By Jason Apuzzo. Today we begin a new feature here at Libertas called The Sword & Sandal Report!, to complement our Invasion Alerts! and Cold War Updates! The Sword & Sandal Report! will cover the recent explosion of new films & TV shows dealing with the ancient world, and especially those depicting the worlds of ancient Greece, Rome and the Biblical lands – but also ‘sword and sorcery’-type projects that cover the Middle Ages, or alternative-style fantasy worlds. So dust off your sandals, grab that Roman-Gladius sword off the wall, strap on your helmet … and ladies, get ready to wear some loose clothing.
Or, as in the case of Spartacus: Gods of the Arena on Starz, wear no clothing at all!
I’ve always loved sword-and-sandal movies or peplum, particularly of the Italian/Steve Reeves-Hercules variety, but also Hollywood-on-the-Tiber classics like Ben-Hur or Helen of Troy – or fantasy fare like Ray Harryhausen’s Jason and the Argonauts. If the purpose of the cinema is to ‘take us away’ to imaginative lands of the past, where heroes are always larger than life and nobler – and women lovelier and more virtuous (or more wicked and licentious, as your tastes demand) – then these films really accomplish that. In recent years. the peplum has been revived largely by Ridley Scott’s Gladiator from 2000, although the results since that time have admittedly been mixed – with a few hits like Frank Miller’s 300, and quite a few reekers like Oliver Stone’s Alexander.
Nonetheless, I’ve been wanting to do The Sword & Sandal Report! for some time, because – when done properly – these films not only convey a wonderful spirit of adventure, fantasy and romance, but they can also be great vehicles for communicating basic ideas about freedom. In fact, it’s often the case in the more modern sword-and-sandal films that the only idea conveyed whatsoever – in the midst of all the dust, carnage and orgiastic sex – is the basic need to fight for one’s freedom, an idea we champion wholeheartedly here at Libertas.
At the same time, sword-and-sandal movies are also an entertaining way to learn about history, even when these films diverge (often drastically) from established fact. And, as in the case of something like The Fall of the Roman Empire or El Cid, sword-and-sandal movies can also be among the more poetic and erudite films you will ever see. So let’s let get started …
• Very big news recently on the sword-and-sandal front was the early rollout of the media campaign for The Immortals, Tarsem Singh’s 3D take on the Theseus myth coming from Universal and Relativity Media in November. The film features Henry Cavill (the new Superman) as Theseus, and also Mickey Rourke, Freida Pinto, John Hurt and Transformers 2/Red Dawn hottie Isabel Lucas as the goddess Athena. Producer Mark Canton talks about the film here and here, new posters are out for the film here, plus Immortals is already getting the graphic novel treatment (see here), and Tarsem Singh and Isabel Lucas together talk about the film here and here.
Because this is a ‘Tarsem’ movie (he helmed the memorably perverse Jennifer Lopez thriller, The Cell), the early vibe I’m getting on this film is that it could be a hyper-violent, MTV-Zack Snyder-type mess, but we’ll see and I’ll hope for the best. Certainly the benefit of casting Mickey Rourke these days as a villain – in Immortals he plays the wicked King Hyperion of Crete – is that you don’t need to put any extra fright makeup on his face.
• While producing The Immortals, Mark Canton is also apparently prepping the 300 prequel with Zack Snyder and Frank Miller … which was initially going to be called Xerxes, but which is now lacking a title, as the title ‘Xerxes‘ has apparently been dropped. Why? Too many X’s? I think Xerxes is a great title – crisp, simple and dramatic. Were they worried no one would understand that it was a 300 prequel? Here’s hoping they don’t title the film 299 – or, worse yet, Themistocles.
In any case, Canton talks about his enthusiasm for the prequel here, and you can also see a full breakdown of the Xerxes storyline via Frank Miller here. On paper, it looks like the film could be genuinely spectacular.
• Robert Towne (Chinatown) has been hired to write Pompeii, Sony’s four-part miniseries based on the best-selling historical thriller by Robert Harris and produced by Ridley and Tony Scott, among others. Read the details about the project here, and Jeffrey Wells does a nice job of tracking the intriguing similarities between Harris’ Pompeii and Towne’s Chinatown here.
I haven’t read Harris’ Pompeii, although I’ve been to Pompeii itself – an otherworldly ghost town, meticulously preserved since its unearthing – and I’ve read Harris’ Imperium and enjoyed it a great deal. Because Ridley Scott’s involved, expect Pompeii to be big, ponderous, vaguely conspiratorial but otherwise respectable – with a boffo conclusion, as it were.
