Gods of War Giant of Marathon The Last Glory of Troy Double Feature by Peter Pan

These aren't really B-rate films they are foreign films. "The Giant of Marathon" is the more popular of the two films here, but I purchased this pairing to get the color version of "The Last Glory of Trot" A.K.A. "The Avenger". I first saw "The Avenger" released & advertised as color by Millcreek only to find out it was Black & White! Apparently the color had completely washed out by the time they released it. In this set it still has color but has suffered from time & neglect. In some parts of the film the top & bottom edges are almost void of color! I read a review stating Steve Reeves seemed tired in this film, but this may be good acting as Aeneas is a man coming off of a ten year siege against the Greeks & leading the remaining Trojans on a nomadic voyage from modern day Turkey to Rome. That would tend to tucker a man out! The costumes and armor are outstanding & although faded I was happy to see it in color! I wish someone would have taken the time to do a good widescreen color restoration on Mr. Reeves films like WB archive collection has done with his film "The Slave". This would have been a better pairing if they would have put "The Last Glory of Troy" or "The Avenger" with "The Trojan Horse" as it was the sequel to "The Trojan Horse" starring Mr. Reeves! The final battle sequence even cropped & fading in color is awesome as the Hero & Nemesis fight their way through the flooded woods full of falling blossoms and buzzing butterflies & dragon flies! I guess I really love these movies as I am a big fan of Homer & Virgil & history in general. "The Giant of Marathon" is not completely accurate to history as Philipedes dies after his double Marathon, but that wouldn't make a very exciting movie would it? But the under water photography & battles are second only to "The Creature from the Black Lagoon". Both of these films are worth owning at these reasonable prices it is just a shame they haven't received the restoration they deserve. Back in the day these were the BOMB! And they are for most practical purposes the forerunners of todays sword & sorcery films. Like Arnold was to "Conan" Steve Reeves was a living special effect!!! Steroid free at that!!! Read more

I can't imagine what DVDs the previous reviewers were looking at. Sadly this is an instance where I made a purchase based on the comments of others. I own hundreds of DVDs and there is nothing I have that comes close to the abysmal quality of this disk. It looks like a fifth or sixth generation transfer from a VHS, like looking at a movie through a fish bowl. I am a huge admirer of director Jacques Tourneur and hope I'll be able to see this film someday. Read more

As a kid growing up in the late 50's/early 60s, I enjoyed Italian sword-and-sandle epics almost as much as sci-fi and horror flicks. Steve Reeves' 'Hercules' and 'Hercules Unchained' were his most popular films, but some of his subsequent work were superior productions. 'The Giant of Marathon', along with 'The Last Days of Pompeii' were such films. In 'Marathon', Reeves (sans his Hercules beard) plays Philippides, an Athenian who became a champion of his adopted city/state of Sparta, and who single-handedly manages to forge an alliance between the two enemy states to thwart an invasion by the dastardly Persians. Palace intrigue, deception and duplicity abound in this colorful production. And, like many of these types of films, a gorgeous (and quite voluptuous) female lead offers additional visual appeal. While initially a bit slow moving, things get cranking about midway through, with some of the most realistic (and gory) battle scenes ever put to film. The scenes where Philippides and his men attack the Persian's boats from underwater (and the Persian's counterattacks) are especially realistic. Italian horror meister Mario Bava handled the cinematography on this film, and the results were outstanding. A great Saturday afternoon romp. Alpha Video is to be commended for releasing older, more obscure titles at affordable prices, although often (such as this release), their source material leaves something to be desired. Still, for the price, this is well worth having if you're a fan of the old Italian epics. Read more

Nostalgic Read more

A fictional view of true events but anything with Steve revees in it well you gotta forgive the movie Read more

Great fun! Very scanty costumes, wonderful campy script. Steve Reeves at his zenith.. Read more

I have long waited to start a collection of Steve Reeves movies on dvd. So important to me as a kid, I'd rush to see every new one that came out. Some were actually rather good! This DVD has I imagine been issued simply to make some money. Advertised as WideScreen it is NOT the cinematic ratio of 2.35:1 (Cinemascope/Panavision) so the sides are chopped off. It is also a really dirty and badly graded OLD print. All in all it is something I ended up skimming through before putting on the shelf to be replaced one day by hopefully a properly graded really wide screen version with some good extras. This is a very cheap dvd thank goodness, else I would be really upset! Read more

Movie quality is a piece of crap. Very badly dubbed. I am sending this DVD back to Amazon Fulfillment Services, 172 Trade St., Lexington, KY 40511 and asking for a full refund of $10.59. Worst piece of crap I ever ordered thru Amazon. Read more