Amazons of Rome (1961)

Purely Joyful Movie!

Perfect cast and a good story

Entertaining from beginning to end, it maintains the spirit of the franchise while establishing it's own seal with a fun cast

One of the film's great tricks is that, for a time, you think it will go down a rabbit hole of unrealistic glorification.

This review contains spoilers.This movie is being played many times per week on GET and, unfortunately, it is too difficult to miss.In the beginning of the film, the Romans light a line of fire in a location that hinders their ability to repel. After this, we do not see two forces attack and battle, but see only one force at a time appear to attack an unseen enemy.In the middle of the film, 5 barbarians capture the 100+ strong armed "Amazon" Roman coed army without a fight or struggle. It plays out like a fantasy based upon a lunatic ramblings. If the entire Amazon Army has no interest to engage only 5 armed enemy and 1 unarmed, what is the point of their existence? We also see an uppity Roman women throw off her sandals to show her rebel-minded willingness to have foot-blisters, but within seconds of doing so, she climbs aboard a carry bed and slave men lift her up and take her where she wants to go.Add all this to seeing women with 1960's modern hair styles and clean shaven soldiers and barbarian men, and viewers are very much on the lookout to find more silliness (and maybe hoping for a laugh track?) rather than watching this as a real movie.The final product is ultimately a waste of film.

Unfortunately, this swords-and-sandals 60's movie could have been much, much better.The climax of the movie, which is supposed to be the amazon's cavalry charge against the troops besieging Rome, is too naive to be exciting or credible. The amazons are able to destroy the enemy battle ram and catapult too easily. No suspense. No breath taking battle scene. They ride through the battlefield without being annoyed by anyone except some arrows flying into their direction. Only some few girls are hit(performed by a couple of stun actress rolling smoothly off their horses like in the spaghetti western), the amazons are able to regroup out of the battlefield like a bunch cheerleader during a football game after a one minute job.Sylvia Syms is to pretty and delicate (with a "fresh out of the salon" haircut) to be convincing as a cavalry leader and slashing enemy soldiers with her sword. Dialogs are childish, if not stupid. The scenario is simplistic. Do not except diplomatic intrigues between Romans and Etrusquan.Interesting fact: The movie covers the birth of the roman republic, a historical period almost never exploded in Hollywood or elsewhere.The amazons of Rome is a lost opportunity. The lack of special effects available in the 60's and the naive acting style is not an excuse for failure. Let's hope for a remake one day.

Wow! I wish all my Sword and Sandal films looked this good. He print shown on TCM was crystal clear and in widescreen! The story is OK but it is the Cinematography that really makes this film shine.Sylvia Syms is absolutely gorgeous in this one and I don't agree with the reviewer who says that Louis Jordan is miscast for the part. Oh, I agree he is no barbarian. But that isn't his role. His charismatic portrayal is perfect for the part. The opening battle scenes is where he steals the show.Seeing this one in widescreen good quality was a real treat. It's too bad all of the other Sword and Sandal movies couldn't be viewed the way they were meant to be seen. That is good quality and widescreen. See this TCM print!

Amazingly, this is the third "Amazon Women" film I've watched in a month but, unlike the others, this is a relatively serious undertaking and, in any case, the American title is misleading - but, then, probably so is the Italian one, which translates to "THE VIRGINS OF ROME"! When it was shown on late-night Italian TV, I had never heard of it but was willing to give it a try considering the talent involved (director Cottafavi and stars Louis Jourdan, Sylvia Syms and Michel Piccoli) - but also due to the fact that French director Bertrand Tavernier, apparently, considers this one of his favorite films!Distressingly, I came across very few reviews of the film and these were all-too-brief; besides, the only other two comments on the IMDb aren't very favorable! Despite the scratchy print with washed-out colors that was shown on TV, I'm glad I taped it because it turned out to be one of the most satisfying peplums I've ever watched and, consequently, the film ought to be much better known! Besides, it allowed me to understand a bit better Cottafavi's cult reputation (given the type of films he dabbled in!) - though, apparently, he was replaced after 3 weeks by Bragaglia because Cottafavi couldn't see eye to eye with star Jourdan (though the change in director didn't effect the film in any perceptible way).I had only watched four Cottafavi films prior to this: the modern-day melodrama NEL GORGO DEL PECCATO (1954) and the following peplums - GOLIATH AND THE DRAGON (1960), HERCULES AND THE CAPTIVE WOMEN (1961) and I CENTO CAVALIERI (1964; perhaps the director's best work and which I was lucky to watch, along with the hilariously awful GOLIATH, at the 2004 Venice Film Festival with lead Mark Damon in attendance!). Likewise, I had seen four by Bragaglia - three of them starring the popular Italian comic Toto' and, eons ago, HANNIBAL (1960) - another one of his peplums and which was co-directed by Edgar G. Ulmer! The casting of the two leads is surprising, but they certainly number among the most talented ever featured in this type of film: Jourdan is quite amusing as the leader of the barbarian horde who's seen constantly, and nonchalantly, munching on fruit - even when leading his men into battle!; the beautiful Syms adds grace and intelligence to the film - but, apart from Nicole Courcel (who is also pretty good as an unusually sympathetic villainess, sharing a secondary love interest with Piccoli!), is the only female character who is developed in any substantial way. The battle scenes - highlighted by a running duel between Jourdan and a one-eyed Roman general played by genre regular Ettore Manni - are nicely handled, though mainly relegated to the opening and closing moments of the film.