It's hard to see any effort in the film. There's no comedy to speak of, no real drama and, worst of all.

At first rather annoying in its heavy emphasis on reenactments, this movie ultimately proves fascinating, simply because the complicated, highly dramatic tale it tells still almost defies belief.

This is a must-see and one of the best documentaries - and films - of this year.

This is one of the best movies I’ve seen in a very long time. You have to go and see this on the big screen.

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.

When this film begins, I found myself feeling a bit sad. Here is an alcoholic and puffy Alan Ladd towards the very end of his career playing in an ultra-low budget Italian sword and sandal epic. Alan Ladd?! In this sort of film?! For fans of this once charismatic actor, seeing him in the Roman garb fighting limply, it is hard to watch.It seems that Ladd is the commander of a legion in the early days of Rome--long before the Roman republic and even longer before the legendary days of the Caesars. This Rome is a city-state and it is not THE player on the Italian peninsula, but one of several city-states. This film focuses on the war between Rome and nearby Alba. During the war, Ladd is taken prisoner and assumed a coward by the folks back in Rome. When he ultimately escapes and returns, he's reviled--so soon he leaves for a quiet life in the country. However, when Rome needs his services once again, Ladd is content to sit this one out--after all, what has Rome done for him? In addition to having Ladd looking old and puffy, he also isn't all that much of a hero in this one. Unlike the stereotypical Roman soldier, he's more than willing to turn tail and run. And who's to blame him--as in this film his brilliant strategy ultimately pays off! The film has a lot of problems. Some of it is due to the terrible quality of the print from Diamond Entertainment (a relatively unknown company for a rather forgotten film). It's both blurry AND grainy--like it was copied off a badly degraded videotape. Now you can't blame the film makers for this, but you can blame them for choosing a far from charismatic leading man (an American star in order to give this Italian film some class), having a mostly dull script and for just looking amazingly cheap throughout the film. In particular, you never really see Rome--just a wall that looks like it was made out of painted plywood. Overall, it's a film not a whole lot better than the Maciste (aka, Hercules or Atlas or Samson) films of the same era.Dull and cheap and only recommended to those who insist on seeing all of Alan Ladd's films--even the bad ones.

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.

While those of us interested in ancient stories and sword and sandals productions will find this story to be interesting, it falls short, well short, in production quality and script to be the epic it could have been.The plot follows the story of one of the Orazi brothers of Rome, at war with Alba. This brother is accused of cowardice in battle and is captured by the Albans. He escapes, but is not warmly welcomed upon his return to Rome. After years of war, the Romans and Albans agree to decide the battle in a duel of 3 Roman brothers (the Orazi's) vs. 3 Alban brothers. In the end, this Orazi wins the day but the victory is bittersweet as displayed with his disgust for the need for killing.What stands out is the epic musical score composed by Francesco Lavagnino at his peak. Clearly, the music is at a far different level than the movie, it elevates the story but cannot raise the production near to the realm of an epic. Still, it is a collectible for ancient movie fans. Available on budget DVD, the DVD transfer is terrible.