Last Days of Pompeii 1 Steve Reeves Ángel Aranda
Back---- Part 1 of 10 To continue with part 2, click the following link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FI1TuPsdckU THE LAST DAYS OF POMPEII (1960) starring Steve Reeves, Christine Kaufmann, Fernando Rey, Mimmo Palmara and Ángel Aranda. Pompeii week here at PEPLUMz. I've uploaded two different endings from two other Pompeii films, from the 1930s and the 1950s. Make sure to check them out. Great Peplum starring the great Steve Reeves amongst a great cast and co-directed by two great directors, Sergio Leone and Sergio Corbucci, after the original director, Mario Bonnard, died while shooting the film. Great sets, great costumes and great destruction effects. And the cinematography (as seen in this 4:3 version created by me) is great. It really pops out. The whole film is just, well, great! Steve looks absolutely amazing in this film and the green "peplum" he wears at the beginning is a perfect example of it. Fernando Rey, as recently seen overacting in Goliath & the Giants, is almost subdued here even though he basically plays the same role. And Christine Kaufmann is a beauty. The excellent cinematography really captures her youthful beauty. I enjoy this S&S film a lot. But aside from being an enjoyable film, it's also, along with Revolt of the Slaves, one of the most important films of the Peplum genre. It was released during the transition phase of the S&S films of the 1950s (like Hercules or Sign of the Gladiator) and the more robust, more violent, more lusty, more outlandish Peplums that dominated the 1960s. The first reason why this color version of The Last Days of Pompeii is important is that it gave the chance for two upcoming directors, Sergio Leone and Sergio Corbucci, a start before moving on to their more famous careers as Spaghetti Western directorss. Sergio Leone is now considered a near legendary filmmaker. Leone would continue to be involved in other S&S productions and would direct another major S&S film, The Colossus of Rhodes, before moving on and basically create the Spaghetti Western genre, which sadly, has completely eclipsed the Peplum genre. Last Days was also co-directed by Sergio Corbucci and while not as famous as Leone, Corbucci would leave his mark in the Spaghetti Western genre with films like DJANGO after he made a couple of more Peplums, such as Romelus & Remus (also known as Duel of the Titans). Another reason why this film is a standout is because it's a good example of a less formal, more lusty and European style of filmmaking, illustrated in many ways, none more obvious than of those naughty upskirt shots which rarely occured in S&S films of the 1950s and would eventually permeate every S&S films made in Italy during the 1960s. Those moments stand out for several reasons in part because of the anachronistic aspects of seeing modern day undies worn underneath ancient costumes but also because of the then more puritanical nature of society was being challenged with an increasing display of skin. By accident or by design, we would often have a glimpse of what kind of underwear the men were wearing beneath their skirts/wraps while filming those movies. You never see this in S&S films made in more conservative Hollywood. In this version of Last Days of Pompeii, they were totally reckless about this and so we see a lot from Steve, Mimmo and certainly Ángel Aranda who's butt is often exposed or nearly exposed throughout the film. The subversive quality of those naughty glimpses are what makes them, imo, fun and give these films an edge over those made in stodgy Hollywood. The film also has some obvious erotic tones (like when the beefy man carries the drunken man during the party scene) which were also present in the silent version. Another reason why this version is important is that several S&S films made afterwards freely took scenes from it to supplement their moments. This is one of the most "sampled" Peplums ever made. Anyway, Last Days of Pompeii is a fine film to watch during the Thanksgiving holiday and our troubled times! ps: make sure to check out part 6 is you want to see Steve being tended for his wounds. It's a highlight. ----
Category: Entertainment
Uploaded: October 13th, 2008 @ 6:14 am
Author: peplumz
Length: 10:32
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Views: 2,454
Tags: action beefcake bulges fantasy gladiator goliath hercules hot hunk maciste muscle musclemen pecs peplum torture upskirt
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