Drew Barrymore Movie:

The Trojan Horse Reviews:
A Different Take on the Trojan War Characters
2008-02-21 - Wow. Somebody seemed to have it in for Paris and Helen, the noble hero and heroine of HELEN OF TROY and even of the recent, and badly rewritten (or re-imagined), TROY. In this Italian film, THE TROJAN HORSE, Paris is a vane, power-mad prince who seems too effeminate to have attracted someone as beautiful as Helen, a conniving adultress with no qualms about the ten-year war she has started.

Unlike THE FURY OF ACHILLES, which follows Homer's THE ILIAD quite faithfully, this film is about the famous Trojan Horse and the character of Aeneas found in THE AENEID. Achilles is shown to be much older than he is in THE FURY OF ACHILLES, but the story begins almost where THE FURY OF ACHILLES leaves off - with Hector's body being dragged behind the chariot of Achilles. Aeneas is portrayed by the muscular Steve Reeves, and Ulysses (Odysseus) is portrayed by John Drew Barrymore.

Watching from the wall is not Paris, Priam, Sarpedon but Aeneas and his wife, Creusa. These two were not even shown in the last film, but Aeneas is the the solid-gold good guy in this film. [The Romans wanted to believe that Aeneas was the ancestor of her kings and developed the legend of Aeneas as founder of the Romans.] Helen, not shown in THE FURY OF ACHILLES, is seen in this film, as is Cassandra and Hecuba, wife or Priam and mother of Paris and the dead Hector. Before the credits of THE TROJAN HORSE are shown, we see Hector's body being dragged in front of Troy by Achilles.

The narrator again brings us up to speed, telling us where we are in the story when this film begins. Men on horses line up with their backs to us, facing the walls of Troy. These are Greek soldiers, watching their greatest warrior, Achilles, dragging the body of Hector behind his chariot. The film really does begin en medias res, in the middle of things, as do most Greek/Roman epics.

Narrator: "Nine years have passed since the grievous day when Paris, Prince of Troy, carried off the lovely Helen, wife of Menelaus, King of Sparta. For nine years, pledged to avenge the outrage, the kings and princes of Greece, the mightiest heroes from that sun-drenched land, besieged the city of the Trojans.

"Behind the towering, impregnable walls where Paris kept the stolen Helen - a precious prize for him, a bitter insult to the pride of Greece, Troy neared the end of its resistance. Hector, son of Priam [the king of Troy] and brother of the seducer, Paris - Hector, bravest of all the Trojans - has been slain by the swift Achilles, who has thus avenge his friend Patroclus [pronounced "Patrocleez" in this film] whom Hector had killed in single combat. The body of the Trojan hero, dragged in triumph behind Achilles' chariot, traced in the yellow dust an omen of the fate that awaited the proud city of Troy.
"Thus it was that the 10th year of the war began."

Achilles stops before the high walls of Troy and shouts up at those watchers on the ramparts, the survivors who have lost their greatest warrior. "Let the vultures feast well on this royal carrion which I have purchased with my [sword] blade. Let Hector, slayer of Patroclus, atone for his crime again. This, Trojans, is the vengeance of Achilles!" He spurs the horses and speeds away, still dragging Hector's corpse.

Paris, Aeneas, and Creusa (sister of Hector, Paris, Troilus, Deiphobus and Cassandra) stand watching in sorrow.

Creusa: "Achilles finally sealed my brother's face, a fate that had hounded him for 9 long years. And what will be our fate?" she asks Aeneas who stands next to her. "The fate of Troy?'

Aeneas: "Who knows? One more day of life is all we gain. . . as a sorry prize of daily battle."

Choral music punctuates his philosophical statement, and this is followed by a very brief title sequence.

Just as Achilles looks older and smaller in this film, Ulysses looks younger and more handsome. As a member of the illustrious Barrymore family of stage/screen actors and actresses, John Drew Barrymore chews up the scenery as Ulysses. Steve Reeves, Mr. Universe muscleman from America, who has played Hercules and other superheroes in Italian sword-and-sandal films, barely acts at all [as usual].

At the very beginning, we see how Paris and Aeneas have littie use for each other. Paris tells the muscleman: "It is only right to tell you, Aeneas, little though I care if you live or die, I admired your exploits as I watched from the walls. Your trickery and courage I envy most of all."

Aeneas: "And which of my two virtues would you choose?"

Paris: "Uhmm, I admit that I lack both, Aeneas. Trickery, I think, best serves successful warriors."

