Sure, you don't expect to have a Hollywood version of history conform to actual history, but you'd like to be able to expect them to make an historical epic worth forgetting the details of real history. Somehow, the fall of the Roman Empire has been made boring and silly in this "Toga Epic" shot in Spain. We don't care about the characters, really. Part of the problem is with the script being so derivative and shlocky that you can't even be bothered to see the next twist coming. The acting from Sir Alec Guinness and James Mason is solid and real, which is not surprising. Even Omar Sharif's thankless role is well-played. But as dominating as Stephen Boyd's character is, he makes it as alive and as fun to look at as the dove's entrails that begin the film - boring, ghastly, and just plain dead. Sophia Loren, usually a less than dynamic performer, shines like burning tungsten in scenes with Boyd because of the company she keeps. Christopher Plummer spends much of the movie with an odd "cat who just ate the canary and some catnip" expression on his face. Scary, demonic, and downright evil? No. Sappy, self-satisfied, and sleepy? Yes! The dialogue is silly. The acting is, mostly, silly. The story is boring, convoluted for the sake of being so, and silly. The action scenes are stolen from Ben-Hur, and silly. Ultimately, this is silly. The costumes and sets are good, the photography is good, the music and sound is good, but this is not the best of this genre by a long chalk.
Review of The Fall of the Roman Empire
