A giant mirror weapon is being set-up in preparation for a battle in SIEGE OF SYRACUSE
Epic battle scene at climax of this long but most enjoyable film directed by Pietro Francisci. Probably one of the most epic genre film made in Italy at the time. The idea of mirror weapons invented and created by Archimedes (played by Rossano Brazzi, not shown) is well handled in this : when the battle starts, it is cloudy and the sun is nowhere to be seen so the weapons are powerless. The film was released by Paramount in the US but the English dub track is still missing.
4 comments:
I agree that this is one of the best Peplums made.
Worst horse abuse of any movie, though ... when Sylva Koscina's ill-fated character's chariot goes out of control -- where did we see that happen before? -- they actually drive a chariot with two white horses and a dummy dressed like Sylva off a cliff. We see the whole contraption plunge into the Mediterranean. Far worse than the horse trippings we see normally. I wonder what the fate of those horses were, how could they swim anchored to a heavy wooden chariot?
Still a great flick!
Worst horse tripping of all is in KHARTOUM, when a charging horse is tripped and lands on its head, snapping neck backwards. It writhes in agony until the scene cuts to something else.
Those horses were dummies...they didn't actually throw horses down a cliff
On the Archimedes Heat Ray:
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Archimedes%27_heat_ray
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