, and a dramatic resurrection unfolds, leading to the dynamite denouement, when Samson sends Mongols flying like dandelion seeds!

Entertaining throughout its running time, this movie rivals the Hercules epics!...

Hordes of sadistic Mongol warriors descend upon China, enslaving its people and plotting to assassinate the beautiful young princess (Yôko Tani) -until a musclebound hero (Gordon Scott) rises up and rouses the people to drive the Mongols from their nation's majestic mountainscapes.

Gordon Scott, my favourite Tarzan, once again dons the toga, brandishes the enemy with red pillars, flings them around like they are pillows and also gets to sprouts some sage dialogue like "justice doesn't know race or creed." It's actually a well-made Peplum with great photography and grand action - chariot-charging action where our hero goes under and clings on to it, a fearless tiger-wrestling stunts and an earthshaking climax is quite impressive. No CGI! Real stunts. Definitely one of the better peplums - Sets are big and spectacular to watch. The only gripe is that it's a bit overlong.

Not bad as far as peplum goes, with former Tarzan Gordon Scott plying his trade as Maciste (or Samson in the English dub), go-to man of steel helping a Chinese princess (Tani) return to her people after she's captured by the evil Garak (Severini) who then wages war upon the poor villagers and Monks to retrieve her and his pride.

Scott is capable and ably supported by French-Japanese actress Yoko Tani, while French beauty Helene Chanel belies her youth in a physically demanding role of the imperial turncoat who helps Maciste smuggle the Princess out of the fortified compound in which she's held.

Stuntwork is creditable and there's a chariot-execution scene in which big Gordo flexes his frame to save the heads of a few petty thieves, but otherwise, it's very much more of the same. As usual, the sets and costumes are lavish and if you're partial to peplum movies, then this Maciste instalment should be mildly entertaining.