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Seven Screen Gems of the Ancient World

Articles | 27 Apr 2010 | 6 comments

The empire strikes back this week, as Movies.ie celebrates the release of Neil Marshall's CENTURION

Neil Marshall heads on a very roman holiday with his latest film CENTURION. Lead by Irish actor Michael Fassbender, the film follows the story of Rome's effots to take Britain for its own - much to the Picts dismay... With Rome retreating and the Pict king out for revenge, Fassbender and his few remaining merry men are on the run from Pict mercenary Etain - played by a mute Bond girl Olga Kurylenko


To celebrate the release of CENTURION, Movies.ie picks seven of the best movies of the ancient world...



Ben-Hur




Charlton Heston takes his turn as a galley slave before slugging it out with Stephen Boyd in the chariot races. A true Roman epic - it runs a hefty 417 minutes!



Spartacus




The dimple-chinned Kirk Douglas plays the gladiator hero who leads a revolt, but eventually ends up getting crucified. It could only be Stanley Kubrick...



Gladiator




Ridley Scott's Gladiator showed us Rome as we'd never seen it before - fast, exciting and complete with a digitally modelled Colosseum. The film brought the ancient world back to the big screen, not to mention one Russell Crowe... 




Caligula




Directed by Tinto Brass and based on a screenplay by Gore Vidal, this 1979 film is a portrayal of the depraved emperor Caligula. Malcolm McDowell plays a fiendish, depraved and merciless Caligula - which is exactly how he should be.



Rome



Rome, created by Bruno Heller originally aired on HBO in 2005 and ran for two seasons. The series was filmed most notably in the Cinecittà studios in Italy where Ben Hur was made five decades earlier. Irish actor Ciarán Hinds earned an IFTA for his perfomrance of Julius Caesar in the series.



Troy



Based on Homer's Epic the Iliad, Troy is Wolfgang's Peterson's (of Das Boot fame) attempt at bringing to the big screen history's most famous battle. Granted not the strongest film of its genre but it played its part in bringing other films such as 300 and Alexander to the big screen.



Quo Vadis



One of the highest grossing films at the time of its release, Robert Taylor plays the Roman commander who falls for a Christian girl, while Peter Ustinov has a great time going way over-the-top as the Emperor Nero...

 


CENTURION is in Irish cinemas now.

Comments

  • tetsujin1979

    you could include The Ten Commandments as well.
    They really don't make them like they used to any more.

  • masonica

    Think Cleopatra should be on the list. A film that almost took down 20th Century Fox.

  • dfarre01

    Nice list.

  • alanhorkan

    Caligula seems like an odd choice.

    El Cid is epic, but maybe not ancient enough. http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0054847/

  • ssconnolly

    Haven't seen most of these films, might give em a look. Or some of them at least.

  • stucohen

    Love historical drama, from the ancient era. I would certainly include the Ten Commandments, and exclude Caligula. The only reason that movie was made was for it's pornography.I wish the list was expanded, in the hopes of finding a movie I haven't seen. I highly recommend The Last Legion, that marries the Arthur legend with the last of the Caesars, and the end of Roman Britain. 5th century. Can't wait to see Centurion!

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