gridoon2018 The first hour is rather dull, probably because it focuses more on the righteous Hebrews than the fun-loving Sodom and Gomorrah folks; but then the film hits its stride, with a series of spectacular sequences: the battle of the Hebrews with a nomadic tribe (almost rivaling the battle scenes in "Spartacus"), the water dam break, the slave revolt, the long one-on-one fight between Stewart Granger and Stanley Baker, and of course the destruction of the cities by the hand of God. Even Robert Aldrich's direction becomes more dynamic. Of course the censorship of the times restricts what can actually be shown on the screen, and what is shown barely justifies the infamy of the title cities, but there are some mildly kinky moments, mostly courtesy of Stanley Baker, who suggestively bites the finger of his sister and asks Podesta "Do I remind you of your father?" while he's kissing her. *** out of 4.

mark.waltz There's really only a shell of the biblical tale of the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah where sin went rampant and caused God to strike them down through a truly violent earthquake that mixed its power with an underground volcano. Slave girls with definite Caucasian backgrounds and modern hairstyles indicate that not much research was done into look of the times. Even researching past biblical epics would have been big help in maintaining a realistic view of the actual time period. Stewart Granger is cast as Lot, and unless you are a student of biblical studies, the movie will not give you much detail into the time period or relationship to other more famous biblical persons. The only real sin that the film shows the residents of Sodom and Gomorrah is of violence and certain elements of sexual perversion (all heterosexual) including what seems to be the aftermath of a huge orgy.Anouk Aimée provides the camp element here as the evil Queen, mistress of slave Pier Angeli who marries Lot and becomes the infamous pillar of salt in the film's closing sequences. It is everything leading up to the destruction of the two cities which seems to take forever to lead up to. Once this occurs though, the special effects are pretty amazing, and the final sequence of Granger shouting out to Angeli to look away is pretty frightening. But this film is one of the reasons why film historians often call the biblical epics poor representations of recorded history, something obviously caused by the presence of a still stiff production code that couldn't allow the elements of the recorded history to be shown on screen.

Leofwine_draca An Italian sword and sandal flick with a tenuous Biblical connection and an American director in Robert Aldrich. SODOM & GOMORRAH should ideally deserve epic status, given the effort and expenditure so clearly having gone into its production, but somehow it works out as less entertaining than even a cheesy Maciste movie.The problem with this film is its screenplay, which is all over the place. The Biblical tale of the destruction of Sodom & Gomorrah provides the overarching storyline, but along with that we get battles, duels, rivalry, romance, and plenty more besides. Despite all this intrigue and adventure, the production is still far too long, bloated and sluggish rather a film which pulls you in and carries you along with it.The openly wooden Stewart Granger stars as the square-jawed Lot who leads his people to Sodom to do battle with the villainous prince, Astaroth (a slumming Stanley Baker, who deserves a lot better than this). Along the way he hooks up with his wife, a pillar (pun intended) of the local community and played by the exceptionally gorgeous Pier Angeli. Familiar Italian players lurk around in the background (Rik Battaglia, Giacomo Rossi-Stuart, Gabriele Tinti) while the foreground scenes are preoccupied with scenery-spitting actors.When SODOM & GOMORRAH moves, it gets entertaining, and the inevitable climax is at once rousing and packed with drama, filled with the kind of excellent effects that they just don't produce anymore. Earlier battle scenes and a bit involving a flood are also decent, so it's just a shame that what goes on between the incident is so dull. No amount of women in skimpy attire or beautiful backdrops can change that, unfortunately.

John Allen For those who wish to watch a Bible movie that is engaging, well acted and visually exciting, you can't do much better than Sodom and Gomorrah, starring Stewart Granger and Anouk Aimee.Two cities, both filled with hedonism, treachery and lasciviousness, are visited upon by Abraham's nephew Lot and his people. For a price, they settle in across the river from Sodom, a city wrought with slavery, excess and drunkenness. The citizens of Sodom, long since accustomed to their lifestyles, are intrigued by these hard working, morally upright people who call themselves sons and daughters of a desert God. Sodom's ruler sees these people as an opportunity for wealth, while her brother, the King of Sodom, sees the potential for military strength. Either way, the Hebrews are in more danger than they realize, especially when, after an attack by a desert clan, the Hebrews lose everything and must move inside Sodom for protection.From there it is a downward spiral until the people themselves become like the Sodomites, knowing good but doing evil. And Lot, too, becomes ensconced with this new life of sin and power, until he is brought down by the very ones he obeyed.It is a powerful movie of redemption and righteous judgment, and it is a wonderful movie to see. I highly recommend "Sodom & Gomorrah". For those of us who love the Biblical epics, it's hard to top.~John