Cheap The Fall of the Roman Empire (DVD) (Sophia Loren, Stephen Boyd, Alec Guinness, James Mason) (Anthony Mann) Price

Related Products

Customer Reviews of The Fall of the Roman Empire

The Original Gladiator
Another one of the more decent sword and sandal films to come out of the 1960s directed by Michael Mann (El Cid.) The screenplay is quite good and the sets excellent but the acting is somewhat uneven. Nevertheless, the spectacular sets and costumes along with the top-knotch acting of the more seasoned actors more than makes up for the film's defects. <
> <
>The story follows Livius (Stephen Boyd) who is loyal to Marcus Aurelius (Alec Guinness) and lover of Lucilla (the absolutely gorgeous Sophia Loren.) Commodus (Christopher Plummer) resents his father's affections for Livius as well as Lucilla's. Jealous of Livius and fearing that he may take his right to the throne, Commodus seeks to destroy him. Once upon the throne, Commodus becomes a corrupt ruler who takes pleasure in the arena but is fearful of the barbarian hordes coming into Italy. The film also stars James Mason, Omar Sharif, and Eric Porter. <
> <
>One of the major draw backs to the film is Stephen Boyd in the lead role; not only was he a mediocre actor, but his performance as Livius is no different than that of Massala's in Ben Hur; instead of turning bad, he just remains good. I also couldn't stop thinking of Ben Hur when he was in the chariot race at the beginning of the film. Christopher Plummer is outstanding as Commodus but a little too old for the part. Although certainly more historically faithful than Gladiator which was almost pure fantasy, the barbarian hordes were not as formidable as the movie depicts and the fall of Rome was still almost 270 years away. Despite these blemishes, one does get to see plenty of the gorgeous Sophia Loren when she was in her prime of beauty. <
> <
>If you liked 'Gladiator' and don't have a bias against older films, you will probably enjoy this film. The acting is somewhat uneven but that is complemented by the great performances of several seasoned theatrical actors such as Alec Guiness and Christopher Plummer. Although this film is not entirely accurate historically, it's certainly more so than 'Gladiator' or even 'Spartacus.' A good movie to own.

---

the ultimate epic extravaganza
From the lovely murals of the opening titles to the mano a mano combat in the finale, this film has my rapt attention for all of its 188 minutes, and is one of my favorite and most watched films; the stellar cast is superb, and the extraordinary recreation of the center of ancient Rome fantastic, especially for those of us who have walked through the ruins of the Capitoline Hill. <
>Filmed in Spain, Anthony Mann's direction is meticulous, Robert Krasker's cinematography breathtaking, and the Dimitri Tiomkin score enhances every scene. <
> <
>The big name international cast: <
>Christopher Plummer is riveting as Commodus; he is unhinged and cruel, and yet with a certain devilish charm that makes his portrayal believable. His is the pivotal role in the film, and it is Plummer at his finest. <
>Stephen Boyd is excellent as Livius, the heroic element of the story, and his part is the antithesis of his Messala in Ben Hur, and in the wheel crushing chariot race in the first part of the film, he is the one driving the white horses. <
>James Mason can do no wrong in my eyes, and he is fabulous as Timonides the humanitarian philosopher. <
>Sophia Loren is gorgeous in a sensitive performance as Lucilla, Marcus Aurellius's daughter and Livius' love. <
>Other notable performances are from Alec Guiness as Marcus Aurelius, Anthony Qualye as Verulus, and Mel Ferrer as the blind and cunning Cleander. Omar Shariff has a small (pre-Dr. Zhivago) part as Sohamus the Armenian king. <
> <
>Like an historical novel, there are elements that have been changed and shifted to be condensed into a film, but there is much here that is authentic; the battle scenes are spectacular, and "The Fall of the Roman Empire" was one of the last films made to include the thousands of extras, and the vast sweep of epic story-telling, and was at the time the most expensive set (destroyed after filming so that other, smaller budget films would not use it) ever made. <
>Comparisons and similarities will endlessly be made to Ridley Scott's "Gladiator", and there is the coincidence that Richard Harris, who was originally slated to play Commodus, but left the cast after altercations with director Mann, was to play his father Marcus Aurelius in "Gladiator". <
>It astounds me that the only Oscar nomination this film received was Best Original Score, losing to "Mary Poppins", and in a musical sweep, most other awards going to "My Fair Lady". <
>The film ends with a quote from Will Durant: "A great civilization is not conquered from without, until it has destroyed itself from within". <
>

