IL CONQUISTATORI DE CORINTO (1961) *1/2 This is hysterical: a thousand years after the fact Italians are still making movies in which Greek nationalists are the bad guys, but the ones who want to be Roman subjects are sensible and good. So far as quality goes: think of some very second-rate Shakepeareans reading a Batman tv script, but with even more machismo-driven melodrama. And John Drew Barrymore is right smack in the middle of it all, not standing out as particularly better than anyone else, but so over the top as to deliver some of the funniest lines. It's a movie you have to laugh at more than with or anything else, but as any thespian might assure you…thatsa entertainment, too! So far as I can tell, the main problem between the two peoples was that some chick got ahold of some blond hair dye so reprehensible that no one could bear for anyone else to have her (unintended benevolent subtext). Also, her voice (-over) is such that she should have ended every sentence with "Tra-la-la, now I'm off to play with the magic deer!" Unfortunately-unlike in Batman-such moments are never fully realized, and they don't even flash "clank!" or "thwack" across the scene during the nearly interminable-entirely soporific and barely interrupted-two sword fights that comprise the entire second half of the film. Oh well.
back to Brilliant Observations on 2525 Films page, or Index
go back home, or send me email
Reviews won't do it any more! I need sustained brilliance! I want to buy your exciting new terrorist novel!
I've already read both of your novels. Thank you, they're amazing. Now I want to check out your weekly blog on everything