• Wrath of the Titans, sequel to the godawful remake of Clash of the Titans, has just begun shooting – and you can check out the official plot synopsis of that film here. Wrath was written by a completely different team of screenwriters than the first film, and is being helmed by Battle: Los Angeles director Jonathan Liebesman, so here’s hoping the new film is a lot better than the last. All I ask is that the new film not feature ‘heroic’ pseudo-Islamic suicide warriors (the ‘Djinn’), nor gratuitously insult Indian Hindus, and maybe include a few more women in the cast next time? Just a thought. Actually that’s three thoughts.
• Stephen Lang talks briefly about the new 3D Conan the Barbarian here, and there’s a new teaser trailer out for the film. Not sure what to think about this one yet. Suffice it to say that this new version will not involve Arnold Schwarzenegger, John Milius or Oliver Stone … let alone James Earl Jones or Wilt Chamberlain. So what does it have, instead? A lot more gratuitous nudity, if the rumors are true – which is fine (particularly in 3D), but currently not enough to get me interested. We’ll keep an eye on this one, though, as Conan is such a sympathetic chap.
• Actor John Hanna is out defending Starz’s Spartacus: Gods of the Arena from charges that the show overdoes it on the sex-and-violence front. Hanna plays Quintus Lentulus Batiatus, the owner of a gladiator academy, who apparently engages in frequent romps with his on-screen wife Lucretia, played by Lucy Lawless. Has anybody been watching this show? I haven’t had the chance yet, but it sounds like a hoot. Lucy Lawless will also apparently be returning for the next season of Spartacus: Blood and Sand.
• Newly out on DVD/Blu-ray are: the Cecil B. DeMille/Charlton Heston The Ten Commandments (see my in-depth review here), Centurion with Olga Kurylenko (see Joe Bendel’s LFM review here), and The Eagle arrives on June 21st.
• In other Sword & Sandal News: reviews are starting to appear of HBO’s new Game of Thrones series (see here and here), and you can watch the series trailer here; director Scott Derrickson (The Exorcism of Emily Rose) will apparently be directing a new 300-style take on the David & Goliath story called Goliath; actor Andy Serkis was just given the position of Second Unit Director on The Hobbit; Eva Green talks here about sex scenes and paganism (perfect subjects for cable TV!) in Starz’s new Camelot series, and there’s a big group-cast interview for that series here.
• AND IN TODAY’S MOST IMPORTANT NEWS … we thought we’d take a look above at pretty actress Erin Cummings of Spartacus: Blood and Sand, who in a few rare moments as Spartacus’ wife Sura in that scintillating series is actually clothed!
And that’s what’s happening today in the world of Sword & Sandals …
Posted on April 8th, 2011 at 7:07pm.
Great idea for a new series, Jason. Along with the Cold War and Alien Invasion entries, you’re really producing an eclectic body of work.
This genre is obviously compatible with the mission here at Libertas — especially a Xerxes film. I just can’t imagine how awesome a film about Themistocles could be — the parallels you can make about today are astounding.
Now, if we can get films based on the Battle of Tours or the siege of Vienna … then we’re talkin’.
As for the Conan film, I’m actually anticipating it a bit — mostly because Jason Mamoa was so awesome on Stargate Atlantis.
Good calls on El Cid and Fall of the Roman Empire. As if the films aren’t good enough, you just can’t take your eyes off Sophia Loren for a second.
Thanks for the good word, Vince! I appreciate it.
Let me tell you, it was quite difficult choosing between Sophia Loren and Gina Lollobrigida for the logo. Ultimately I went with La Lollo because she captures the vampy spirit of the genre a bit better. Sophia, by contrast, is always so wonderfully dignified …
Will any of these be as good as the originals? I don’t think so. Hollywood doesn’t know how to handle the classics anymore. They don’t really believe in this stuff. After years of Baby Boomers trying to destroy Western Civilization, now they want to make films about it. They don’t know how to do this stuff anymore. They don’t have the writers, the actors, or the directors.
Things are grim, R, no doubt. Still, practice makes perfect, and the more of these films that are made, the more likely that someone will do something good.
I loved the Spartacus series and its prequel miniseries. Despite all the (admittedly entertaining) sex and violence, the show has got a strong moral center in its heroes – men struggling to live with integrity amidst the depravity and debauchery. The writing has been phenomenal as well. Can’t wait for Season 2.