Geraldine
The story, direction, characters, and writing/dialogue is akin to taking a tranquilizer shot to the neck, but everything else was so well done.
Rainey Dawn
Once again there is ample costumes and props that are eye-candy for the viewer, a few lovely sets and a somewhat political story, some romance thrown in with little action. It did not take me long to fast-forward through this one.The film is about: A Greek soldier leads the fight against an invading Persian army. But it's very talky with little action. They spend almost the entire film just talking with all the stuff that lead up to the "great battle scene" which had Andromeda tied to the front of a ship as if she was suppose to be some kind of martyr like Joan of Arc.Sadly, I was unimpressed with this story. I only enjoyed some of the costuming and props.1/10
ma-cortes
The story is set in 490 BC, during Medic Wars between Greeks and Persians .The Battle of Marathon was a watershed in the Greco-Persian wars, showing the Greeks that the Persians could be beaten; the eventual Greek triumph in these wars can be seen to begin at Marathon. Since the following two hundred years saw the rise of the Classical Greek civilization, which has been enduringly influential in western society, the Battle of Marathon is often seen as a pivotal moment in European history .The defeat at Marathon barely touched the vast resources of the Persian empire, yet for the Greeks it was an enormously significant victory. It was the first time the Greeks had beaten the Persians, and showed them that the Persians were not invincible, and that resistance, rather than subjugation, was possible. The battle was a defining moment for the young Athenian democracy, showing what might be achieved through unity and self-belief; indeed, the battle effectively marks the start of a 'golden age' for Athens. The film is inspired on facts but most events developed are fictitious . Having brought home to Athens the Olympic victor's laurel crown, Philippides (Steve Reeves) is proclaimed leader of the Athenian Sacred Guard , which is expected to defend the city-state of Athens, a year after the chasing of the tyrant Hippias. Athenian followers of Hippias ( uncredited Gerard Herter ) led by Theocrites ( Sergio Fantoni ) conspire and scheme a coup d'etat and a fiendish treason . Meantime , Philippides' heart is already taken by a young girl named Andromeda (a gorgeous Mylene Demongeot ), daughter of Creuso (Ivo Garrani) , one of the various conspirators. Everything personal is likely to be put on hold when the break news that the Persian King of kings Darius's ( Daniele Vargas) vast army is marching on Greece, hoping its internal division will make its conquest a walk-over. Hearless Theocrites reproaches Miltiades to hold back the sacred guard to defend the Pallas Atenea temple after a likely defeat, and proposes instead to negotiate terms with Darius, but is told an alliance with Sparta could save the Hellenic nation. At the same time, Athens's greatest runner, Pheidippides (or Philippides in some accounts by historian Herodotus) had been sent to Sparta to request that the Spartan army ( on of them results to be Sergio Ciani , or Alan Steel , another hunk man like Reeves) march to the aid of Athens. Philippides makes the trail and survives an ambush on his journey ; he goes back with Sparta's engagement during the Persian attack in far greater numbers on Militiades valiant troops. Charis (Daniela Rocca as the matronly sacrificial love interest) , left for dead after overhearing Darius's orders, reaches the camp to tell that the Persian fleet, now led by traitor Theocrites, is heading for Piraeus to take Athens. Miltiades (Albert Lupo) sends Philippides ahead to hold out with the sacred guard until his hopefully victorious Greek troops arrive . Under the guidance of Miltiades, the Athenian general with the greatest experience of fighting the Persians, the Athenian army marched quickly to block the two exits from the plain of Marathon, and prevent the Persians moving inland. Of course , the hero Philippides defeats Darius the Persian at the Battle of Marathon .This Sword and Sandals movie contains adventures , thrills , a love story and hokey historic events dealing with the time of the Medic Wars in which Persian armies sweep the Ancient world , being defeated in Marathon . The picture is well starred by the bouncing Steve Reeves as the famous war-time messenger of the Battle of Marathon named Pheidippides.In 1957, Reeves went to Italy and played the lead character in Pietro Francisci's Hercules, a very low-budget epic based loosely on the tales of Jason and the Argonauts, though inserting Hercules into the lead role .From 1959 through 1964, Reeves went on to appear in a string of sword and sandal movies shot on relatively small budgets, and although he is best known for his portrayal of the Greek hero Hercules, he played the character only twice: in the 1957 film and its 1959 sequel Hercules Unchained (released in the US in 1960). He played a number of other characters on screen, including Sir Edward Bulwer-Lytton's Glaucus of Pompeii; Goliath ; Tatar hero Hadji Murad; Romulus, the legendary founder of Rome (opposite Gordon Scott as his twin brother Remus); pirate and self-proclaimed governor of Jamaica, Captain Henry Morgan; and Karim, the Thief of Baghdad. Twice he played Aeneas of Troy and twice he played Emilio Salgari's Malaysian hero, Sandokan.Screen-written by Ennio De Concini who wrote lots of Peplum , Giallo and Spaghetti Western . This film is colorfully photographed by the great Mario Bava who little time after launched his career as as a cult terror filmmaker . Atmospheric and evocative musical score by Robert Nicolisi . The Giant of Marathon (Italian: La Battaglia di Maratona) was regularly directed by Jacques Tourneur and Mario Bava (Bava had to step in to complete the film) and in Italy signed it Bruno Vailati who actually was the producer .
bensonmum2
Giant of Marathon could have been a really good movie. It's got a lot going for it. Steve Reeves, fresh off his stint as Hercules, is good and dependable in this kind of movie. He did Sword and Sandal as good as anyone. The movie also has some very nice action sequences. I'm far from an expert, but the battle scenes in Giant of Marathon are the best I've seen in a Sword and Sandal. My favorite bit had to be the ship equipped with James Bond style pinchers that were used to sink other ships. Nice touch. The movie also features a "good" bad guy. Teocrito is about as villainous as they come.But the movie isn't what I would call "really good". It has far too many problems. The first is the love story underlying the action. The love scenes are so corny that they are difficult to watch. Cringe inducing is the best way I can think to describe it. Another real and more important problem is that parts of Giant of Marathon can be incredibly boring. When the battle scenes aren't on screen, nothing happens - a lot of ridiculous talk that isn't in the least interesting.
dbborroughs
Maybe its the dubbing, but this story of a Greek hero who is at first the key to taking control of Athens and later to beating the invading the Persians, should have worked. Certainly it's the best looking Steve Reeves movie, with some really good action sequences but this movie is awful.If its not the the dubbing then perhaps its the editing and direction which appears to have taken the "lets use every piece of available footage" approach to film construction. Sequences go on and on and on. We Persians invade and we get to see every soldier land in Greece, and we see a boulder crash into a camera. Why couldn't the sequences have been trimmed. It makes things seem last for hours despite it only being 90 minutes long.Another clunker from Reeves.