Aeneas: "Or cowards. . . who have much to lose. You, Paris, have much to lose - your precious skin. ["precious" seems the appropriate word for Paris]

Aeneas is not the leader type and lets a friend know this. "This cursed war has lasted long enough. No woman is worth the blood that has been shed in these nine years, least of all Helen." He adds that the prestige they have gained has been purchased with Trojan blood. Helen, Paris' concubine, will be their grave-digger.

A friend (statesman?) tells Aeneas: "These ideas have earned you the hatred of the court and the Council of Elders. But now worse than ever, you must beware. Paris is spying on you. Every word you speak further imperils your life."

This pretty much sets the tone for the film: the fury of Aeneas. Just as Achilles and Agamemnon hated one another, so do Aeneas and Paris -- an interesting idea if one considers the two films simultaneously. Political intrigue ensures, and Aeneas clearly admires the Greek hero Achilles more than Paris and Helen.

When Priam goes alone to retrieve the body of Hector, Aeneas goes along.
This does not happen in the previous film or in Homer's THE ILIAD, but in this version, Aeneas is being exalted as a greater hero than previously shown to be. In THE AENEID, as you can read, Virgil creates a noble and pious hero as an ancestor of the Romans. Aeneas: "I hear the voice of Hector, your son and my friend who was close to us both." [In the 1955 HELEN OF TROY, Aeneas is the cousin and good friend of Paris, often defending him. Not in this film!]

Priam convinces Achilles to give up the body of Hector, and Aeneas, the rules of the contest explained to him by Ulysses, takes on Ajax in a duel. Of course, Aeneas wins. Achilles is complimentary: "Now I know that Troy has one warrior who's worthy of me." Aeneas: "Now I know that the nobility of an enemy makes this war even more hateful."

When Aeneas returns to Troy with the armor of Hector, his prize for having defeated Ajax, Helen makes a pass at him. He rebuffs her but is admitted to the inner council where he speaks his mind about the futility of this war. Aeneas is told to go talk to the Frisians and the Dardanians in order to bring reinforcements. Paris goes to the Greek camp to make a deal for a truce.

When Agamemnon wants to know why Ulysses agrees to the truce, he, seemingly as arrogant as Paris, says he should grant it because it is he, Ulysses, who tells him to do so. Rather than getting angry at Ulysses' manner, Agamemnon leaves it to him to fix the terms. Evidently, he knows from experience that Ulysses is the greatest strategist among them.

Ulysses tells Paris that the gold he offers is sufficient. Instead of the ten chariots of silver, however, he asks for wood. "All the wood you have. All the wood you can find." In addition to all the wood he can find, he must bring ten hostages of high rank as a guarantee to the Greeks that he will respect this truce. "And now if you wish you may say `agreed.'" When Paris agrees, Ulysses adds that one, at least, of these hostages must be from his own family.

After Paris exits the tent willing to provide what Ulysses has demanded, the other Greeks ask Ulysses to explain why he wanted wood instead of chariots full of silver. Ulysses uses a covered goblet with a snake inside to demonstrate his plan with the huge horse. Later he introduces us to Sinon, an actor who can help with his plan.

Creusa, wife of Aeneas, turns out to be the hostage from the family that Helen and Paris choose. She is held as a prisoner in the Greek camp.

Nearby, Greeks are cutting down trees. One of the working soldiers sees the Dardanians and misunderstands their purpose. He naturally assumes that they are here to attack the Greek camps. He calls to Diomedes [the Greek warrior, as students of British literature will remember from Chaucer's and Shakespeare's TROILUS AND CRESSIDA, who seduced Cressida (Creseyde) after she leaves Troilus and goes to the Greek camp in an exchange of prisoners].

Inside Agamemnon's camp, we see some very disturbed Greeks. Diomedes: "If we don't stop Aeneas and his army outside the walls of Troy, your plan will have no chance to succeed." The Trojans have apparently used the truce to raise a new army.

"Was the truce we accepted to bait a trap?" Achilles says.

Ulysses says that, for him, the truce has been broken.

"Not for me," says Achilles. "I `ve given my word."

Ulysses echoes him. "Your word?" He laughs. "Yes, your word! But the facts! They're another matter. I agree with Menelaus."

All but Achilles agree with Menelaus, that they should meet the Trojans on the plain between the woods and the swamp.

