La battaglia di Maratona

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.

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.

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.

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.

The story is set in 490 BC, during Medic Wars between Greeks and Persians .The Battle of Marathon was a watershed in the Greco-Persian wars, showing the Greeks that the Persians could be beaten; the eventual Greek triumph in these wars can be seen to begin at Marathon. Since the following two hundred years saw the rise of the Classical Greek civilization, which has been enduringly influential in western society, the Battle of Marathon is often seen as a pivotal moment in European history .The defeat at Marathon barely touched the vast resources of the Persian empire, yet for the Greeks it was an enormously significant victory. It was the first time the Greeks had beaten the Persians, and showed them that the Persians were not invincible, and that resistance, rather than subjugation, was possible. The battle was a defining moment for the young Athenian democracy, showing what might be achieved through unity and self-belief; indeed, the battle effectively marks the start of a 'golden age' for Athens. The film is inspired on facts but most events developed are fictitious . Having brought home to Athens the Olympic victor's laurel crown, Philippides (Steve Reeves) is proclaimed leader of the Athenian Sacred Guard , which is expected to defend the city-state of Athens, a year after the chasing of the tyrant Hippias. Athenian followers of Hippias ( uncredited Gerard Herter ) led by Theocrites ( Sergio Fantoni ) conspire and scheme a coup d'etat and a fiendish treason . Meantime , Philippides' heart is already taken by a young girl named Andromeda (a gorgeous Mylene Demongeot ), daughter of Creuso (Ivo Garrani) , one of the various conspirators. Everything personal is likely to be put on hold when the break news that the Persian King of kings Darius's ( Daniele Vargas) vast army is marching on Greece, hoping its internal division will make its conquest a walk-over. Hearless Theocrites reproaches Miltiades to hold back the sacred guard to defend the Pallas Atenea temple after a likely defeat, and proposes instead to negotiate terms with Darius, but is told an alliance with Sparta could save the Hellenic nation. At the same time, Athens's greatest runner, Pheidippides (or Philippides in some accounts by historian Herodotus) had been sent to Sparta to request that the Spartan army ( on of them results to be Sergio Ciani , or Alan Steel , another hunk man like Reeves) march to the aid of Athens. Philippides makes the trail and survives an ambush on his journey ; he goes back with Sparta's engagement during the Persian attack in far greater numbers on Militiades valiant troops. Charis (Daniela Rocca as the matronly sacrificial love interest) , left for dead after overhearing Darius's orders, reaches the camp to tell that the Persian fleet, now led by traitor Theocrites, is heading for Piraeus to take Athens. Miltiades (Albert Lupo) sends Philippides ahead to hold out with the sacred guard until his hopefully victorious Greek troops arrive . Under the guidance of Miltiades, the Athenian general with the greatest experience of fighting the Persians, the Athenian army marched quickly to block the two exits from the plain of Marathon, and prevent the Persians moving inland. Of course , the hero Philippides defeats Darius the Persian at the Battle of Marathon .

This Sword and Sandals movie contains adventures , thrills , a love story and hokey historic events dealing with the time of the Medic Wars in which Persian armies sweep the Ancient world , being defeated in Marathon . The picture is well starred by the bouncing Steve Reeves as the famous war-time messenger of the Battle of Marathon named Pheidippides.In 1957, Reeves went to Italy and played the lead character in Pietro Francisci's Hercules, a very low-budget epic based loosely on the tales of Jason and the Argonauts, though inserting Hercules into the lead role .From 1959 through 1964, Reeves went on to appear in a string of sword and sandal movies shot on relatively small budgets, and although he is best known for his portrayal of the Greek hero Hercules, he played the character only twice: in the 1957 film and its 1959 sequel Hercules Unchained (released in the US in 1960). He played a number of other characters on screen, including Sir Edward Bulwer-Lytton's Glaucus of Pompeii; Goliath ; Tatar hero Hadji Murad; Romulus, the legendary founder of Rome (opposite Gordon Scott as his twin brother Remus); pirate and self-proclaimed governor of Jamaica, Captain Henry Morgan; and Karim, the Thief of Baghdad. Twice he played Aeneas of Troy and twice he played Emilio Salgari's Malaysian hero, Sandokan.

Screen-written by Ennio De Concini who wrote lots of Peplum , Giallo and Spaghetti Western . This film is colorfully photographed by the great Mario Bava who little time after launched his career as as a cult terror filmmaker . Atmospheric and evocative musical score by Robert Nicolisi . The Giant of Marathon (Italian: La Battaglia di Maratona) was regularly directed by Jacques Tourneur and Mario Bava (Bava had to step in to complete the film) and in Italy signed it Bruno Vailati who actually was the producer .