"Romulus and the Sabines" is a relatively obscure peplum film starring Roger Moore as the titular Romulus in the real-life story of how the Romans kidnapped women from the Sabine nation during the very early days of Rome. If you live in the United States or have access to a VPN, you can watch the film on many free streaming services. It is also part of Mill Creek's out-of-print "Warriors" DVD set. Be warned that the image quality is very bad.
The film suffers from the lack of plot that many films of this genre have. It opens with the Romans riding along a river with no context. We are not told who the "Romans" even are. An understanding of history is required to have an idea of what's happening. Romulus visits the Sabine ruler to ask nicely for access to his women. When he refuses Romulus returns under the guise of throwing a big party. The Sabines become too drunk to realize that their women are being kidnapped. The Sabines return, actors bop each other for a while and the film just ends in a manner wholly unsatisfying to the real-life history.
There is no consistent tone. The reality was surely terrifying for the women involved. Yet, the kidnapping has a light-heartedness about it as if the Romans are involved in a college prank. The women even get to choose their husbands and are undisturbed after being forcibly extracted from their homeland. The comedy contrasts poorly with the real-life sexual violence that surely happened.
Moore as Romulus is competent with how inconsistent the writing is. He is imposing as the leader of a military expedition and governor in some scenes. Alternatively, he is quite wooden in the many romance scenes in the film. It is hard to believe he would later be cast as James Bond. For whatever reason he has two love interests, one of whom is abandoned for plot convenience early in the film. This is a catalyst for the later conflict that isn't necessary. It just leaves you thinking he is a dick.
The film's greatest comedy is actually the dream sequence in which Romulus's "father" Mars and Venus come to him in his dreams to try and persuade his behavior. They are the angel and devil on the shoulder you see in the cartoons. The interchange is the closest thing the film has to real history in that the Roman gods were often very human in their mannerisms. The scene could easily be a conversation about the myth of Romulus a real Roman would have someone in school.
The film suffers from the lack of plot that many films of this genre have. It opens with the Romans riding along a river with no context. We are not told who the "Romans" even are. An understanding of history is required to have an idea of what's happening. Romulus visits the Sabine ruler to ask nicely for access to his women. When he refuses Romulus returns under the guise of throwing a big party. The Sabines become too drunk to realize that their women are being kidnapped. The Sabines return, actors bop each other for a while and the film just ends in a manner wholly unsatisfying to the real-life history.
There is no consistent tone. The reality was surely terrifying for the women involved. Yet, the kidnapping has a light-heartedness about it as if the Romans are involved in a college prank. The women even get to choose their husbands and are undisturbed after being forcibly extracted from their homeland. The comedy contrasts poorly with the real-life sexual violence that surely happened.
Moore as Romulus is competent with how inconsistent the writing is. He is imposing as the leader of a military expedition and governor in some scenes. Alternatively, he is quite wooden in the many romance scenes in the film. It is hard to believe he would later be cast as James Bond. For whatever reason he has two love interests, one of whom is abandoned for plot convenience early in the film. This is a catalyst for the later conflict that isn't necessary. It just leaves you thinking he is a dick.
The film's greatest comedy is actually the dream sequence in which Romulus's "father" Mars and Venus come to him in his dreams to try and persuade his behavior. They are the angel and devil on the shoulder you see in the cartoons. The interchange is the closest thing the film has to real history in that the Roman gods were often very human in their mannerisms. The scene could easily be a conversation about the myth of Romulus a real Roman would have someone in school.