Fall of the Roman Empire

1964 • 152 minutter

Om denne film

Marcus Aurelius Antonius, philosopher-emperor of Rome, summons his empire's governors and princes to German war headquarters for a Pax Romanus. He confides to his daughter, Lucilla, that his adopted son, Livius, will succeed him instead of his more unstable heir, Commodus. Overhearing this, Cleander, a blind prophet loyal to Commodus, presents Marcus with a poisoned apple. After the funeral, Livius, who does not share Lucilla's ambition for himself or Rome, allows Commodus to proclaim himself emperor. Lucilla marries Sohamus of Armenia. While pestilence ravages Rome, Commodus continues his vain, licentious behavior, neglecting all symptoms of unrest while banishing anyone reminding him of his responsibilities: Livius, Lucilla, Timonides the Greek.

Bedømmelser og anmeldelser

This version is cut 1,5 hours shorter than the magnificent original, so sometimes scenes end abruptly or cuts feel unnatural. The soundtrack by Tiomkin suffers from bad sound quality, you can hear the speed varying when the violins are playing.

If you really enjoy old epic movies.... this is the one to skip. With very few exceptions, most of the performances were forced, uninteresting & phoned in by actors who looked like they were daydreaming about being in better movies.

saw this with my father in morristown nj at the park theatre,1964. the color seems to be lacking now and the music gets too loud.