Honestly, I am a fan of Sword and Sandle films. Unfortunately, this did nothing for me. Although the DVD I picked up promised "breathtaking action scenes", the lovey-dovey romance took over most of the film, and the most exciting battle scenes were relegated to the the tail end of the whole movie.
Phillipedes is a good example of a "perfect hero". He has very few character flaws, other than being seemingly obsessed with a woman supposedly not meant for him. The main women all swoon or fight over him. His acting was unimpressive, and he is much too perfect to really be an enjoyable character.
Theocrates is the classic villain. He quite plainly spends most of his time trying to stir up evil feelings against Phillipedes and abusing others. He was obviously engaged to Andromeda at the beginning, thus setting up 2 different love triangles. He dies a horrible death at the end of this movie, like every villain at the time.
Andromeda, I'll give her, is very beautiful, but is just the classic blonde. Obsessed with Phillipedes, she shows no real strength of character. She is simply an attractive goddess with few other attributes. Her name, as in the Ethiopian princess, is meant to give an air of extreme beauty, which is her only outstanding trait.
Characters like Karis took away from the plot. She was just there to prolong the movie and draw out the story, making it more difficult to follow. The dark-haired, cold hearted beauty, she obviously could never compare to the sunny-haired, bright-eyed blonde she is competing with.
Worst of all was the filmography. The whole movie was in a terrible state. The version I watched was dark, grainy, and in poor shape in general. The colors seemed very fake and out of place, even for a late '50s film.
Predictable plot, standardized characters, and fake sets? This was clearly not an action movie. It should instead have been labeled as a love story in the simpler days of our world.
Phillipedes is a good example of a "perfect hero". He has very few character flaws, other than being seemingly obsessed with a woman supposedly not meant for him. The main women all swoon or fight over him. His acting was unimpressive, and he is much too perfect to really be an enjoyable character.
Theocrates is the classic villain. He quite plainly spends most of his time trying to stir up evil feelings against Phillipedes and abusing others. He was obviously engaged to Andromeda at the beginning, thus setting up 2 different love triangles. He dies a horrible death at the end of this movie, like every villain at the time.
Andromeda, I'll give her, is very beautiful, but is just the classic blonde. Obsessed with Phillipedes, she shows no real strength of character. She is simply an attractive goddess with few other attributes. Her name, as in the Ethiopian princess, is meant to give an air of extreme beauty, which is her only outstanding trait.
Characters like Karis took away from the plot. She was just there to prolong the movie and draw out the story, making it more difficult to follow. The dark-haired, cold hearted beauty, she obviously could never compare to the sunny-haired, bright-eyed blonde she is competing with.
Worst of all was the filmography. The whole movie was in a terrible state. The version I watched was dark, grainy, and in poor shape in general. The colors seemed very fake and out of place, even for a late '50s film.
Predictable plot, standardized characters, and fake sets? This was clearly not an action movie. It should instead have been labeled as a love story in the simpler days of our world.