NekoHomey Purely Joyful Movie!

Supelice Dreadfully Boring

Myron Clemons A film of deceptively outspoken contemporary relevance, this is cinema at its most alert, alarming and alive.

Phillipa Strong acting helps the film overcome an uncertain premise and create characters that hold our attention absolutely.

ma-cortes Here Goliath or Maciste , (the bouncing Mark Forest who , nowadays , he currently teaches opera in the Los Angeles area) , along with Xandros , Giuliano Gemma , and Aceas , Mimmo Palmara battle for the freedom of the Babylonian people . They are the three invincible who join forces with a band of rebels led by Evandro , Livio Lorenzon . Then , Maciste participates a chariot race winning over the Princess of Babylonian , José Greci , though by terms the competition she must marry the winner , but Goliath renounces to be aware she is in love for his colleague Xandros . Later on , they unite wills against two tyrants : Morakeg , Erno Crisa , and King Rukus , Paul Muller . Meanwhile , they attempt to save virginal girls to be sacrificed.Good Peplum with noisy action , thrills , fights , comical touches and resulting to be pretty entertaining . It's an adventure film with all the ingredients as sword-play , action , brawls , comedy , amusement and typical confrontation between good guys and bad guys . The film displays some impressive scenes about ship battles as well as horse races in Ben Hur style . The picture allows for periods of humor , -as the comic relief is frequently provided by the likable midget- and calm in which to establish characters punctuated by viscerally exciting bursts of action . Stars Mark Forest considered to be one of the best Peplum actors along with Steve Reeves and Gordon Scott . He-man Forest was a hunk who made great number of roman epic films also called ¨Musclemen movies¨ . He was one of a number of bodybuilder and physique model types who followed muscleman Steve Reeves out to Italy in the early 60s and won campy notice playing Herculean characters in those campy Italian sand-and-spear epics . Ursus, Maciste , Goliath , Samson , Hércules , Atlas , Rocha ..., those Italian Muscle man producers must have had a hard time figuring out what to call the musclebound actors who played all these legendary muscleman heroes . Being other second-class Muscle men players the followings : Dan Vadis , Rock Stevens , Gordon Mitchell , Brad Harris , Samson Burke , Reg Park , Ed Fury , Richard Harrison , Kirk Morris , Alan Steel or Sergio Ciani and subsequently Lou Ferrigno . Nobody, nevertheless , topped Steve Reeves in popularity , though Gordon Scott and Mark Forest made him an important competence . Third generation Italian American Forest was the second American actor bodybuilder , after Steve Reeves , to be recruited by Italian producers to star in sword and sandal films . As Mark Forest played a lot of Péplum , such as : Maciste Il invincible , Hercules against the sons of the sun , Leon Di Tebas , Goliath and the Dragón , Maciste Contra I Mongoles , Vengeance of Hercules , among others . As Mark used the money he made making gladiator movies in Italy to study Opera , residing in L.A. where he teaches singing and usually works as a personal trainer . Costars the sympathetic Giuliano Gemma whose first star film was a Peplum : Los Titanes , following several Spaghettis as Ringo , the return of Ringo , Adios gringo , Arizona Colt , California , Day of wrath , Wanted , and Tex .This film also known as Los Three Invencibles or Goliath and the sins of Babylon or Maciste the World greatest hero contains great production design , brilliant photography , enjoyable soundtrack and a cast of thousands . And evocative and atmospheric musical score by Francesco De Massi . Besides , a colorful and shining cinematography by Mancori . The motion picture was well directed by Michele Lupo who directed all kinds of genres . As Lupo made Peplum as Seven rebel gladiators , The Strongest slaves , La vendetta Di Spartacus ; Westerns as Fistful of knuckles , California , Arizona Colt and Bud Spencer movies as The sheriff and the little extraterrestrial , Bombardero and Buddy goes West

bkoganbing Goliath and the Sins Of Babylon finds the legendary biblical villain a muscular hero in the person of Mark Forest battling for the autonomy of the Kingdom of Nephyr against the Babylonian Empire. It seems as though back in the day this kingdom was a vassal state and was run by some folks who had a vested interest in keeping things that way. Babylon's tribute among other things from Nephyr was a thirty virgins a year quota they had to meet. One wonders how the gynecological examinations were to make sure that no false goods were delivered to the Babylonian Emperor.In any event the giant Goliath trains as a gladiator and trains the other gladiators to fight. As in all these peplums naturally it all works out in the end.Mark Forest is maybe the best looking of all the bodybuilders who were finding work in Italy playing classical heroes. But that ain't reason enough to watch this film.

