Goliath returns to a kingdom (Nefer?) on the Persian Gulf which has fallen under the cruel domination of Babylon. Each year a number of the kingdom's most beautiful virgins must be sent off to serve the evil Babylonian king. Goliath unites with some local rebels to end this domination, destroying by fire the city of Babylon in the process.
This "peplum" comes with a lot of action: the usual fights, a chariot race, a sea battle, and a climactic conflagration. There's also a touch of romance, (though not involving Goliath), and for comic-relief we're offered one of those midget sidekicks so dear to the hearts of Italian audiences. As usual our hero is subjected to a torture or test-of-strength. In this case he's spreadeagled face-up on a sloping table while spears drop toward him from holes in the ceiling. Some of these spears crash into the table just to one side of the hero's flesh while other spears are halted in their downward plunge mere inches above various parts of the hero's body. (The spear that hurtles toward Goliath's groin is a real attention getter!)
Fans of such goings-on will probably find this an adequate way to pass 80 or so minutes, but there's little to distinguish these goings-on from numerous similar movies. Had Steve Reeves played the lead, the situation might have improved, but here we have Mark Forest (born Lou Degni), a bodybuilder who has the necessary pecs but is short on charisma. Something about the way the skin crinkles around his eyes whenever he smiles makes him look a bit "wimpy."
