Il gladiatore di Roma(1962) is a run-of-the-mill Peplum set in ancient Roman Empire in which performances are average and the image and dubbing are lousy . Marcus (Gordon Scott) is a warrior protecting a slave girl, Nista (Wandisa Guida) , who's actually a princess , they were once slaves from the same Roman domains . Their masters await them willingly and always kind to them . But now they have fallen into the hands of nasty slavers and have to work as unfortunate slaves in the quarries . However, the son of their former masters , Valerio jr. (Roberto Risso) , is hopelessly in love with Nista and is trying to free her from the nasty usurpers . Until then, strong Marcus should watch over her . Framed by the mandate of the emperor Caracalla , who is obsessed with a blind hatred towards Christians and successfully transmits it to his subjects, so that they, driven by the pursuit of higher tasks , happily escape the ruthless pursuers . At the same time, this hunt provides the first foundations , because an honorable Roman family falls victim to the tyrant's hatred of Christians, so that Valerius' parents and their servants meet death by the swords of the heinous rulers or his way to the tyrannical chains and submitted to slave labor . A first attempt at liberation goes awry and Marcus eventually winds up in the Roman arenas where is trained as a gladiator . Little by little , more and more slaves gather around Marcus who want to live in freedom and together they try to run away . From now on, the "world" of good guys calls for revenge and longs for the downfall of the reign of terror.
Mario Costa's film uses several peplum ingredients such as bustling upheavals of rebel slaves , sword fighting , betrayals , bare chested males, cruel bondage with whipping included , arena combats and noisy battles among Romans . As a result , despotic rule, the persecution of Christians, a small love story, the associated decoding of the identity of a slave, and the gladiatorial rebellion are used . Lots of variations built into a playtime of about 80 minutes, the fact that some things look half-baked here shouldn't produce surprising resonances . It is advisable to view ¨The Gladiator of Rome¨ with a certain tolerance rather than a meticulously review of the twisted developments and avoiding overly analysis as well as comparisons with Roman history. The movie is quite a messy and nonsense pastime . The focus is on the visually stunning bare chested Marcus , played in his usual style by the hunk Gordon Scott , who left the US after six films as Tarzan movies to shoot sword and sandals movies in Italy. His love story with a beautiful girl is completely unbelievable and boring . Also , the chemistry between the two is non-existent . While the love story of Nista and her Roman prince is more believable. The chemistry between the two is just right and somehow it all fits together here . If Marcus's love story had been omitted , the narrative would have been a bit tighter and the pacing more comfortable . Otherwise, there are some good fight scenes , nice costumes , and pretty decent sets . It's certainly not an outstanding sword and sandal movie , but it still has some strength but the results result to be middling . Unfortunately, the image on the screen is only letterboxed and is utterly faded . Stars beefcake Gordon Scott who's fine as the mythical hero bending metal bar and who finds several dangerous situations while attempting save his protegee as well as her lover , and eventually being crucified. Strongman Gordon acted as a bouncing hero in great number of films and was randomly assigned the identity of Hércules , Goliath , Samsom for US viewers . Scott usually playing historic characters , such as ¨Coroliano¨, ¨Mucius Scevola¨ and ¨Remo¨. He was one along with Ed Fury, Dan Vadis , Alain Steel , Mark Forest, Reg Park and several others, whom the seek fame and fortune led to Italy , acting absurdly muscle mythological figures, but nobody topped Steve Reeves and Gordon Scott in popularity. Along the way , appearing here and there a lot of secondaries usual in Sixties , Seventies' Italian genres : Peplum, Spaghetti Western , Giallo , such as : Piero Lulli, Alberto Farnese , Charles Borromel , Mirko Ellis , Nando Tamberlani , Nello Pazzafini , Andrea Aureli , Raf Baldassarre , among others.
The Gladiator of Rome" comes from the most productive creative period of Mario Costa (between 1959 and 1962) , a stage characterized by Peplum and pirate films , whose final products do not elevate its mediocre results , but they do not disappoint either and are rarely boring. This grade-B picture was regularly directed by Mario Costa . He was a good artisan who directed Spaghetti Westerns as ¨La Belva¨, ¨Buffalo Bill hero of the Far West¨. And especially known for shooting several adventures, Peplum movies as ¨Conqueror of Corinth¨, ¨Gladiator of Rome¨, ¨Cavalier in Devil's castle¨, ¨The son of the Sheikh¨, ¨The barber of Sevilla¨, ¨The kings of France¨, ¨Kan the Sheik's son¨, ¨The queen of pirates¨, among others. Rating : 4.5/10. Below average Peplum . Only for Gordon Scott fans.
