User reviews

This is the best mythological movie that the Romanian cinematography gave to the world. The historical informations are true in the most part but being so few about the times in witch the action took place, they are spiced in abundance with many mythical ideas about the Dacians and the Romans of that age. The main characters are the prototype of the Romans and Dacian leaders,each one having all the qualities and defaults of their nations and about each you can say that they have the best and the worst from their worlds. In the end they give birth to the Romanian nation, symbolized by a boy whose father is Tiberius and teacher becomes Gerula. Gerula is by far the most powerful character in the movie being the best incarnation of a Dacian in all the Romanian and foreign cinematography. This movie has become a "cult movie" in Romania and it's right to be so.

Thinking of sword and sandal movies (aka 'peplums'), I get the picture of a bodybuilder struggling through a think plot as stereotypical, stupid and colorful as possible. Candy stuff. That's what I expected when I started watching this film. What I got was something completely different: a more realistic, serious and pensive approach to the genre. For peplum fans, the battle scenes are a feast: The costumes are well done, looking as real as it gets at that time, and the fighting is convincing and violent. However, compared to other peplums, the movie is unusually dark and pessimistic in tone, mainly as a result of four factors: 1. The heavy, almost operatic soundtrack, which is a far shot from being easy on the ears. 2. The cinematography, which makes sporadic use of modernistic techniques such as extremely fast cuts and image distortion. 3. The set design and locations, mostly in the (Carpatian?) mountains, where mist or the black smoke rising from pillaged and burnt down villages is nearly omnipresent. 4. The plot and dialogue, which cleverly let viewer sympathies oscillate between the Roman conquerors and the Dacian guerillas. The film takes on the problems of Roman imperialistc policy in a truly epic fashion. Most of the plot is concerned about the leaders, their marriage, and their offspring. It is here that central concepts of imperialism are put to the test. Should the Romans still be fought once they have conquered the land and want to establish peace and prosperity? The dialogue reveals the troubled position the Roman general has to defend: "You will have your peace, whether you want it or not!!" The mixed Roman-Dacian love affair at the core of the film is unfortunately marred by inconclusive character design. Still, the movie is well worth a look, since it does not hesitate to draw the final consequence from all the violence and counterviolence, ending on a dark note. No happy end in sight for the Romanian nation to come: there will be fighting, more and more.

Excellent movie. Today is our national day here and I accidentally came across it while going through the local channels. I always have trouble staying away from it, no matter at which point in the movie I happen to come in.

The Western actors/actress were excellent, and it's always lovely to watch our Romanian actors, like Piersic or lovely Ciubotarasu, whom we've grown up watching in films here.

Wish the world knew more about historical movies involving this part of the world - I think they're the best this country has to offer, moviewise.

it is far to be a comfortable film. because it is an exercise to propose a realistic version of the clash between Romans and Dacians. but a forbidden love story, looking for give a symbolic solution, it is not the best choice. like "Dacii", it is a film of portraits. Decebal, Ciungul, Gerula, Andrada, Tiberius, the great priest, the presence of many foreign actors in a Romanian film, as proof of the independent policy of Comunist Party in the Eastern Europe are pieces defining a film who , not ignoring the sins, remains interesting.