The Last Days of Pompeii (1960)

A Roman centurion returns to Pompeii from the wars to find his home ransacked and to discover his father has been killed. He swears vengeance on the Christians who appear to have done it and searches for them in the city. This takes him through the court of the consul, a pagan temple, a prison and finally the arena where he fights for his life and to defend the Christians he now sees as innocent. Then mount Vesuvius erupts. This is a good film and could have stood up as an engrossing story without the volcanic ending but the latter is very well staged and ends the film with a bang. Several writers adapted the Bulwer-Lytton novel by changing most of it. The film looks excellent in widescreen (Supertotalscope no less!) and Eastmancolour and is enhanced by the fine film scoring of Angelo Francesco Lavagnino, Each frame of the film is a pictorial delight, thanks to cinematographer Antonio L. BallesterosSteve Reeves as the hero is the usual Steve Reeves as the hero and Christine Kaufmann is her usual gorgeous self. Very able support is given by Fernando Rey as the sinister high priest and Anne-Marie Baumann as the duplicitous Julia not to mention various beefy types in other supporting roles.One of the better peplum movies.

It's 1959, and the season of badly-dubbed spaghetti-easterns. As the title suggests, this wasn't a Hollywood epic.Steve Reeves briefly cornered the action-man market in the way that Stallone and Arnie did more recently. Here he plays a legionary who has come home to Pompeii. It's 79AD so that's not a very positive career-move. There's all kinds of trouble brewing in the old town, featuring a gang of nocturnal murderers, and hapless Christians who are always good for a stoning. But the real trouble - as we all know - is brewing underground.Reeves had an excellent physique that is shown to maximum effect here. With one blow of his forearm he smashes a stout table in two. You don't want to upset him. Most of the movie fusses about the partisan squabbles and the murderous clique and keeps us waiting for what we know is going to happen.For a small budget movie the volcano effects and town destruction are not too bad, really. But it's still rather an anti-climax. This is really an advertisement for Mr Reeves and his mighty sinews as much as the power of Vesuvius. If you're a fan of well-figured young men, you'll definitely enjoy this, otherwise...It's about on a par with the longer, but similarly plotted and paced though better-dubbed 'Sodom & Gomorrah'. Don't wait up to watch either; you could have more convincing dreams.

This may have been the first film Steve (Mr. Hercules, himself) Reeves made after his enormously popular two Hercules films. Reeves certainly did not lose any of his granite carved physique before signing on to do this film. Story concerns Reeves as roman tribune who returns home to Pompeii after a sabattical in the roman legions. He discovers his father dead and seeks out to avenge his murder, all the while keeping the ruling class in Pompeii in worry that he may use his influence and go to Rome to emperor Tiberius. The christians are blamed for a load of murders in and around Pompeii, but in the background it is not the christians who are committing murders but a well organized band of roman traitors, who disguise as leaders during the day but murderers at night. One of the corrupt leaders is the lovely Anne Marie Bauman, who merrily rides along on a home made roman sled early in the film. Even the local church leader is part of the gang of henchmen...Reeves meets the daughter of the roman counsel and a relationship begins. Reeves is in love, but doubts the sincerity and truth of the lovely Christine Kaufman who is a self professed Christian and meets secretly with them at night in a cave. Reeves quickly discovers and learns the christians are not murderers and sets out to prove it...he then gets gang attacked by the roman traitors. Correct part of the film shows blind roman girl named Nydia who is also a Christian convert and is a maid to Kaufman. In the original novel about Pompeii there is a blind girl named Nydia. Soon Reeves fights off and kills band of traitors along with the help of his followers. Volcano then erupts and shows the total destruction of Pompeii....only Reeves and Kaufman are able to escape via a small boat.....very good special effects showing the destruction of Pompeii with Reeves running in the streets trying to find his love.... Check out scene with Reeves pulling chains out of prison walls and his set of massive biceps bulging. Reeves certainly had the body of a roman gladiator and then some...a body carved from granite. Of of Reeves best films.

....but the proper nouns!Glaucus,Ione,Arbaces ,Nydia.This flick tells a story even more confused than the novel.Sir Bulwer-Lytton's book had assets : its precise depictions of the daily life in a soon-to-be-destroyed city,the spoiled youth Glaucus is part of ,his dilemma -he was born a Greek man and his country was conquered by the Romans,he had no friends,but was surrounded by parasites ,like Clodius -and of course a sincere if childish look at the rising of Christianity.Sergio Leone's script includes tortures,orgies and attacks of hooded villains(?).Of course it kept the final eruption but ,by today's standards,it's barely more than fireworks .Fans of Steve Reeves may be satisfied ,but Bulwer-Lytton's readers will fatally be disappointed.NB:the miniseries ,made in 1984,was more successful,although it added new characters and a different ending(Nydia does not get drowned)