Red-Barracuda Directed by Italian jack-of-all-genres Antonio Margheriti, this action-adventure flick is set in classical antiquity. Rome is threatened by a mysterious doomsday weapon devised by their enemies, the Druids. The Emperor Julius Caesar assembles an elite team and dispatches them to Gaul on a search and destroy mission.Unlike a lot of other peplum flicks, Giants of Rome does not have a mythological fantasy story. Instead it sets its action in the real Roman-Gaul wars. But like all in the sword and sandal genre its ram packed with the usual staples of the sub-genre, i.e. lots of fights, heroes being captured and heroes escaping again. Consequently, like other similar films, it does get a little repetitive after a while. But the biggest disappointment for me was when we discover the true nature of the terrible weapon. It's simply a big catapult and I'm pretty sure no one in the audience could have been too impressed with that big reveal! I thought the mysterious Druids would have come up with something a little more impressive than that.

Chase_Witherspoon Better than average sword and sandal time-filler with the underrated Richard Harrison starring as Claudius, solider of fortune selected with three others by Caesar to undertake a deadly mission to destroy a secret weapon that the Druids are using to repel Casear's forces. Along the way, the quartet become a quintet with the addition of the young and impressionable 'boy who wants to be a warrior' type (Guida), and then a "magnificent seven" when they encounter captured Romans Edua (Tessier) and her cowardly guard Drussus (Hersent), being tortured by the Druids.Unencumbered by the usual overdeveloped musculature, an athletic Harrison employs his trained acting to good effect as the aggressively loyal Roman solider who'll give to the last drop to secure Caesar the platform he needs to succeed. Ably supported by Italian leading man Ettore Manni and with good performances by the supporting cast, Anthony Dawson (aka Antonio Margheriti) delivers a consistently watchable, gritty and engaging picture, far more worthy than the paltry four stars it currently attracts.Some superb battle scenes, suspense, occasional light humour, romance and tragedy are complemented by colourful characters, given extra definition through Harrison and Manni's balanced performances. It's not "The Fall of the Roman Empire" by any stretch, but as a "Guns of Navarone" of Ancient Rome (you'll see the similarities with Stanley Baker and Gia Scala's characters in particular), it does okay and should entertain.

ma-cortes "Giants of Rome" is an average storytelling about Caesar and Vercingetorix , dealing with adventures of a brave group behind the enemy lines . This is a fairly Sword and Sandals standard from the 60s starred by the American hunk Richard Harrison who acted in several Spaghetti and Musclemen epics . It's made middling scale with some spectacular scenes and Peplum style. It concerns about Julius Caesar and his famous existence on Gaul, including feats, fights, political events , betrayal, wars and the known battle of Alesia . Vercingetorix provokes a general rebellion against Roman domination, he rallies his people and tribes when they are threatened by army commanded by Julius Caesar (Alexandro Sperli). Caesar asks troops to senate ruled by senator Pompeius( Piero Lulli) for fighting against the Barbarians . Caesar assigns a risked mission to Claudius Marcellus (Richard Harrison) who enlists a squad of specialists (Ettore Manni ,Alberto Dell'Acqua )and swears Caesar that they will encounter the giant arms before Caesar carries out his attack some days later. Our heroes get trapped and tortured repeatedly but arrange to getaway . Along the way, they flee from a Druid jail and take a prisoned Roman soldier and the gorgeous Livilla (Wandisa Guida) who falls in love with Marcellus . Although the deeds described are historical inaccurate, some events are vivid and authentic.The action is regularly done and the story drags occasionally, however to be liked for hardcore Peplum lovers. This Sword and Sandals movie is a crossover in Peplum ink of ¨Guns of Navarone¨ with a powerful weapon that threatens the army , including a traitor and ¨Dirty dozen¨ also with a team of experts on diverse skills . The picture is partially based on historical events when happened Roman-Gaul wars. These are the following : Gallic chieftain Vercingetorix (dead 46 a.c) was an insightful and valiant warrior, whose father was captured and executed by Romans, he was leader a rebellion against Roman domination. He seeks justice by winning freedom for Gaul from the Romans, and soon he raises an army of his own to defeat Caesar . Vercingetorix was definitely defeated in Alesia, where took place a long siege. Other adaptations about Caesar and Vercingetorix are the following : ¨Julius Caesar the conqueror¨(1962) with Rik Battaglia as Vercingentorix and Cameron Mitchell as Caesar ; 'Vercingetorix(2001)' by Jacques Dorffman with Chistopher Lambert and Klaus Mara Brandauer ; 'Julius Caesar(2004 TV)' by Uli Edel with Jeremy Sisto as Caesar and Heino Ferch as Vercingetorix.The motion picture is professionally directed by Anthony M. Dawson or Antonio Margheriti , an Italian craftsman expert on adventure and Peplum as he proved in 1964 Ursus, Il Terrore Dei Kirghisi , 1964 Soraya, Queen of desert , 1963 El Justiciero Rojo , 1963 Il Crollo di Roma , 1962 La Freccia d'Oro , among others . Rating : 5,5 ; passable and acceptable.

Poseidon-3 Weighing in fairly close to the end of the Italian Sword & Sandal phenomenon, this one is pretty easy to get through and offers several interesting sequences. Harrison plays one of four talented muscle-men assigned to reach and destroy the secret weapon of their enemy, the Druids. They are eventually joined by a few others, some of whom are more harmful than helpful in the end. Harrison is very handsome (vaguely similar to James Franciscus) and not as bulky as most of the other heroes of these types of movies. His chest is covered in all but a scene or two (though his costume is rather revealing in front!) He is adept enough at carrying the lead role, as he did in so many other films of varying genres. As in all of these films, the dubbing ranges from okay to dreadful, but this one is visually arresting enough and has an interesting enough story thrust to overcome that handicap. There's a prison break, a memorable sacrifice from one of Harrison's men, a nifty attack on two rafts and a fiery climax in the enemy camp. As in most of these films, there's a horde of extras, lots of swordplay and battling, plenty of beefcake in evidence and a curvy female for the hero to hug at the end.