---

The Biggest Film Set in Film History-Ever (until recently).
Re Aleaton3's comments on this film not being historically accurate and the size of the sets used. The Roman Forum set built for this film at Las Matas in Spain (just outside Madrid) was THE BIGGEST OUTDOORS or EXTERIOR FILM SET (as opposed to an INDOORS or INTERIOR FILM SET) in FILM HISTORY up until 2003 when TROY apparently claimed the title (TROY having been filmed in 2003). Refer to every edition of the Guinness Book of Records from 1965 up to 2003 to verify this. It was unique in that it was 3 dimensional (i.e. the buildings WERE 4 SIDED and HAD ROOFS-THERE WERE NO FRONTAL FACADES WITH JUST SOME SCAFFOLDING AT THE BACK AS IN NORMAL SETS. I DON'T THINK THE BUILDINGS HAD ANY INTERIORS. THE SET WAS ALSO VERY ACCURATE ARCHITECTURALLY) and THIS SET WAS DEMOLISHED SOON AFTER FILMING. I know this for sure because I visited this exact location in 1977 and was advised of this (apparently producer SAMUEL BRONSTON didn't want the magnificence of his set being used for any lesser, cheaper productions although the few remaing parts of the set that had not already been demolished were used soon after in "A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum"-see the absolute last title card at the end of that particular film). Incidentally this exact same site ONE YEAR EARLIER had been the location for THE CITY OF PEKING in the same producer's "55 DAYS AT PEKING". That particular set was also demolished soon after filming. As for the historical inaccuracies it is true that emporor MARCUS AURELIUS never OFFICIALLY nominated anyone other than his son COMMODUS as his heir and that COMMODUS DID NOT DIE IN A DUEL TO THE DEATH BUT WAS STRANGLED BY A WRESTLER AFTER BEING DRUGGED. Also THE AUCTIONING-OFF of THE ROMAN EMPIRE at the end of this film DID NOT TAKE PLACE IMMEDIATELY AFTER COMMODUS DIED BUT SEVERAL MONTHS LATER! However the scriptwriters used the "'INVENT AND DESTROY" method of storytelling so beloved to Hollywood. In this theory history cannot absolutely say that there was no character such as LIVIUS (STEPHEN BOYD) or MAXIMUS (RUSSELL CROWE), that emperor MARCUS AURELIUS (ALEC GUINNESS or RICHARD HARRIS) did not secretly annoint him as his heir or that he was not intimately involved with LUCILLA (SOPHIA LOREN or CONNIE NIELSEN)) the daughter of MARCUS AURELIUS (unbeknownst to the scholars and historians of that time). Having INVENTED A PLAUSIBLE THEORY IT MUST BE DESTROYED BY THE FILM''S END SO THAT HISTORY REMAINS REALTIVELY UNDISTURBED. So LIVIUS (this film) or MAXIMUS (GLADIATOR) never actually disturbs history by becoming caesar. Unfortunately either LIVIUS or MAXIMUS killing COMMODUS (CHRISTOPHER PLUMMER or JOAQUIN PHOENIX) in a duel to the death in the Roman Forum or the Colisseum DOES CONTRADICT HISTORY DIRECTLY and EXCEEDS THE LIMITS of the "INVENT AND DESTROY" THEORY. But THIS SEQUENCE IN EACH FILM DOES MAKE GREAT CINEMA and LOOKS VERY SPECTACULAR which is what these types of films are all about.. So for the sake of ENTERTAINING AND OVERWHELMING A MASS AUDIENCE (rather than an audience of historians only ) with VERY SPECTACULAR, ENTERTAINING and HIGHLY DRAMATIC STORIES I think the OCCASIONAL LAPSE in ABSOLUTE HISTORICAL ACCURACY and the OCCASIONAL INTERWEAVING of FICTIONAL CHARACTERS INTO HISTORY is ACCEPTABLE. Most people would not have any idea about ancient roman history had they not seen this film, GLADIATOR or indeed BEN HUR (history contains no refernce whatsoever to anyone called JUDAH BEN HUR either). An exactly historically accurate movie would probably be very boring and interesting only to history professors. The important thing here is that the spriit and atmosphere of the historical period is captured and conveyed to the audience and that the story itself is interesting enough to a mass audience in the first place so as to justify the enormous expenses involved (these productions being so costly). And on these criteria both The FALL of the ROMAN EMPIRE and GLADIATOR (and indeed BEN HUR) more than succeed. If the same extremely high quality of these productions (story-wise) can be maintained then more productions of this sort will be made (given the excellence of MOST computer-generated special effects nowadays the technical excellence of these previous productions should be equalled if not surpassed).