Achilles: "Then don't count on me. I do battle to gain eternal glory, not dishonor." He Achilles departs, and Ulysses tries to comfort the others. "If the tide of battle favors us, we'll have no need of him. If not, he'll come to our aid. I know Achilles." If this is the case, then he should know that Achilles hates Agamemnon.

Agamemnon calls for all of the men to be assembled. [Does this mean that they are all in pieces, in boxes like toys? Never mind. My joke.] "We'll attack the enemy immediately. You, Aristocles, put the Trojan hostages on the ships at once."

On the battlefield, Aeneas is warned that Greek infantry is marching against them. Aeneas sees this as the Greeks breaking the truce. "The traitors," he says. Each side sees the other side as breaking the truce, an example of a misunderstanding that often happens in war, politics, and love.

In this case, the Greeks are maneuvering to cut them off from Troy, their refuge. Ulysses, wearing kinky black armor and an unusual-looking black helmet, does not like Agamemnon's idea to attack in full frontal fashion. He sense, correctly, that Aeneas is bating a trap for them. "I do not like to try to correct one mistake with another," he says, "but if you wish. . . you are the supreme commander." He wheels his horse around and heads away, taking his cavalry after the Dardanians. [Often, when armies are shown amassing, the scenes seem to last forever, but at least these are real extras playing the parts of Greek and Trojan soldiers, not computerized repetitions of images that we see in epic films today. These earlier films employed casts of thousands.]

Of course, Aeneas catches the Greeks in a trap and causes them to retreat. Then he attacks the camp where his wife is being held, despite Paris' order that he return to Troy. His men protect him with their shields. They cover his body as arrows fly down at him from the camp. They throw the pole over the wall of wooden stakes. It lands conveniently in a lateral position, and with the rope still attached to it, they pull the stakes toward them. [Why they don't use the strength of the horse to pull the walls over is beyond me.] Then Aeneas yells "Follow me!" and charges through the gap in the wall. They leap the moat seemingly effortlessly and swarm into the camp, fighting and destroying Greek warriors.

While the battle rages inside the camp, Aeneas searches frantically for his wife. Creusa screams in protect for her husband as Diomedes picks her up. As Diomedes dashes across the field with Creusa as his prisoner. Aeneas pursues on horseback. Since Aeneas' horse is only carrying him and not dragging a chariot, he, of course, catches up to the Greek fleeing with his wife. They fight and Aeneas is victorious when he throws his sword.

Quiet, romantic music swells on the soundtrack as Creusa embraces her husband. Aeneas calls his wife's name, revealing to her that he is aware of her pregnancy. "If I had only known," he tells her. Creusa: "Aeneas, I was sure that you would return [to Troy]. The fruit of our love is stirring within me. [Yes, she actually does say this. Audiences must have hooted with laughter - American audiences, anyway.] Aeneas: "Our own child. May the gods grant that he'll never know . . . the awful stench of battle. . . only the joys of life." [How does Aeneas known that the child she is carrying in her womb is a male? They obviously lacked the technology at that time to determine the sex of an unborn child.]

Ulysses tells Achilles that he "must faith in my plan. We board the ships and reach the open sea. Tomorrow we'll return. Yes. Tomorrow. . . under the cover of darkness."

Achilles has other plans. He calls for his arms. "I intend to meet Aeneas on the field of battle." Ulysses: "I cannot stop you, but it's a mistake!" [Why he thinks this is a mistake is never made clear. Achilles has already defeated Hector. He has shown himself to be invincible. Does Aeneas somehow know that Achilles can only be killed if struck in the heel?]

Achilles and Aeneas trade blows. Aeneas evidently doesn't understand that he cannot defeat Achilles, who is invincible except for his ankle.

Deiphobus tells Paris: "Should Aeneas defeat Achilles, no one will dispute his right to take power. To ordinary arms [Achilles is invincible]." He takes an envenomed arrow from his quiver. "But I advise you, you had better do all you can to deprive Aeneas of this victory. Be careful!" Paris realizes what he means as he takes the arrow and places it in his own quiver.

Achilles and Aeneas continue to fight sword against shield, sword against sword. Aeneas seems to be so much bigger than Achilles, the greatest and most powerful warrior of the Greeks.

Paris parks his chariot and sneaks up on the two fighting warriors. Emerging from behind a small tree he takes aim and fires his single poisoned arrow. Supposedly Apollo helps guide his aim [although it is difficult to imagine Apollo taking the side of this particular version of Paris, an effeminate, calculating coward.] The arrow, of course, strikes Achilles in his heel. He winces in pain as the poison in the arrowhead does its work.

