Too talky at times, lovey-dovey scenes we could really do without or scale them down. Boyd is the 'pretty-boy hero', but also with some values. It could have been better - it was a flop at the box office though.
shareI agree - lots and lots and lots of pageantry, with thousands of extras marching or parading or whatever, interspersed with love scenes, a chariot race again with Boyd against Plummer (shades of Ben-Hur), and one big battle scene where you cant tell who is fighting who. Essentially the same story as Gladiator since it is based on actual events and characters, except in this case the rival general of Commondus (Boyd) gets involved with Caesar's daughter and not as a gladiator. Not a bad film but very talky and slow at times and the ending is disappointing. Dont know why Boyd said it ruined his career since the other big name actors survived it well. I think it was too similar to other epic pictures of that time and spelled the end of those pictures till Gladiator came along. Guiness and Mason save it from total disaster.
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