The greatest movie ever made..!

Lack of good storyline.

Horrible, fascist and poorly acted

It's a mild crowd pleaser for people who are exhausted by blockbusters.

This is not a film you should miss if you are an admirer of Alan Ladd, although this was one of his last films and he is rather tired; but he makes a startling performance as the outcast, one of three brothers who are the main champions of Rome, banished for assumed cowardice - he is never allowed to state his case or defend himself against the alleged charges. His voice is already marked by the cancer he died of a few years later at only 50, and the impression he creates by his character is of deep melancholy - he is rather an anti-hero than a hero, although he ultimately manages all his challenges.It's not a great or important film, but it's one of the best Peplums - there is a great variety of Peplums of very second rate quality, all dealing with ancient times in Greece or Rome, often with mythological subjects and always with great fights and stylish monumentality. In this film the quality is further enhanced and lifted forth by the excellent music, one of Lavagnino's best. So if you can endure the hardships of various laborious Peplums, this should come in as a healthy change with a different and more earnest string moving the heart.

Obviously we know historically how things turn out in the Roman-Alban conflict, so that element of the plot is obvious. Costumes and sets are very well prepared and the musical score is fairly good. Great job casting Alan Ladd. The supporting cast is also quite good. It's the story of the brothers that is quite moving and lends a unique touch to this film (no spoilers, go watch the movie for yourselves). The film quality on the version I saw was a little low-resolution and with subtitles, but I believe that there's a fairly decent English translation available here through IMDB.

Romans and the Albans both have been loosing way to many men in battles. 3 brothers from each are chosen in the end to fight to the death in one final battle to settle the dispute but it doesn't quite go as planned.This is rather drab film. Routine peplum with nothing special to add to the genre, it only gives us one more history peplum to throw into the mix - and a very bland account of it.Cheers for the costuming and prop eye-candy, boo for the tedious way of telling us the story.2/10

Alan Ladd seems exhausted during the whole movie.It is a wonder he can escape from the wolf pit and then defeat Curiazio in the final duel.His features thickened and he was only the ghost of the dashing hero of the brilliant westerns of the fifties .Most of the time ,he does not seem to care about his family,his love and the plot.This is a well-known story:Pierre Corneille wrote one of his most famous tragedies "Horace" in 1640 about the Roman legend.The writers did the same here,but it seems that their job was not as good as in the contemporary "Romolo e Remo" .(Publius)Horatio is away most of the time and no actor on the screen can generate excitement or interest.Only the scene in the woods when Horatio defeats two of the Curiazi retains some suspense ,not unlike that Terence Young will use later in "Wait Until dark" .Horatio's sister who falls in love at first sight with the "enemy" is not killed by his brother after the victory ,as in the legend!She commits suicide .Now Tullius will reign over the two towns ,Rome and Albe .As for Alan Ladd,he was to pass away three years after,but it's better to consider "the carpetbaggers" -albeit a movie of average worth- his swansong:he easily outclassed the rest of the cast in that film with his part of an old actor down on his luck.