zardoz-13 This superior sword and sandal saga benefits enormously from lofty production values, a solid cast, and a believable storyline. Nothing supernatural occurs in "Goliath and the Sins of Babylon." Our half-clad muscle-bound hero doesn't tangle with three-headed canines, fire-breathing dragons, or flying man-bats. As usual, this epic concerns an enslaved nation whose rebels plot to overthrow an tyrannical ruler, end palace intrigue, and allow a rightful heir to ascend to the throne. What sets "Goliath and the Sins of Babylon" apart from other ancient epics is the skillful use of irony and the surprises in the screenplay by Lionello De Felice of "Colossus of the Arena," Roberto Gianviti of "Seven Slaves Against the World," and Francesco Scardamaglia of "Seven Rebel Gladiators." "Colossus of the Arena" director Michele Lupo draws on a dwarf for comic relief. Mark Forest makes a sympathetic strongman hero, while Erno Crisa and Piero Lulli are sufficiently treacherous as the villains. Future Spaghetti western star Giuliano Gemma co-stars as Goliath's friend and ally Xandros. An anonymous narrator establishes the setting: "Two hundred years before the birth of Christ, the small kingdom of Nefer in the Persian Gulf was forced to pay tribute to its conqueror Babylon. The people of Nefer trembled with outrage and fear as the soldiers came to collect the yearly price, thirty of the loveliest virgins of the land." As the film opens, a girl (Eleonora Bianchi of "Ulysses against the Son of Hercules") bids farewell to her tearful family before the soldiers of King Pergasos, wearing red outfits, appropriate her as one of the sacrificial thirty. She tries to escape. Just when she believes she had eluded Pergasos's troops in the market place, she runs smack into the arms of another soldier. Goliath (Mark Forest of "Son of Samson") objects to the way the soldier roughs up the girl and intervenes on her behalf. After Goliath displays his courage against the armed soldiers, they flee like cowards. A resourceful little person, the mischievous dwarf Ninneto (Arnaldo Fabrizio of "Samson and the Mighty Challenge"), emerges from his hiding place in a basket strapped to a horse and warns Goliath about the consequences of this act of defiance. Ninneto flees to a nearby tavern and tells Alceas (Mimmo Palmara of "Kindar the Invulnerable") and his friend Xandros (Giuliano Gemma of "Day of Anger") about Goliath. When these two see Goliath surrounded by the soldiers, they ride to his rescue. They literally hoist the strong man up by his brawny biceps and carry him away between them. An imperturbable Goliath threatens to unhorse them, but they convince him not to because all three of them would be captured. Meanwhile, Pergasos's soldiers pursue them on horseback, but the little fellow shuts the city gates before the Pergasos's men reach it. The next time we see Goliath, Alceas, and Xandros, they are behind bars in an arena watching gladiators practice. Initially, Goliath refuses to become a gladiator. The leader of an underground movement against the monarchy, Evandro (Livio Lorenzon of "The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly"), explains to Goliath that the men training as gladiators in the arena are a part of a conspiracy to overthrow their dastardly ruler. According to Evandro, Nefer fought a war with Babylon four years ago and lost. The king of Nefer was murdered, and his older brother, Pergasos (Piero Lulli of "My Name Is Nobody"),arranged an armistice with Babylon. The Babylonians take thirty virgins annually and sacrifice them. When Goliath asks about the slain king's daughter, Regia (José Greci of "War Gods of Babylon"), Evandro explains their law dictates that she must take a husband before she can rule. A frustrated Evandro fumes: "Who knows when a marriage will take place." Xandros states that they have pledged to halt these shipments of slave girls to Babylon. Evandro invites Goliath to join them so they will be 42 in number. Ninneto chimes in "42 and a half" and joins them, too. "Alright," Alceas chuckles, "we'll make you our mascot." Indeed, Ninneto serves as comic relief, and he is genuinely funny, a little guy who can knock out unsuspecting warriors three-times his own size. The pottery scene where he eludes the soldiers is better than you'd imagine, particularly because Ninneto gets away! "Colossus of the Arena" director Michele Lupo stages a boisterous sea battle, a careening chariot race, and several sword fights with aplomb. Mind you, the chariot race is nothing compared to "Ben-Hur," but the arena setting is spectacular enough for an Italian peplum. Lupo is particularly adept at creating interesting transitions and the one involving the gong being struck is really good. The only thing lacking is the typical trials that the herculean hero endures to prove his strength. Displays of brawn do not appear as often as they do in other better peplum movies. One of the big scenes shows Goliath chained to a slab in the dudgeon. Above him are several holes and each hole conceals a wicked looking spear. The spears are released by means of cutting the rope holding them and then this pointed weapons travel downward toward its victim. It is a cop-out that none of the spears actually strike our hero. The spears stop several inches from his important body parts while he patiently waits and then later rips out the irons restraining him. Overall, Lupo does a good job with "Goliath and the Sins of Babylon." The Retromedia DVD widescreen presentation on Retromedia looks fantastic. This is one of the most polished looking Peplums ever with pristine looking sets. This marked lenser Mario Sbrenna's debut as cinematographer, and he makes everything appear larger-than-life. Unfortunately, we never get to witness any of the sins of Babylon, short of people being fed to lions.

