Giants of Rome (1964)

This is a small, humorous movie in some ways, but it has a huge heart. What a nice experience.

It's the kind of movie you'll want to see a second time with someone who hasn't seen it yet, to remember what it was like to watch it for the first time.

This is one of the best movies I’ve seen in a very long time. You have to go and see this on the big screen.

The film never slows down or bores, plunging from one harrowing sequence to the next.

Julius Caesar handpicks an army of men, lead by Claudius Marcellus, to fight against the Druids. The Druids are harboring a secret weapon - the Catapult.Not as good as I was hoping it was going to be. I was hoping for at least a 4 or 5 star out of 10 film but 3/10 is as good as it get for me. It's not a horrible film but it is luster-lacking and a bit drab the way the story is told. With that being said, it is one of the better films from Mill Creek's Warriors 50-pack. It's not the best of the Mill Creek peplum batch but it's not the worst from the pack either. I'll admit I was hoping for a bit more out of this one. I actually preferred the way the story was told and the way Caesar the Conqueror (1962) was filmed. I was hoping this movie would be as good as "the Conqueror".3/10

"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.

Directed by Italian jack-of-all-genres Antonio Margheriti, this action-adventure flick is set in classical antiquity. Rome is threatened by a mysterious doomsday weapon devised by their enemies, the Druids. The Emperor Julius Caesar assembles an elite team and dispatches them to Gaul on a search and destroy mission.Unlike a lot of other peplum flicks, Giants of Rome does not have a mythological fantasy story. Instead it sets its action in the real Roman-Gaul wars. But like all in the sword and sandal genre its ram packed with the usual staples of the sub-genre, i.e. lots of fights, heroes being captured and heroes escaping again. Consequently, like other similar films, it does get a little repetitive after a while. But the biggest disappointment for me was when we discover the true nature of the terrible weapon. It's simply a big catapult and I'm pretty sure no one in the audience could have been too impressed with that big reveal! I thought the mysterious Druids would have come up with something a little more impressive than that.

"Giants of Rome" is an average storytelling about Caesar and Vercingetorix , dealing with adventures of a brave group behind the enemy lines . This is a fairly Sword and Sandals standard from the 60s starred by the American hunk Richard Harrison who acted in several Spaghetti and Musclemen epics . It's made middling scale with some spectacular scenes and Peplum style. It concerns about Julius Caesar and his famous existence on Gaul, including feats, fights, political events , betrayal, wars and the known battle of Alesia . Vercingetorix provokes a general rebellion against Roman domination, he rallies his people and tribes when they are threatened by army commanded by Julius Caesar (Alexandro Sperli). Caesar asks troops to senate ruled by senator Pompeius( Piero Lulli) for fighting against the Barbarians . Caesar assigns a risked mission to Claudius Marcellus (Richard Harrison) who enlists a squad of specialists (Ettore Manni ,Alberto Dell'Acqua )and swears Caesar that they will encounter the giant arms before Caesar carries out his attack some days later. Our heroes get trapped and tortured repeatedly but arrange to getaway . Along the way, they flee from a Druid jail and take a prisoned Roman soldier and the gorgeous Livilla (Wandisa Guida) who falls in love with Marcellus . Although the deeds described are historical inaccurate, some events are vivid and authentic.The action is regularly done and the story drags occasionally, however to be liked for hardcore Peplum lovers. This Sword and Sandals movie is a crossover in Peplum ink of ¨Guns of Navarone¨ with a powerful weapon that threatens the army , including a traitor and ¨Dirty dozen¨ also with a team of experts on diverse skills . The picture is partially based on historical events when happened Roman-Gaul wars. These are the following : Gallic chieftain Vercingetorix (dead 46 a.c) was an insightful and valiant warrior, whose father was captured and executed by Romans, he was leader a rebellion against Roman domination. He seeks justice by winning freedom for Gaul from the Romans, and soon he raises an army of his own to defeat Caesar . Vercingetorix was definitely defeated in Alesia, where took place a long siege. Other adaptations about Caesar and Vercingetorix are the following : ¨Julius Caesar the conqueror¨(1962) with Rik Battaglia as Vercingentorix and Cameron Mitchell as Caesar ; 'Vercingetorix(2001)' by Jacques Dorffman with Chistopher Lambert and Klaus Mara Brandauer ; 'Julius Caesar(2004 TV)' by Uli Edel with Jeremy Sisto as Caesar and Heino Ferch as Vercingetorix.The motion picture is professionally directed by Anthony M. Dawson or Antonio Margheriti , an Italian craftsman expert on adventure and Peplum as he proved in 1964 Ursus, Il Terrore Dei Kirghisi , 1964 Soraya, Queen of desert , 1963 El Justiciero Rojo , 1963 Il Crollo di Roma , 1962 La Freccia d'Oro , among others . Rating : 5,5 ; passable and acceptable.