Poor Imitation of Quo Vadis

cgaver

Despite the title, most of the movie focuses on the love interest between a Roman soldier and a slave in Nero's household - in other words, the same plot as in Quo Vadis.

Unfortunately, that leads to a lot of comparisons between the two movies and this one falls flat each time. Baldwin's Nero is wooden, one dimensional - the polar opposite of Peter Ustinov's brilliant portrayal of an unhinged Caesar. The Roman soldiers are not convincing as soldiers who had conquered much of Europe and the Middle; Susanna, as the young slave girl is OK but never comes across as someone with the strength of character to challenge a centurion. The only interesting character is Caesar's wife, Poppaea.

Watch it if you must - and then watch Quo Vadis and see what this movie could have been.

score 3/10

cgaver 20 April 2019

Reprint: https://www.imdb.com/review/rw4792050/