MovieChat Forums > Demetrius and the Gladiators (1954) Discussion > The unrealistic ending

The unrealistic ending

posted 18 years ago by nelson95
30 replies | jump to latest

That's not the way it was! You may have noticed that Claudius was portrayed as a benevolent, Mr. Nice Guy sort of emperor when the fact of the matter is that he was just as bad as Caligula!

[–] TTX1 17 years ago

the whole movie in truth is unrealistic for many reasons. the main reason being that the romans took little to no interest in jesus (its likely they never even heard of the guy!) In I, Claudius, Joshua (his real name) is only mentioned when Herod Agrippa revolts against Rome claiming to be the messiah and even then its as a passing reference. the christian movement was VERY VERY small at this point in time. nero is the first to openly persecute them

[–] vonhangman 17 years ago

As I understand it, the main source we have for judging how "bad" the rulers of Imperial Rome were is Seutonius. According to him, Caligula was a depraved and evil monster. He also goes out of his way to criticise Claudius (and all the other Ceasars) but no-one who has read Seutonius will ever forget his account of Caligula.

Robert Graves very cleverly picked up on certain points in Seutonius and other writers' accounts to present a much more sympathetic version of Claudius in "I Claudius" and "Claudius the God." Graves also preserved and probably further popularised the "evil" reading of Caligula. The Cluadius novels were very popular in their time, and must have affected the general perception of these historical characters.

[–] The_Dying_Flutchman 15 years ago

Nobody knows what JC's real name was or even if he actually existed, but that's not what's interesting about this hokey movie. Back in them days most of their curtains were green and nobody in Hollywood picked up on that.

What is the sound an imploding pimp makes?

[–] zeta1983-1 14 years ago

Claudius was better than Caligula but then none of the early emperors were saints, however biased the sources are. It's also correct that during Caligula's reign Christianity was still a very fringe movement that barely gained attention. It would take decades and centuries before Christians became a significant force. The Robe plot was entirely fiction merely incorporating contemporary figures. I Claudius is probably the most accurate portrayal of ancient Rome.

[–] Mithrandir-Olorin888 14 years ago

Massalina declaring her Adultery is over when Claudius's reign begins is really off, fact is it probably didn't even start till he was Emperor, she probably started because he became unable to fulfill his Husbandry duties with the affairs of state to worry about.

"It's not about money.... It's about sending a Message..... Everything Burns!!!"

[–] 398 13 years ago

Interesting thread, but it does seem to me that criticizing this movie for being historically inaccurate is sort of like criticizing a fish for liking water.

I think most viewers understand that the "history" here is Hollywood BS.

That said, the movie is mindless fun.

[–] Mithrandir-Olorin888 12 years ago

I know liberties are inevitable, but there is a limit to what I can accept, and this 2 films Saga for all it's coolness exceeds it.

[–] mdonln 9 years ago

We have to always remember when we're watching a movie that it was made for entertainment purposes. Sometimes they can also inform and educate but we should not count on them for our history lessons. While they are not documentaries, they often, as is the case here, contain historic themes, events, and characters or other information on interesting topics.

Hopefully, what we see on screen will inspire us to research and learn more about the subject matter. If used in that way, we can get something valuable out of almost any movie we see.

Woman, man! That's the way it should be Tarzan. [Tarzan and his mate]