Sarah (Sandra Milo) worries about losing Aaron (Alberto Lupo) in HEROD THE GREAT
A real PEPLUM that seemingly no one likes: action and muscle fans don't like this because there's too much drama; picky history fans don't like this; uber religious fans don't like this because it's not religious enough; atheist hate this film because they think it's religious propaganda; serious film fans dismiss it because they think it's melodramatic junk; etc. It's a film with no love except from ME. I love this film!
It's a 100% pure PEPLUM film : great production values, great cast, a dash of melodrama, of political scheming, etc. All the PEPLUM ingredients are there except for beefcake but handsome Alberto is commanding, shirt or no shirt on. There is some cheesecake in this production, as this screenshot can attest. I believe this lack of love all stems from the reason that this is a story who's lead character is 'evil'. It's difficult to do a likeable film based on a villain, right? It doesn't help that the US cut version is terrible too.
It's a 100% pure PEPLUM film : great production values, great cast, a dash of melodrama, of political scheming, etc. All the PEPLUM ingredients are there except for beefcake but handsome Alberto is commanding, shirt or no shirt on. There is some cheesecake in this production, as this screenshot can attest. I believe this lack of love all stems from the reason that this is a story who's lead character is 'evil'. It's difficult to do a likeable film based on a villain, right? It doesn't help that the US cut version is terrible too.
Busty Sandra Milo didn't do many PEPLUM films. 2 or 3. Alberto is a veteran of the genre. Lupo is a major supporting character who happens to have a love interest (Milo) which is sorta rare unless the supporting character is evil and his love interest is an evil woman as well.
I would love to see the complete movie. US version I agree was missing something. I saw this in the movies growing up and the way they built it up I thought it would be a 2 hour plus epic. Instead it was shorter and part of a Double Bill, and my DVD is the shorter one. Where if possible can I get the full movie?? What I just mentioned is probably why it was disliked.
ReplyDeleteI like this film too. I was surprised at the high production values. I can imagine that a decent print looks wonderful. It also has a protagonist that's not as obvious and clean-cut as in the general Hollywood peplums.
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