Wizard-8 I thought that "Goliath and the Sins of Babylon" was one of the weaker Italian-made sword and sandal movies I have seen to date. I admit it could have been a lot worse, because buried in the movie are some positive traits. For one thing, it does deliver some nice eye candy, most particularly with the production design. The props and sets are quite lavish at times, from gigantic ocean going ships to areas. And often when these good production values are on display, there are some decent action sequences that do raise the pulse of the movie momentarily when they are unfolding.Unfortunately, the eye candy and the action only take up a small portion of the eighty minute or so running time. Most of the movie is quite boring, with a lot of dry chat and more plot points that are necessary. And the movie's main protagonist (played by Mark Forest) isn't all that engaging. He doesn't seem to have that much that differentiates him from his brothers in arms that are fighting the antagonists, and as a result he comes across as quite bland.This movie could have been a lot worse, but as I said, there's not all that much that makes it stand out from the dozens of other Italian sword and sorcery movies made in this period.

bkoganbing Goliath and the Sins Of Babylon finds the legendary biblical villain a muscular hero in the person of Mark Forest battling for the autonomy of the Kingdom of Nephyr against the Babylonian Empire. It seems as though back in the day this kingdom was a vassal state and was run by some folks who had a vested interest in keeping things that way. Babylon's tribute among other things from Nephyr was a thirty virgins a year quota they had to meet. One wonders how the gynecological examinations were to make sure that no false goods were delivered to the Babylonian Emperor.In any event the giant Goliath trains as a gladiator and trains the other gladiators to fight. As in all these peplums naturally it all works out in the end.Mark Forest is maybe the best looking of all the bodybuilders who were finding work in Italy playing classical heroes. But that ain't reason enough to watch this film.

Maciste_Brother GOLIATH AND THE SINS OF BABYLON is a sensational title. Unfortunately, the film doesn't live up to the title. It's a wildly uneven Sword & Sandal which runs hot to cold and vice versa. It starts off promisingly (30 "virgins" for the evil King of Babylon in exchange for peace) but then the movie totally forgets about that plot point and concentrates on typical brawny action, with the stand-out scene being the one where Hercules, eh, Maciste, eh, Goliath (Mark Forest sans beard) is bound to an altar and directly above are holes in the ceiling with spears attached to ropes within those holes, and whenever the ropes are cut, one spear is released and is supposed to fall on Goliath. Oh, and the bad guy forces Goliath's partners to cut the ropes to see if they're trust-worthy. The scene is effective and it's very reminiscent of the laser scene in GOLDFINGER, which was made a year after this Goliath film, so kudos to the filmmakers here.The rest of the film is standard S&S action hampered by an uneven script and an unfortunate use of stock footage from other films. The film has many highlights, including the battle on the ships and the chariot race, which look like they were cleverly edited with scenes taken from other movies. Or the editing is just bad and the shots just don't match. The chariot race is actually very good, certainly with the added detail of the Princess (the beautiful José Greci) participating in the race. I've never seen a chariot race with a woman. It's cool. But other scenes don't fare better. For example, the battle between the ships looks like it's from another film. You see, the boat with our heroes, in the close-ups, the men are mostly bare-chested and yet in the long shots (presumably the shots from the other film) there are no bare-chested men! During the chariot race, when one man, wearing a green tunic falls off of his chariot, the tunic is totally different in the close-up shots from the long shots. These big continuity errors make the lavish film look cheap.Then there's that annoying little people actor, who was also in THE TEN GLADIATORS and basically ruined that film. I purchased the WARRIORS 50 DVD pack and he's in three films up to now. I hope he's not in more films! The image quality on the WARRIORS 50 DVD pack is awful, so much so that I purchased the Retro Media DVD, which is in widescreen. The image on this DVD is excellent and the movie was certainly better because of it. It's a must for fans.The cast is very good and the star power adds much to the uneven production. Mark Forest is beefy perfection. He's supposed to play Maciste but he's Goliath in the US version. This story is not a one man show though as Goliath joins others to prevent the 30 virgins to be shipped to Babylonia. Mimmo Palmara and Giuliano Gemma, as Xandros, are part of the beefy team rebelling against the rulers of Babylonia. As I mentioned before, José Greci plays the Princess who's character, by law, can only marry a man who can defeat her in the Chariot race. Yes, you read that right.GOLIATH AND THE SINS OF BABYLON is certainly spirited and it doesn't take itself too seriously, which is a plus. The music score is good. In general, it's an above average Peplum. But the suspected use of stock footage, the muddled script & the annoying midget keep it from being a great Peplum.

