Romulus et Remus

Pretty good historical Peplum effort here by Sergio Corbucci, the Italian exploitation director best known for his trend setting spaghetti western classic DJANGO. It's easy to dismiss Italian sword & sandal spectacles from the early 1960s: they are universally low budgeted, take shortcuts that their Americanized counterparts wouldn't dream of (BEN HUR, THE 10 COMMANDMENTS, SPARTACUS) and borrow liberally from them as well, sometimes to the point of plagiarism. Not that there is anything automatically wrong with that, artists steal good ideas from each other all the time, and there's only so much you can do with a bunch of guys running around in tunics with swords.

This one tells of the founding of Rome by the twin brothers of legend, Romulus and Remus, wonderfully personified by Steve Reeves (HERCULES, HERCULES UNCHAINED) and particularly Gordon Scott (TARZAN'S GREATEST ADVENTURE, SAMSON AND THE 7 MIRACLES) in his first Peplum outing after ditching the Tarzan loincloth. Reeves plays the noble, stoic Romulus, destined to be the first king of Rome whether he likes it or not, and Gordon Scott plays Remus as you have never seen Gordon Scott before -- Wild, erratic, envious, prone to violence, distrustful of anyone who does not blindly follow his leadership, and ultimately flawed enough to come across as very human rather than the son of a Roman god.

Legend has it that Reeves refused an offer to play a dual role as both brothers and insisted the producers bring in his friend Gordon Scott instead, and it is a testament to Reeves' humbleness as a performer that he ceded the meatier role to his friend; Reeves is great as Romulus, but Scott is excellent as Remus, and the performance opened the door for Scott to appear in several more Pepla before the fad wore itself out. This one proves that he was capable of acting in addition to throwing large boulders at people, and the brothers' final showdown is indeed the stuff of tragedy and legend.

There's actually some high powered talent behind this effort. In addition to the A list manbeef and director Corbucci, spaghetti western specialists Duccio Tessari and Sergio Leone both played a role in scripting the non-hammy, non-campy screenplay, with cinematography by Enzo Barboni of TRINITY era fame, sets by the always brilliant Carlo Simi, and a sweeping, robust musical score by Piero Piccioni that is quite fittingly epic in nature. Supporting cast stalwarts Piero Lulli, Franco Volpi, José Greci, Laura Solari, and Jacques Sernas as the scurrilous Curzio bring a breadth to the production that makes many other examples of the genre seem silly by comparison.

Here is a thinking man's Peplum, eschewing the traditional gladiator bouts and he-man physical strength displays for a tightly woven story with a convincingly realistic tone. I would rank this movie up there with Gordon Mitchell's FURY OF ACHILLIES as amongst the best that the Italians were able to muster to cash in on the fad. Both films deal with historical legends and both maintain a somewhat serious tone throughout, and you can tell with this one that the Italian filmmakers were endowed with a sense of pride in telling their own pre-history for a change instead of just another potboiler script. Even with all the chest oil there's a tone of dignity to the film that is atypical of what the Peplum genre usually has to offer.

If I were to have a genuine criticism about the film it would be in regards to the barbaric horse race through a gauntlet of fire that the producers saw fit to include during the opening movements. It doesn't look like it was very safe for man or beast, and I can only hope that they asked the horses' permission first before running them through the very real pre-CGI obstacle course of burning rubbish and trip wires just for the benefit of the cameras. You have to wonder about the Italians sometimes -- couldn't they have just had a nice harmless javelin throwing contest?

7/10

One of these days, I hope, we'll see a serious re-evaluation of the so-called sword & sandal genre of historical/mythic epics produced in Italy in the 1950s and '60s. When seen in ideal circumstances—excellent prints in the original widescreen formats—the best examples of the genre are quite impressive. DUEL OF THE TITANS (ROMOLO E REMO) is one of the best, and it's magnificent.

