brando647 I've now sat through THE GIANT OF METROPOLIS, from Italian director Umberto Scarpelli, twice and it's only getting more difficult to watch. I was able to find some laughable material the first time through with its hilarious archaic message, but the melodrama and snail pacing made it a painful 90 minutes when I tried to sit through it again. It's part sword and sandal epic/part science fiction cautionary tale and 100% endurance trial for this viewer. THE GIANT OF METROPOLIS is the tale of Obro (Gordon Mitchell), a muscle-bound barbarian from a distant land who has travelled with his father, brothers, and townsfolk to deliver a dire warning to Yotar (Roldano Lupi), king of Metropolis. Yotar is a diabolical scientist whose experiments spit in the very face of death, if you can be bothered to understand what those experiments are. Regardless, Obro's father dies before reaching Metropolis and the townsfolk abandon Obro and his brothers to continue their journey alone. When his brothers are killed in a…lightning tornado attack (?)…Obro is left to face Yotar alone. Imprisoned, tortured, and thrown into gladiatorial combat, Obro struggles to press on and continues to warn Yotar of the consequences for a life of science and the gall to challenge nature. Obro proves his strength in challenge after challenge as Metropolis edges toward annihilation, and he soon discovers sympathetic minds where he least expects it. But will Obro and his new allies succeed in time to save the people of Metropolis? No, he won't because, as explained in the opening text scrawl, Metropolis is Atlantis. And we all know how that ended up…Yeah, that's right. Metropolis is Atlantis and this movie is set 20,000 years ago. In case there's any hope remaining for Obro to succeed in his quest, the opening scrawl contains the following omen:"When scientists of Metropolis attempted to penetrate the secret of death, nature rebelled, causing universal destruction…"So really, you don't have to go any further than the first five minutes of the film. It gives you the ending right there. I'm unsure why Atlantis is referred to as Metropolis. It might be an Italian-English translation error or Metropolis might be the capital/largest city in the land of Atlantis. I don't know and it's never explained. And what is Yotar's weird science that leads to the destruction of Metropolis/Atlantis? Piecing it together is half the fun. I got the impression that he was transferring the brain of his elderly father into the body of his young son, Elmos. Then he would transfer his son's brain into the body of an older guy, I guess. I'm really not sure. I know his ultimate goal was immortality (for his father and his son, I guess…but not himself?) and his science incorporated astrology because the screenwriters just don't understand science. Or it could be because there were six separate people with screen writing credits on this thing. It's confusing and, as a result, dull because I don't know what we're working toward.I suppose none of that is important though because the central message to walk away from THE GIANT OF METROPOLIS with is "science is evil". This movie is so preachy, it's almost anti-intellectual propaganda. And, if you really look at the movie through a skewed lens, it's essentially condoning terrorism. Let's break it down: Yotar and his society are science-oriented. Obro comes from a simple society that worships nature and an unspecified, omnipotent force. Obro arrives to preach the evils of science and the pursuit of knowledge, and he threatens total destruction if he is not heeded. Yotar, understandably, disagrees and proceeds to put Obro through a series of tests because he's not seen strength of this magnitude before in any one man (Ok, admittedly, imprisonment and forced combat weren't Yotar's most sympathetic choices). Obro escapes and proceeds to engage in guerilla attacks against Yotar's people, at one point even dropping in to slaughter a funeral procession. I'm painting in broad strokes here but that's because, halfway through this film, I'd zoned out and the finer details skated right past me.Some highlights to be found in THE GIANT OF METROPOLIS are Gordon Mitchell's broad theatrical performance (especially when miming battles against a beam of light), Obro's battles against a hairy cave troll and a swarm of flesh-ripping pygmies, the strange interpretive dance number (with plenty o' thrusting), and, honestly, the production design. It's incredibly minimalistic but I liked the wide, spacious chambers with sparse columns, carvings, and statues. I also enjoyed the costume design and the use of miniatures to create Metropolis. And, of course, there's the final 7 minute or so sequence where Metropolis meets his end. Plenty of stock footage and wave-pool action going on, making for a glorious end to a sluggish film.

Red-Barracuda In the year 20,000 B.C. on the continent of Atlantis, in the city of Metropolis King Yotar rules a very scientifically advanced, yet inhumane, civilisation. A muscle bound hero Obro arrives there to attempt to put an end to this reign of terror.This sword and sandal flick is a little different from most in the peplum genre in that it is set way before the Roman or even Greek times. Not only this but it's one of those specific entries in the genre, like Hercules Against the Moon Men, which incorporates a sci-fi element into its fantasy scenario. In this case a super-advanced scientific civilisation and a King who conducts crazed experiments on his son in a manner similar to a mad scientist. He also puts the hero Obro through various tests, such as a gladiatorial fight with a murderous giant and an encounter with a group of hairy savages. But in essence this one is still basically very similar in feel to the other strong man peplum movies featuring the likes of Maciste and Hercules. As such, Giant of Metropolis is one which drags a lot of the time and gets quite tedious on occasion, yet is interspersed with memorable scenes, while its sets and costuming ensure that it will always have enough production value about it to ensure it will always retain some watch-ability and kitsch value.

BA_Harrison On paper, this epic 60s sci-fi peplum sounds really cool: it's got astonishing set design, Bava-style art direction, outlandish costumes and weaponry, an insane tyrant, a doomed empire, beautiful women in distress, and strongman Gordon Mitchell battling it out with numerous armed guards, a massive hairy troglodyte, and five flesh eating pygmies.In actuality, it is far from impressive...Although the film looks great at times, with particularly good use of light and shadow (and a legendary amount of dry ice), it is severely hampered by a dreary, repetitive script, terrible dubbing and poor performances: star Mitchell's physique might have made him perfect for the genre, but he clearly spent much more time developing his pectorals than his acting skills.Speaking of magnificent chests, The Giant of Metropolis does at least benefit from the presence of drop dead gorgeous Euro-babes Bella Cortez and Liana Orfei as Princess Mecede and Queen Texen, both of whom have va-va-voom to spare; neither woman seems to be a particularly good actress, but when they're built like that, who cares?

TheVid Get out the popcorn, junior mints and sodas for this Italian-made grindhouse spectacular. It's ripe with just about every conceivable fetishistic delight that you could get away with at a Saturday matinee or drive-in double feature. There's sword-and-sandal thrills, sci-fi funk, lots of male and female pulchritude, and a wildly sado-masochistic tone that really carries it over the top (as these things go). Only the tightest of asses couldn't enjoy this kind of late-night exploitation sleaze, so check it out and have a groovy movie party! See the terrors, the tortures, the tantalizing lust and all the other sleazy stuff that makes a lost empire cool!