Paris approaches and retrieves his arrow. "A poisoned arrow is more effective than a sword."

Unimpressed with this cowardly act, Aeneas strikes Paris with a harshly sarcastic response. "And in what did you dip it, your blood?"

Paris: "Don't forget, Achilles, that it was I who slew Achilles. And it is I who shall return to Troy in triumph, dragging his corpse behind me in the dust."

Aeneas refuses to allow Paris to do this and later, inside Troy, Paris confronts him: "You have asked for it. You have been guilty twice today of treason. Twice. You refused to return to this city with your forces. . . and then you restored the body of Achilles to the Greeks."
Aeneas wants a public trial, but Paris has other plans. He calls for the guards to take him to prison. Aeneas: "You may keep me from speaking in my defense, but you will never escape the accusing silence of the dead whose blood is on your conscience."

Aeneas is led away to prison by the armed guards.

Meanwhile, in the Greek camp, Agamemnon says: "All these warriors on hand. . . and the war will be won by an actor."

Ulysses puts on his helmet. "Actors triumph. . . "he says modestly, "through the genius of their authors." He takes a bow because he is, of course, the author of this scheme. This may be the best line in this film.

The Trojans fall for this ruse, of course, and believe that the war is over. "We have defeated the Greeks." "The Greeks have taken to sea. We are victorious." One woman tells her infant. "The war is over. The gods be praised."

Outside the walls of Troy, Paris addresses the Trojans and all of their allies from Frigia: "My victory over Achilles and your valor. . . have dispelled the last vestiges of the enemy's hopes. "

Several brave Trojans shout that Aeneas led them to victory and won the war, not Paris. "Why isn't he by your side?"

Paris tells a good lie, expecting the people to believe him. "Reasons of state have detained Aeneas in Troy, but it is also in his name that I speak. You may all return to your homes. Today you shall have all the wheat and all the wine you ask for. Besides. . . I have provided for each one of you to receive a prize of gold. What's more. . . all that you find in the Greek camp . . . is yours."

Sinon is brought forth as a prisoner, as Ulysses planned. This is really Sinon's chance to overact. "Do I gaze at last on the great conqueror? You, Paris, the _____ for whom the bards of tomorrow will weave wreaths of glory. You who have slain the invulnerable Achilles!" He falls to his feet to embrace Paris. "I offer thanks to the Olympian gods for this great honor. . . for this favor. . . for this sublime boon to a humble mortal who is about to be put to death. . . about to perish by the hand of mighty Paris. "

Bad is this acting is, Paris' vanity allows himself to be swayed by this rhetoric. "You shall live. And this horse. . . which the fugitives have built to win the favor of the Olympians. . . is now our trophy. . . and will be taken. . . within the walls of Troy."

As we might guess, Cassandra, Paris' psychic sister, does not approve of this decision. Her second site allows her to see what is really going on. . . and the disaster which they are bringing in amongst them. As usual, no one, including Paris, believes her warning. Paris tells her to silence the voice of her madness. Cassandra tells him to destroy the horse "or it will destroy us all."

Inside the prison deep within the walls of Troy, Aeneas expresses his disappointment at not being able to be with his wife during the birth of their child. "This is the worst torment of all," he tells Cassandra.

Cassandra: "Do not torment yourself, Aeneas. If your son is born during the night, you will hear his cry." [If she is psychic, doesn't she know exactly when he will be born?]

Aeneas: "Go back to her. Tell her for me. . . what my own lips are unable to express.'

Cassandra: "But the Trojans see no visions tonight. It is I who dream for Troy. . . but it is a nightmare!"

Aeneas fails to understand her warning. "We shall live with the nightmare of the past. . . for a long time to come."

Cassandra: "But for what the future holds. . . .who. . . who will find the time to weep, Aeneas? This is one night which will be never-ending."
Aeneas: "Cassandra. . . your voice for me. . . speaks the truth."
If this is true, he is the only human destined to believe her. Evidently he does not know that all of Cassandra's prophecies are fated to be disbelieved because of her broken deal with Apollo and his curse on her.

When Sinon sees that the courtyard is not heavily guarded because the Trojans think that the Greeks have gone and the war is over, he grabs a torch and signals from the walls of the city. He slaps his hand on a leg of the huge horse. The door in the under-belly of the wooden animal opens and Greeks descend, led by Ulysses wearing his stylish, trend-setting armor. They set upon and slay a group of guards sitting around.