Maciste_Brother GOLIATH AND THE SINS OF BABYLON is a sensational title. Unfortunately, the film doesn't live up to the title. It's a wildly uneven Sword & Sandal which runs hot to cold and vice versa. It starts off promisingly (30 "virgins" for the evil King of Babylon in exchange for peace) but then the movie totally forgets about that plot point and concentrates on typical brawny action, with the stand-out scene being the one where Hercules, eh, Maciste, eh, Goliath (Mark Forest sans beard) is bound to an altar and directly above are holes in the ceiling with spears attached to ropes within those holes, and whenever the ropes are cut, one spear is released and is supposed to fall on Goliath. Oh, and the bad guy forces Goliath's partners to cut the ropes to see if they're trust-worthy. The scene is effective and it's very reminiscent of the laser scene in GOLDFINGER, which was made a year after this Goliath film, so kudos to the filmmakers here.The rest of the film is standard S&S action hampered by an uneven script and an unfortunate use of stock footage from other films. The film has many highlights, including the battle on the ships and the chariot race, which look like they were cleverly edited with scenes taken from other movies. Or the editing is just bad and the shots just don't match. The chariot race is actually very good, certainly with the added detail of the Princess (the beautiful José Greci) participating in the race. I've never seen a chariot race with a woman. It's cool. But other scenes don't fare better. For example, the battle between the ships looks like it's from another film. You see, the boat with our heroes, in the close-ups, the men are mostly bare-chested and yet in the long shots (presumably the shots from the other film) there are no bare-chested men! During the chariot race, when one man, wearing a green tunic falls off of his chariot, the tunic is totally different in the close-up shots from the long shots. These big continuity errors make the lavish film look cheap.Then there's that annoying little people actor, who was also in THE TEN GLADIATORS and basically ruined that film. I purchased the WARRIORS 50 DVD pack and he's in three films up to now. I hope he's not in more films! The image quality on the WARRIORS 50 DVD pack is awful, so much so that I purchased the Retro Media DVD, which is in widescreen. The image on this DVD is excellent and the movie was certainly better because of it. It's a must for fans.The cast is very good and the star power adds much to the uneven production. Mark Forest is beefy perfection. He's supposed to play Maciste but he's Goliath in the US version. This story is not a one man show though as Goliath joins others to prevent the 30 virgins to be shipped to Babylonia. Mimmo Palmara and Giuliano Gemma, as Xandros, are part of the beefy team rebelling against the rulers of Babylonia. As I mentioned before, José Greci plays the Princess who's character, by law, can only marry a man who can defeat her in the Chariot race. Yes, you read that right.GOLIATH AND THE SINS OF BABYLON is certainly spirited and it doesn't take itself too seriously, which is a plus. The music score is good. In general, it's an above average Peplum. But the suspected use of stock footage, the muddled script & the annoying midget keep it from being a great Peplum.