Moviegoers of the period must have been tiring of these grand spectacles to lure them away from television because this film is such a grand disappointment from what could have been. The pinnacle of these films was 1959's Ben Hur and only in five short years a film with such star-power and production values falls on its face like a ton of bricks. This was the last mega-production of independent producer, Samuel Bronston who rivaled in getting all the money put on the screen such as having the most expensive international cast and building a mammoth Roman Forum - which is probably one of the most impressive sets ever constructed in movie history. But unfortunately, it is the script most of all that is so horribly disjointed and badly conceived in its fictionalization of the sweeping historical events depicted in the fall of the roman empire. As far as acting most everyone is competent when they are on screen- again when there are so many characters we seem to get more cameo performances and one-scene speeches here, but this doesn't make a movie. Perhaps the most shining character is Christopher Plummer in his pre-Sound of Music days as the Emperor Commodus. Also merit should go to veteran character actor, Finaly Currie as an aging Roman Senator- but even he who has a short five minute scene can't save the film. Finally, one thing that disturbed me about this film was the suprisingly bland performance that Stephen Boyd gave in the lead - after his wonderful Ben-Hur performance he seemed subdued in this role - I think its a combination of that his character was poorly written and he wasn't a strong enough lead as Charlton Heston might have been who strangely enough rejected this role. This film is rememberred for closing the curtain on the historical epic for a time. It would not be until the movie "Gladiator" which parallel this movie in some ways that this genre would be back on the screen but with computer generated sets
Review of The Fall of the Roman Empire