The front gate is opened by those Greeks that were hidden inside the horse and Greek troops swarm into the city. Menelaus yells: "Now we will burn down the city!"

The Trojans are ruthlessly massacred. Even a woman holding an infant is killed and falls with the infant still in her arms. We see fires everywhere. Trojans try to flee, even though they have nowhere to run. This carnage on the part of the Greeks is what makes many of the Olympian gods angry with them. Fortunately, a few Trojan families abandon their apartments. They will be among the few survivors who will follow Aeneas out of the burning city.

Glaucus and other friends of Aeneas pry loose the barred door of the prison and free Aeneas. "The city's on fire," he is told.
"The Greeks!" Aeneas intelligently observes. "Glaucus! Muster all the men you can. . .." [Those who are still alive or who are not fleeing the Greek soldiers.] "to defend the citadel. Come with me."
For some reason, this is the last time we see Aeneas in this film.

Inside their royal chamber, Paris and Helen await the coming of the Greek soldiers. Paris stands helpless, unable to decide what to do or where to go. He is no longer the brave leader of the soldiers who wants to cut off the retreat of the Greeks. Nor is he the archer who shot Achilles from behind. Helen says: "These flames burn all bonds, but ours has been destroyed by these ten long years, Paris." [We hear the shouts of dying people outside while she lounges on the bed.]
Paris (pleading): "Helen. What should I do?"
Helen (with acute sensitivity): "You could try to flee, but you do not know where. Or try to fight, but you lack the strength. Or kill yourself, but you lack the courage. You are able only to wait until someone deals you the final blow which will hurl you headlong into the yawning void."

Shortly after this speech, Greek soldiers enter their private chamber, followed by their leader and Helen's husband - Menelaus. He stomps toward them, ready to slay them both. Helen calls his name twice. The first time she says his name, she is hailing him; the second time she is speaking softly. He approaches her. With his sword he does not cut off her head but removes the crown which makes her a princess of Troy. . . Helen of Troy. Unfortunately for her, this messes up her beautiful blonde hair.

Menelaus shouts to Paris. "Pick that up! Pick that up!"
Paris does so. Menelaus: "Now put it on your head." Maybe he also thinks that Paris is a bit too fey. "On your head, I say. Your head." Again, Paris does so. "That's it. And now. . . on that bed. Go on."
Again, Paris, not having much choice, obeys him. He sits on the bed wearing the princess crown. "Down," Menelaus tells him. "Down!" Then he plunges his sword into his stomach. Paris gulps for his breath.

Then Menelaus hands his sword to Helen. "Here. Strike him also. And put out your image that still gleams in his eye." Helen approaches Paris on the bed. Instead of stabbing him, however, she touches him gently.
Paris is dying a painful death. Finally, he falls over and dies on the bed. Helen then looks at Menelaus, her husband. Neither one says a word.
Apparently the ugly Menelaus is still in love with his beautiful wife.
The scene then switches abruptly to outside the walls of Troy.

The transition is so abrupt that something might be missing - like the escape of Aeneas with his wife. In THE AENEID by Virgil, Aeneas tries to escape with his father, his wife, and his infant son. His wife is killed as they flee, but Aeneas does not know this until he goes back to search for her when she becomes separated from him and encounters the ghost of Creusa.

Aeneas escapes with his son Ascanius or Julius (Julio, to the Italians) and his father. His son survives the journey - which is an odyssey like that experienced by Odysseus (Ulysses) - and makes it all the way to Italy.

In this film, however, we cut to a shot of the survivors of the destruction of Troy walking away from the burning city. Why the men are not all killed and the women and children taken as slaves we do not know. We do not see Aeneas or his father and son with them, but we do see them both in the next film about Aeneas called THE AVENGER; THE LAST GLORY OF TROY where we find Aeneas and some of the Trojans arriving in Italy.
On the soundtrack, we hear choral music (voices singing along with music)

Narrator: "In these films the past perishes, but they light the way to the future. Far away, on the undiscovered shores of Italy where the race of Aeneas will find safety" [but not without problems, including fighting another war] "a new city will arise and amaze the world. Troy was mortal. Rome will be known as The Eternal City."

This has to be the strangest ending of any sword-and-sandal film, at least in this DVD version. Perhaps a release of an uncut version of this film is being prepared. Those of us who like mythology and films that are closer to the original Greek myths hope so. If I had time in a mythology course, I might show this film after I show THE FURY OF ACHILLES, perhaps followed by THE AVENGER: THE LAST GLORY OF TROY. Of the three, however, THE FURY OF ACHIILLES would have to be my first choice. What do you think?

