The Golden Age of Roman Epics film discussion

Arwen and Ilana tackle the golden age of Hollywood Roman Epics. What made these spectacles rise and fall? What would they be like if they made them now? We take you from “Quo Vadis” to “Cleopatra” and from “Ben-Hur” to “The Fall of the Roman Empire,” with a few small history lessons along the way.
See our reviews on:
Quo Vadis: • First and definitive? ...
The Robe: • A harsh cure for toxic...
Demetrius and the Gladiators: • Tested Faith or a good...
The Big Fisherman: • Religious movie reveal...
The Egyptian: • Awesome costuming, sub...
0:00 Discussion: Golden Age of Roman Epics
#TheRobe
#DemetriusandtheGladiators
1:20 How the genre suddenly stopped
religious historical pieces
2:40 "The Fall of the Roman Empire" 1964
Starring #SophiaLoren, #AlecGuinness, #JamesMason, #ChristopherPlummer
Mention: #KingofKings 1961
Mention: #Cleopatra 1934
Mention: #Ben-Hur 1925
3:30 Era of colour talkie roman epics 1950-1964
4:00 Peplum: sword-and-sandal Italian subgenre
and Spaghetti Westerns 1965 and onwards
5:15 "Quo Vadis" 1951 and European Sword-and-Sandal
6:20 Television versus cinema movies
7:30 Filming in the Rome studios "Cinecitta"
8:30 Filming locations in California
used in "The Robe", "Demetrius and the Gladiators" and "The Big Fisherman".
9:30 Italian carpentry Hollywood
10:00 The city of Rome and Cinecitta studios
11:30 BBC TV series "Rome" 2005-2007
Mention: "Doctor Who" Rome episode
Mention: "Gladiator" 2000, shot in #Malta
Mention: The Appian Way (Via Appia), location in "Quo Vadis"
13:25 Nostalgia for Roman epics
Mention: "Gladiator" 2000
Mention: "Troy" 2004
Mention: "The 300" 2006
14:10 Modern era Roman epics with modern realism
15:30 Segregation in Hollywood and the ancient epics
Mention: "Cleopatra" 1963
Mention: "The Egyptian" 1954
Mention: "Demetrius and the Gladiators"
17:00 Ancient Rome and racism and sexism
18:20 "Streetcar Named Desire" 1951
Starring #VivienLeigh #MarlonBrando
Directed by #EliaKazan
19:10 Speaking parts for People of Color
Mention: "The Queen of Babylon" 1954 with #RhondaFleming and #RicardoMontalban
Mention: "Solomon and Sheba" 1959 with #YulBrynner and #GinaLollobrigida
20:30 Sidney Poitier, First Black actor to win Academy Award.
Mention: "The Ten Commandments" 1956
Mention: "The Greatest Story Ever Told"1965
21:30 "Ben Hur" 1959 and "Ben-Hur: Tale of the Christ" 1926
Mention: "The Son of the Sheik" 1926 #RudolphValentino
23:00 Beauty versus demographics of the leads over the ages
23:50 Romon Novarro as Ben-Hur
in "Ben-Hur: Tale of the Christ"
Also starring: Claire McDowell
24:30 "Ben Hur" TV trilogy, 2010
Starring #JosephMorgan #KristinKreuk
Ben-Hur 1959
25:00 Adaptation of an epic-length book
27:00 The opening sequence of "The Robe" 1953
Mention: #RichardBurton
29:00 Trained actors rock
Mention: #VictorMature
30:20 Get the right actor for the part
31:10 Elizabeth Taylor in "Cleopatra"
33:00 Showing the audience the historic life in the Roman empire
34:00 #Shakespeare with #JuliusCaesar
36:00 Mention: "Julius Caesar" 1953 with Marlon Brando
Also starring #JamesMason #JohnGielgud
#Brutus #Cassius #MarcAnthony
40:00 Historical accuracy of Shakespeare
Mention of "The Robe", "The Big Fisherman"
#Caesarea
42:50 Sticking to historical facts in movies
43:40 Making movies under the #HaysCode
Mention: "Demetrius and the Gladiators"
45:00 Showing the debauchery of the Romans in movies
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Music: Magnetic Rag by Scott Joplin
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#movie
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#filmdiscussion
#hollywood
#britishmovie
#historicalepics
#RomanEpics
#BlackandWhite
#ColorTalkies
#TheFalloftheRomanEmpire
#Peblum #SwordAndSandal
#SpagettiWesterns
#QuoVadis
#cinecita
#Gladiator #Troy #The300
#TheAppianWay #ViaAppia
#PeopleofColor
#SidneyPoitier
#ElizabethTaylor

[@Luxington1]

13:51 I think we were in the beginning of a new wave of epic historical war movies that was sparked by Braveheart in 1995. Then we got Gladiator, Troy, Alexander, Kingdom of Heaven, probably some others. The Last Samurai.
My theory is that 300 ruined it by diluting a historical movie with the elements of two other popular trends of the early aughts, e.g. comic book movies and fantasy.
Lord of the Rings and Harry Potter were so popular as were the X-Men and Spiderman movies, and 300 tried to throw it all in one, and it worked in the sense that it was popular at the time, and I blame that on adolescent boys who played too much God of War and thought it was real Greek mythology. But 300 shifted the whole tone of what would follow. Hollywood then chased after what would be the next epic family fantasy, and if it wanted to be more serious, it was dumbed down and had that silly video game athletic.
The Chronicles of Narnia
The Spiderwick Chronicles
Percy Jackson
Eregon
The Golden Compass
Clash of the Titans
Conan
Hercules
Where are the movies for adults? And kids can grow up enjoying and appreciating this type as well, which I think is preferable to the other type.

[@richardscanlan3419]

Yep,those movies you listed are for kids.
Serious Roman epics started with -
Quo Vadis
The Robe
Ben Hur.
Then the 1960s -
Spartavus
Cleopatra
Fall of the RE ( best Roman epic ever made).
Italian sword and sandal movies - Peplum - were low budget trash.Unwatchable.

[@Luxington1]

@@richardscanlan3419 Yep, I'm a big fan of the "epic" genre, I only haven't seen The robe or Quo Vadis because I think I should check out the books first. I liked The Fall of the Roman Empire, but couldn't rank it as better than Spartacus.

[@richardscanlan3419]

@@Luxington1 Each to their own.Highly recommend you see The Robe and Quo Vadis,they are both top notch.
On your second point,a lot of people feel the same way.But for me,FOTRE breaks the mould,,as it doesn't centre around Christianity - which so many Roman films do - but instead works on what made the RE tick.
Put it this way,it was more cerebral than most Roman epics.