Amazons of Rome

1961 "A Thousand Tempting Beauties ... They Fought Like Ten Thousand Unchained Tigers!"
5| 1h45m| NR| en| More Info
Released: 06 March 1963 Released
Producted By: Regina Films
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Budget: 0
Revenue: 0
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Synopsis

Marching down the Italian peninsula to sack ancient Rome, Etruscan warrior Drusco instead offers to hold back his onslaught if the Romans hand over hostages, including Clelia, the sexy leader of a clan of woman warriors. But before long, intrigue and betrayal unravel the fragile peace. Directors Carlo Ludovico Bragaglia and Vittorio Cottafavi helm this vintage sword-and-sandal epic.

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Reviews

StunnaKrypto Self-important, over-dramatic, uninspired.
Curapedi I cannot think of one single thing that I would change about this film. The acting is incomparable, the directing deft, and the writing poignantly brilliant.
Ezmae Chang This is a small, humorous movie in some ways, but it has a huge heart. What a nice experience.
Quiet Muffin This movie tries so hard to be funny, yet it falls flat every time. Just another example of recycled ideas repackaged with women in an attempt to appeal to a certain audience.
gridoon2018 The US title of this movie - "Amazons Of Rome" - is rather misleading: the Roman women do occasionally dress up as warriors and carry weapons, but they almost never fight. And since there are so many of them, the accuracy of the original title - "Virgins Of Rome" - cannot be guaranteed, either! Never mind, this film is an above-average sample of its genre, mostly thanks to its cast: instead of having a muscleman who can barely talk as the lead, it has the witty, distinguished Louis Jourdan, who plays a noble barbarian; a contradiction in terms, perhaps, but then again, Jourdan's character describes himself as a "strange bird". He is paired with the very appealing, courageous, smart Sylvia Syms, a great beauty who should be better known: together, they make the thinking man's sword-and-sandal couple. The rest of the cast is also good, and we even get to see Michel Piccoli with hair! The battle scenes are a bit clunky, but you have to admire the authenticity of the stunts - when the women cross a deep river on horseback, it's really them doing it. I watched the US version - the print was quite nice but according to IMDb the original version is 12 minutes longer, which may explain why the narrative feels a bit rushed at some points. **1/2 out of 4.
Maciste_Brother I recently saw AMAZONS OF ROME on cable. The first thing that stood out was the look. The quality of the transfer was truly beautiful: pristine and sharp. The lighting, the background sky, the sets, the costumes, everything looked authentic and gorgeous. Credit should go to cinematographer Marc Fossard. It looked like it was filmed yesterday. Much better looking than 90% of Peplums made during that time, including the stilted and dull THE 300 SPARTANS. With that said, the story is lifeless. It lacks urgency. Is it a comedy or a drama? The whole thing looks like a bad sex comedy. Sorta like GIDGET GOES TO WAR. Or THE COLOSSUS & THE AMAZON QUEEN.But the film's biggest liability was casting Louis Jourdan as a Barbarian. What, Cary Grant wasn't available? I'm certain producers hired Jourdan in order to get financing for the film but it was a big mistake. He's simply too debonair to be a Barbarian. Sylvia Syms looks like Julie Andrews before Julie Andrews made her first movie. The best actor in the whole thing is Ettore Manni. Totally believable in anything he does, certainly in Sword & Sandal films. What a great, overlooked actor.It's a shame the production team for this film wasn't involved in a more action oriented or serious story. The looked of it all would have rocked even more if it hadn't been involved with such a lightweight story.
MARIO GAUCI 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.
dbborroughs Good looking spectacle with a cast of tens. You can see that actors are playing both sides in what amounts to a Euro-western set in the ancient world. Its Etruscans vs Romans with the woman taken hostage after they dressed as Roman soldiers after their side lost. The dialog is stupid and the romances wobble any hope of a decent story. Its the kind of film that almost seems good but isn't so seems much worse as a result. I've seen it twice by accident and I hope never to see it again.