Take part of Homer, mix with Virgil, and add Steve Reeves
2003-04-21 - "The Trojan Horse" ("La Guerra di Troia") is one of those films that might inspire young boys to actually and go read Homer's "Iliad," at which point they will discover that this 1962 Steve Reeves film has little to do with that epic poem. Screenwriters Ugo Liberatore, Federico Zardi and Giorgio Stegani do incorporate parts of the "Iliad" into this film, but every time we see something familiar they put a twist on it that will make those of us who study classical mythology wince. The two English speaking stars in this film are muscle man Reeves, who plays Aeneas, and John Drew Barrymore (son of John, dad of Drew) plays Ulysses (using his Greek name Odysseus would apparently confuse the audience).

Like Homer's epic we begin in the 10th year of the Trojan War, which began when Paris (Warner Bentivegna) abducted the most beautiful woman in the world, Helen (Edy Vessel), despite the fact she was the wife of Menelaus (Nando Tamberlani), King of Sparta. Basically the film picks up at the end of the "Iliad": Achilles (Arturo Dominici) has killed Hector to avenge the death of his friend Patroculus, and has been dragging the Trojan prince's corpse around behind his chariot. While the Greeks hold the funeral rites for Patroculus, King Priam (Carlo Tamberlani) comes to beg for the body of his son, accompanied by Aeneas. The memorable scene when Priam moves the heart of Achilles to pity is now replaced by one in which the Greeks mock the king of Troy.

At this point it becomes clear this is a Steve Reeves movie: Achilles invites Aeneas to join in the funeral games and fight the Greek hero Ajax (Mimmo Palmara). Aeneas agrees, provided he gets Hector's armor back if he wins, which, of course he does. The story then focuses on the struggle to fill the power vacuum left by Hector's death. Paris has all the nobility and upper class, while Aeneas leads the regular soldiers. Because of his leadership position Aeneas actually argues the Trojans should return Helen to her husband, but nobody agrees with this idea. Instead Aeneas is sent off to find much needed reinforcements from nearby kingdoms, while Paris lets himself get suckered in negotiations with Ulysses. The next thing you know, the Greeks are building a giant wooden horse.

To be fair, "The Trojan Horse" does touch on the key points of the end of the Trojan War, not only with regards to the trick by which the Greeks enter the city but also the death of Achilles. Keep in mind that this was a French-Italian production with an Italian director. Given that Aeneas is the central figure in Virgil's epic poem "The Aeneid," and that Rome was founded by his descendants, it makes perfect sense that the characters role would be beefed up (hee hee hee) in this retelling of the climax of the Trojan War. The battles scenes are descent and the cinematography by Rino Filipponi is pretty good overall, but the acting is (altogether now) about as wooden as the horse (ha ha ha).

In the end, the audacity of the adaptation ups the entertainment value of this film for me. I have seen plenty of great works of literature dealt with less faithfully than Homer and except for the opening of the film, most of the action here does take place after the "Iliad." If you are a devout student of classical mythology, then "The Trojan Horse" will probably offend you greatly. But if you are a fan of Steve Reeves then you will find this film to be more literate than any other one of his he-man films.

One of the better sword and sandal movies
2002-08-05 - I was always partial to Reeves. He seemed to have a certain charisma about him and his movies were above the rest of the flock.This movie is about the Trojan war and is moderately entertaining. There are some good war scenes and I didn't feel that it dragged as one reviewer said.There was a sequel called the Avenger which is also a decent film.Good movie starring the incomparable Mr. Reeves.

Decent epic drama
2001-03-29 - This movie has a slightly more intelligent script than other Steve Reeve sword-and-sandle epics, but the story and main characters are not as entertaining as compared to Reeves' earlier "Hercules" pictures. The sexy Sylva Koscina is also missing here. As usual, the clumsy dubbing is obvious, but adds to the charm of the picture.

Above average, but not great
2001-03-11 - For the movies of that genre, the production was above average. Some good war scenes. But the movie does drag. Great for the diehard Reeves fans but a letdown from other Reeves flics.I liked White Warrior and Last Days of Pompeii better. And of course Hercules and Hercules Unchained.I hope [I find] more of Reeves movies like Giant of Marathon, Goliath and the Barbarians and Duel of the Titans.