Fort Alésia

All those big muscle man, with their oiled up bodies - not sure how appealing that does sound, but that is the formula for Sword and Sandals movies. And while there have been more Hercules/Maciste movies than you can count, this is a "different" hero, but the same formula.

Still the fight scenes and the costumes are nice. Yes props may seem laughable nowadays, but never forget the budget these had. There is a camaraderie in this one that most single protagonist movies did not really have, if that is something you are interested in

"The forces of Rome are out to defeat the Druids but are shocked to learn their enemy has a powerful secret weapon that could spell defeat for them. Claudius Marcellus, a Roman Centurion, leads a small band of soldiers behind enemy lines to discover the location of this doomsday weapon and destroy it before the Druids can use it to attack Rome," according to the DVD sleeve's synopsis.

Titled "The Giants of Rome" for English listeners, this nicely paced "sword and sandal" epic stars an Adonis-handsome Richard Harrison (as Claudius Marcellus) in a bulging pair of satin briefs. He is supported by a "beefcake" quartet of Roman soldiers, including right-hand man Ettore Manni (as Castor). The accent is on men, but Wandisa Guida (as Livilla) adds a little femininity.

Up-and-coming young Alberto Dell'Acqua (as Valerius) makes a particularly strong impression herein. As the soldier who wants to join Caesar's selected quartet of soldiers, Mr. Dell'Acqua (later known internationally as "Robert Widmark") is given what must have amounted to a star-making role in his home country. Watch out, especially, for his startling "crucifixion" sequence.

****** I giganti di Roma (9/10/64) Antonio Margheriti ~ Richard Harrison, Ettore Manni, Wandisa Guida, Alberto Dell'Acqua

Playing almost like a Roman-era version of THE GUNS OF NAVARONE (1961) – with an elite group of specially-skilled soldiers handpicked by Julius Caesar to go on a suicide mission and destroy the Druids' secret weapon – this is an agreeable time waster which is moved along at a brisk and efficient pace by prolific director Margheriti. He was perhaps the most erratic of the three Italian genre specialists (the others being, obviously, Riccardo Freda and Mario Bava) who basically set the foundation of what today is referred to as "Euro-Cult"; I've now watched some 9 of his films and the most satisfying have been his 2 horror outings starring Barbara Steele – THE LONG HAIR OF DEATH (1964) and CASTLE OF BLOOD (1964).

Sensibly, THE GIANTS OF ROME does not opt to make its heroes invincible (as was usually the case in films of this type) and despite a happy ending, all but one member of the group lose their life in accomplishing the all-important mission. The "secret weapon", however, turns out to be a major let-down: though one of the Romans expresses great surprise at never having seen anything like it, a little while later the leader of the group refers to it by name as if he had been around such devices all his life! Still, the most hilarious moment of the film came when the leading lady solemnly tells our hero her life-story which includes the fate of her father, one Fulvius Lucisanus (Fulvio Lucisano being a leading Italian producer of the time, though he doesn't seem to have had anything to do with this particular title!!)

"Giants of Rome" is in some aspects a strangely premised sword and sandal movie. The main reason for that is that the central characters - the men on a mission - are Romans working for Caesar and the Roman Empire, fighting the inhabitants of what is now modern day France. If you ask me, that is almost akin to a movie about Nazis on a mission to penetrate and destroy some part of Allied forces, given that the Romans were conquerors and enslavers of foreign empires. But even if you can stomach that premise, chances are you'll still not find the movie to be very good. The action sequences all seem to be directed in a way to both be identical to each other and not particularly exciting. Actually, much of the movie (particularly the central third of the movie) is rather slow- moving and not very exciting. In fact, it makes the disappointment of the revelation of the "secret weapon" even more than you might expect. The movie could have been a lot worse, I admit, but even sword and sandal movie fans might find this a bit of an ordeal to watch.

In Giants Of Rome Richard Harrison leads a handpicked crew to seek and destroy a legendary secret weapon that the Druids have constructed blocking a pass. Given that this is an ancient world epic, how advanced technologically could the weapon be?

The plot is a homage to The Guns Of Navarone and while it isn't anywhere up to the standard of that film, it's a bit better than some of the peplum films I've been viewing lately. The dialog is a bit much however. When the band of warriors have to kill some Gauls and take a couple of prisoners, one of them is a woman. To which Harrison asks her why she hates the Romans so much. I mean really.

None other than Julius Caesar himself gives Harrison and his band their mission orders. Just what is this terrible secret weapon? All I can say is it's nothing the Roman legions hadn't faced before, just bigger.