(1968 Anamorphic Widescreen) Laurence Harvey, Orson Welles, Sylva Koscina, Honor Blackman, Robert Hoffman, Michael Dunn, Lang Jeffries, directed by Robert Siodmak. Disc One: Kampf um Rom I. It’s not long after the fall of the Western Roman Empire (early 500s AD). One of the last Roman leaders, Cethegus (Harvey), makes a bid to return Rome to its former greatness. He tries to incite a conflict between the various Goth leaders, who now rule Rome. The idea is to get military aid from Byzantine Emperor Justinian (Welles) and then subdue whoever’s left. The Honor Blackman bathtub scene is a whopper. Disc Two: Kampf um Rom II, Der Verrat: Cethegus gets a war started between the Ostrogoths and the Byzantine Empire, but when the Byzantine army invades Italy to reconquer Rome, a budding romance threatens to ruin Cethegus’s lofty plans. This was one of the last big sword and sandal epics of the 1960s (it was actually quite late in the game), but a big cast helps make this an intriguing peplum thriller. Lots of sword fights and battle scenes, some of which are quite well done. Both discs run just a few minutes shy of three hours. New English Subtitles. Great color, 35mm.
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