golddigger-2 This movie was a fav of my mother's i have a copy on VHS I treasure originally the heroine was tied to the bulls horns not wanting to insure the star option was to tie her to a post Debra Karr is absolutely beautiful and Peter Ustinov is awesome as the flawed Nero

bob9354 This is an incomplete review as my wife and I could only take about an hour and a half of it. As for the acting, it's not bad for an older movie. The problem we had with the movie, and it's a major one for us, is that Christianity is wrongly portrayed. I realize that it may not be a problem for everyone, but Christianity is portrayed, pretty much as Judaism. If the faith of the female lead were Jewish, I would have been able enjoy the movie. But to have her portrayed as a Christian, and yet Christianity portrayed as a list of do's and don't's, takes away from the impact of the movie. I know that many would ask me, "What do you mean? Christianity IS a list of do's and don't's." And I know that's what a lot of people think it is. But Christianity is about how humanity cannot reform themselves... that we are separated from God by our rebellious hearts and wills...that there is only one way for us to return to a relationship with God...and that is to trust in what Jesus did for us on the cross. We don't reform ourselves to be acceptable to God. That's impossible. We accept the free offer of forgiveness that Jesus extends to us. We accept His forgiveness, and only then can we enter into a whole new relationship with Him...having the guilt for our shortcomings and rebellion cast as far as east is from west.But the movie portrays Christianity as a religion in which the followers of Jesus simply do the right thing.

SnoopyStyle It's 30 years after the crucifixion of Jesus Christ. Marcus Vinicius (Robert Taylor) commands the XIV Legion and returns to Rome after a successful 3 year campaign. His uncle Petronius is a close counsel to Emperor Nero (Peter Ustinov). He meets general Aulus Plautius' daughter Lygia (Deborah Kerr) who was the daughter of the king of Lygia taken hostage when she was a child and then adopted. The household is secretly Christian. Vinicius gets Nero to give Lygia as a hostage to him. Lygia slowly teaches the brute Vinicius about the peaceful Christian ways. Poppaea (Patricia Laffan) is the evil wife of the impetulant Nero.The scale is grand. Peter Ustinov is terrific as Nero. Otherwise, the other actors are pretty stiff. Quite frankly, Robert Taylor is too good at playing the dislikeable arrogant general. I don't care about him or even his transformation. It's hard to develop chemistry that way. Deborah Kerr is overacting a bit or maybe she's a little too old to act that way. This needs to have a better couple at the head. They don't work but the other parts work better. Ustinov is the true star in this although the bull wrestling is impressive too.

writers_reign What a colossal bore. I've just spent the thick end of three hours watching at most - and being generous - three minutes of half-decent cinema. Presumably it was 'sold' as spectacle and if that's true then they really SHOULD have gone to Specsavers. What it is is TALK and then MORE talk and nothing worth hearing. It's just possible with two half-decent leads as opposed to the wooden Taylor and the insipid Kerr it might have been watchable, say Lancaster or Douglas opposite Ava Gardner. As it is the only diversion is looking for the uncredited Liz Taylor and/or Sophia Loren. Ustinov walks away with it of course but given the role as written even Arthur Mullard could have made a respectable stab at it. Finlay Currie and Felix Aylmer in one movie is also notable though not enough to make it watchable. Maybe if they'd turned the lions loose at the first pre-production session it would have done us all a fovour.