Steve Nyland (Squonkamatic) The use of Little People (or "midgets" in hammerhead speak) in these Italian Peplum films always puzzles me. I am sure the diminutive actors were delighted to have the opportunity to work and it looks like most of them enjoyed their experiences. The purpose appears to be comic relief: Watch the little guy run between the legs of the two Pizza-Pizza guards with their plumed helmets, they bend down to grab him, their heads konk together & the mini hero turns, issues a poorly lip synced wise crack, and later ends up reclining on a couch surrounded by fawning harem girls who think he's so cute ... Watch the midget bonk a guy over the head with a club to save the muscle bound hero, Ho Ho Ho. I'll grant that the Midget Role is an important part of the Peplum film formula, but the hyperactive, wise-cracking ball of energy in this one is SO obnoxiously used that it detracts from what otherwise would have been a 10/10 effort. Times have changed over the course of the 43 years (!!) since this film was made and I don't find midgets to be inherently funny. So pardon my raining on the parade here a bit.All that aside this is a *WAY* superior action/adventure film populated & made by the best from the Italian cult genre school of film-making: Director Michele Lupo, composer Francesco De Masi, and performers Mark Forest, genre legend Giuliano Gemma, José Greci, José Canalejas, Piero Lulli, and the great Paul Muller. The scope of the film is also on a much grander scale than the usual throwaway Peplum shenanigans of Pizza-Pizza guards chasing a Son of Hercules & his damsel in distress over the familiar looking countrysides of Morocco, Spain, France or Italy that would later be featured in the Spaghetti Western craze which came after the Peplum Fad died out: It's like SPARTACUS meets BEN HUR meets HERCULES meets THE SEVEN GLADIATORS -- A group of super noble Adonis types battles an evil tyrant king to free their people from the yoke of oppression, namely a yearly tribute of "The 30 most lovely virgins" as sacrifices to the gods. The whole idea of depleting a people of their most sexually attractive women just to sacrifice them is of course appalling but ultimately counter-productive. Who in their right mind would want to selectively exterminate all of the good lookin' babes?? Again, with all that aside, this movie totally rocks: There is an extended, violent chariot race, duels to the death a-plenty, scenes where the Herculean heroes take on entire squadrons of Pizza-Pizza guards & make them look like buffoons, prisoners being thrown to the lions for kicks, and an eye-popping battle between two full-sized war galleons that were made just for use in the film that is amongst the most spectacular battle scenes from these potboilers that I've ever witnessed. A surprisingly large sum of money & talent was sunk into this project (1963 was perhaps the zenith year for the Peplum Fad) and it shows. Even non-fans of the genre will be impressed & entertained by the film, with gorgeous women, expansive detailed set construction, some genuinely creative camera work, a cast of thousands and a body count to match, dialog that actually sounds like stuff out of classical Roman history, nefarious court intrigue that holds the fates of entire peoples in the balance, and truly committed performances by the leads ... even the midget throws himself into the role with a certain amount of gusto that's admirable if ultimately annoying to the point of detracting from how seriously one can really regard the film during his scenes.No offense meant mind you, I just don't understand why someone would go through so much effort to create a really superior, epic scale entertainment & then shoot themselves in the foot with extraneous craparoni. But to quote the late Dr. Carl Sagan yet again, "The universe is not required to be in perfect harmony with mere human ambition", and if getting to enjoy such a splendid film requires couple dozen stupid midget humor scenes then that is a price I will be happy to pay. This movie RULEZ! 9/10: Leave the midget at home next time guys, they aren't funny anymore, and serve only to demonstrate the insensitivity of the times in which the movie was made. So be it.