Buffronioc
One of the wrost movies I have ever seen
FirstWitch
A movie that not only functions as a solid scarefest but a razor-sharp satire.
Gary
The movie's not perfect, but it sticks the landing of its message. It was engaging - thrilling at times - and I personally thought it was a great time.
Leofwine_draca
David and Goliath is the Italian peplum version of the Biblical story, best known for featuring an aged Orson Welles as the villain of the piece, a ruthless King Saul who rants and raves in his various guest appearances. As a film, it's surprisingly low budget, a set-bound political piece that lacks the kind of basic spectacle that this genre is known for. It's no comparison to the Hollywood blockbuster version of the story, featuring Gregory Peck, and by comparison it just features minor actors spouting badly-dubbed dialogue with the occasional war sequence thrown in to try to keep viewers awake. It doesn't really work.
Rainey Dawn
King Saul has lost favor with God, war is imminent. The only man Saul is afraid of is the prophet Samuel. Samuel arrives to prophesies about a man that God will anoint a man king out of the land of Benjamin to rule over Israel - that man is David. David must fulfill the prophesy but King Saul is willing put up a battle or die before he will bow down to David and give up his throne. Before David can take the throne, he must fight Goliath. In the end, King David restores Saul back to the throne. This is a pretty decent version of the biblical story. It's not a big long Epic tale but of a good length to give us a movie version (around an hour and a half long).I do not rate films of this nature by how much it matches the bible tale nor do I rate these types of films by how much I believe the story is true. I rate them by how well entertained I was by them, how well it was filmed and acted out. My rating is not for my personal beliefs, but for how well I enjoyed it.4/10
Claudio Carvalho
In Jerusalem, the wicked King Saul (Orson Welles) is visited by the Prophet Samuel (Edward Hilton) after losing the Arch of the Alliance in a war against Asrod (Furio Meniconi), King of the Philistines. Samuel advises that God is not happy with him and the new king of Jerusalem would come from Bethlehem. Meanwhile the shepherd David (Ivo Payer) loses his sweetheart and soon he is summoned by Samuel to go to Jerusalem as the chosen by God. He becomes King Saul's adviser, but the ambitious Captain Abner (Massimo Serato) plots a scheme to get rid of David, and convinces King Saul to send him as an emissary to meet King Asrod. David is challenged by Asrod to fight against the giant Goliath (Kronos) and the impossible happens: David wins Goliath."David e Golia" is a cheesy Italian epic based on a biblical story from the Old Testament and with the attraction of Orson Welles in the role of King Saul of Jerusalem. The sets are poor, most of the acting is only reasonable but this movie is not bad, for a Sunday afternoon. My vote is six.Title (Brazil): "David e Golias" ("David and Goliath")
mark.waltz
Even the great biblical epics of Hollywood's golden age can't compare to the book they were based on. Most of them suffer from strange casting and overly campy dialogue. In the case of "David and Goliath", the issue is bad photography, obviously recycled sets and costumes, and horrendous dubbing. It's obvious that of the cast members, only Orson Welles (as King Saul) had English as his first language. Portly and imperious, Welles is the only actor to come out with his dignity intact. The actor playing Goliath simply laughs and sneers evilly in every scene he is in, and it is very uncomfortable to watch Philistene maidens dancing around him in an erotic way. The actor playing David seems about a decade too old for his role, and the other characters are simply too one dimensional to believe. The scene of David arriving in Jeruselem to find it overrun with corruption is interesting, although a bit far fetched with the encounters he makes, and the battle scenes are gratuitously bloody. It really looks like any other Italian sword-and-sandals trashy flick made throughout the 60's. The bible deserves better. For more interesting looks at the life of the future King David, check out "David and Bathsheba" (Gregory Peck, 1952) or even "King David" (Richard Gere, 1985). Leave this one for bible teachers to show pre-teenagers to learn the old testament.
