Steve Nyland (Squonkamatic) Serviceable enough Italian produced historical Peplum drawing upon biblical scenario, directed by Spaghetti Western master Ferdinando Baldi at the beginning of his career. Orson Welles glowers and half-whispers his way through a marvelously pointless performance done in only by Goliath himself, who standing about twelve feet tall at 450 pounds is the focus of my thesis on the film.Which is specifically that the Italians -- no doubt limited by 1960 era morality -- made the wrong movie. The scenes with Goliath are its best, and the most enjoyable the one where he is promised command of an army (doesn't care) a roomful of gold (been there/done that) and the prettiest most wholesome women in the kingdom attending to his every bidding. SCORE!The hilarious scene where Goliath sits on a giant throne quaffing a barrel of wine while scantily clad damsels perform a Veil Dance for him should have been the departure point for a much more interesting story exploring just what went down. Though sadly Goliath returns on screen only to slaughter a few guards prior to his disappointingly brief showdown with David. After which the film persists in continuing for a while, missing the point that we weren't dialing in to watch Orson Welles palpitate. We were there for Goliath, and he ruled.

Leofwine_draca David and Goliath is the Italian peplum version of the Biblical story, best known for featuring an aged Orson Welles as the villain of the piece, a ruthless King Saul who rants and raves in his various guest appearances. As a film, it's surprisingly low budget, a set-bound political piece that lacks the kind of basic spectacle that this genre is known for. It's no comparison to the Hollywood blockbuster version of the story, featuring Gregory Peck, and by comparison it just features minor actors spouting badly-dubbed dialogue with the occasional war sequence thrown in to try to keep viewers awake. It doesn't really work.

Claudio Carvalho In Jerusalem, the wicked King Saul (Orson Welles) is visited by the Prophet Samuel (Edward Hilton) after losing the Arch of the Alliance in a war against Asrod (Furio Meniconi), King of the Philistines. Samuel advises that God is not happy with him and the new king of Jerusalem would come from Bethlehem. Meanwhile the shepherd David (Ivo Payer) loses his sweetheart and soon he is summoned by Samuel to go to Jerusalem as the chosen by God. He becomes King Saul's adviser, but the ambitious Captain Abner (Massimo Serato) plots a scheme to get rid of David, and convinces King Saul to send him as an emissary to meet King Asrod. David is challenged by Asrod to fight against the giant Goliath (Kronos) and the impossible happens: David wins Goliath."David e Golia" is a cheesy Italian epic based on a biblical story from the Old Testament and with the attraction of Orson Welles in the role of King Saul of Jerusalem. The sets are poor, most of the acting is only reasonable but this movie is not bad, for a Sunday afternoon. My vote is six.Title (Brazil): "David e Golias" ("David and Goliath")

Chase_Witherspoon Spaghetti biblical study elevated somewhat in status by the appearance of Orson Welles playing King Saul. Ivo Payer is David, the man who would be king of the Israelites, but who must first defeat Asrod, King of the Philistines (Meniconi) who's managed to lure the hermit behemoth Goliath (Kronos) as his secret weapon. Beginning with David's journey to Jerusalem, where he quickly establishes himself as a shepherd (or radical, depending on your lean), freeing the slaves and showing compassion for the wicked, he is taken in by the Prophets and groomed as the next King. His inevitable battle to the death with Goliath is a disappointingly brief action sequence, with Goliath shown in the distance to distort the height difference which is obviously far less than desirable. The bloody battle that follows is everything a sword and sandal movie promises to be, again, albeit too brief.Welles is essentially a peripheral character although unsurprisingly, his performance towers above those around him; Massimo Serato as ally turned conspirator Abner does a reasonable job and although not as buff as a Steve Reeves or Brad Harris, Ivo Payer isn't as wooden as one might expect of films of this ilk. Meniconi too isn't bad as the evil Asrod, although why he would bet the house on a 6 foot maybe 5 inch Neanderthal who can military press an ancient stone tablet beggars belief. But then it did happen according to the Old Testament. Goliath was probably much bigger than depicted here – cinematography tricks fail to enlarge Kronos to the necessary proportions.Colourful sets, appropriate score and functional dialogue (dubbed) permits some standard of entertainment and unlike most biblical epics, "David & Goliath" is compact at about an hour and a half. If you're home alone over Easter or Christmas, don't have high expectations and could cop a low-key sermon (scantily clad dancing girls an unexpected bonus), "David & Goliath" might keep you mildly entertained.