This is not a muscleman fantasy with superhuman feats of strength, like HERCULES, but a serious retelling of the foundation myth of Rome. Various elements of the Romulus and Remus story are freely but intelligently reinterpreted, the sets and costumes have a convincing Iron Age look, and the larger-than-life characters of the legendary Twins are strongly portrayed by Gordon Scott and Steve Reeves. Both actors are at the peak of their considerable cinematic charisma. (Virna Lisi as Julia and Ornella Vanoni as the pants-wearing Tarpeia are also impressive!)

As I write (2006), the movie is virtually impossible to find except as a bootleg. It deserves a DVD release of a quality widescreen print.

From the 60's up to the 80's Italian Movie Producers made money with Horror Pictures, Comedies, Spaghetti Western, Giallo, Poliziotteschi and other Genres. But there was another unique Subgenre before: Sword n' Sandal Movies. Many of later well known Directors like Mario Bava, Sergio Leone, Enzo Barboni, Duccio Tessari and many more worked and learned in this Sub-Genre. Sergio Corbucci was one of them either. He should later become famous for directing Spaghetti-Western like Django, Navajo Joe, Il Mercenario, Companeros and many more. Romulus and Remo was one of his first directing jobs and IMO he did it very well. But Corbucci wasn't the Highlight in 1961. People went to cinema to watch the clash of two Action Heroes of that time: Steve Reeve (Hercules) as Romulus against Gordon Scott (Tarzan) as Remo.

Both Actors were allowed to show their muscles and they have some pretty good fights. Next to them there are two attractive women Virna Lisi as blonde Princess of the Sabina Tribe and Laura Solari as an Amazon Warrior. The Story is about the mythology of the founding of Rome "The Eternal City". Romulus (or Romolo) and Remo (or Remus) are twin brothers who were wet-nursed by a female wolf. Surprisingly the Movie follows more and the less the mythology with few inventions. In the storyline there are some flaws but IMO not as terrible as in other Sword n' Sandals. The Action and the Fights are all well shot. There is a high body count but don't worry no blood. During watching it I got the feeling to watch a Spaghetti-Western with a lot of Horse riding and swords instead of guns. Most of the scenes are typically for this genre: a fight in a gladiator arena, a pagan scene, a torture scene and many more. "Romolo e Remo" is a fine entertaining Example for this Subgenre with a nice music too.

Up to the mid 60's the Sword n' Sandal Movies weren't produced any more in Italy. The audience wanted to see something new. Gordon Scott and Steve Reeve disappeared from the screen. Musclemen weren't popular any more. In the 80's a new Muscleman conquered Hollywood: Arnold Schwarzenegger.

Steve Reeves was the "god" of these sandal-and-spear movies and Gordon Scott the "demi-god," and here you have them together playing brothers in one of the best examples of the genre. Plus Virna Lisi! In telling the tale of Romulus and Remus, this manages to include one of filmdom's odder whipping sequences. Steve Reeves is spreadeagled to a vertical frame which is rapidly rotated by one man while another man goes at Steve's chest with a whip. Curiously, though the whipper goes at his work with a vengeance, at the end of the sequence, Steve only has about 4 welts on his skin!

Brothers Romulus (Steve Reeves) and Remus (Gordon Scott), nursed by a wolf then raised by a shepherd, lead a rebellion and then fall out over a woman (sexy Virna Lisi) and over the founding of Rome, the eternal city. While likely not remembered as 'actor's actors', Reeves and Scott are absolutely fine in this colourful, well-made mytho-historial saga. The production manages to look more epic than it is and the battle scenes, while a bit small-scale, are quite well done. There is some fine horse stunt-work (notably in the early race through fire and in the final battle scenes - I suspect that the rules pertaining to animal stunts were more relaxed in Italy than in the US). The 'special effects' (such as arrows hitting in or near people) are well executed and although the dubbing leaves something to be desired, the characters are all fine for a sword-and-sandal opus. I watched this primarily because I wanted something 'visual that's not too abysmal', and was pleased (and surprised) that it wasn't abysmal at all. The torture scene, where Romulus is spun on something akin to a giant salad-spinner while being flogged, is one of a kind (and a tribute to the sacrifices the actor was willing to make for his art).