If you were to ask what Hannibal is most famous for today, the first thing that would cross your mind is the crossing of the Alps. That is if you hadn't seen Anthony Hopkins as Hannibal the cannibal. It's a feat that excites the imagination of the world and has only really been duplicated one time, by Jose de San Martin taking his army of liberation over the far more rugged Andes in the South American wars for freedom against Spain. It was that which excited the imagination of the ancient world and held the Italian peninsula in terror.
But what was the climax of his life is the beginning of the film Hannibal which starred Victor Mature in the title role. The first 15 minutes of the film find Hannibal doing just that with the Romans relaxing their guard and saying he's trying the impossible. After that the road to Rome seems open and unguarded.
However then the majority of this film is devoted to a fictional love story between Mature and the niece of a Roman Senator played by Rita Gam. A whole lot of his top people think that Mature is neglecting his obligations to the army and Carthage for her. It's causing quite a bit of dissension and the film would be over, but for the politicking in the Roman Senate affecting their command structure. Eventually Hannibal's wife Milly Vitale and young son show up forcing Mature to make some choices. Rita Gam makes one of her own as well.
I would have liked to have seen more the real Hannibal story, warts and all because he wasn't the nicest guy in the world, but a brilliant military strategist who later met up with a better one named Scipio, but that's way after the action in this film.
Mature is a stalwart Hannibal and the battle scenes and the crossing the Alps scenes are well staged. But the overall plot leaves a lot to be desired.
But what was the climax of his life is the beginning of the film Hannibal which starred Victor Mature in the title role. The first 15 minutes of the film find Hannibal doing just that with the Romans relaxing their guard and saying he's trying the impossible. After that the road to Rome seems open and unguarded.
However then the majority of this film is devoted to a fictional love story between Mature and the niece of a Roman Senator played by Rita Gam. A whole lot of his top people think that Mature is neglecting his obligations to the army and Carthage for her. It's causing quite a bit of dissension and the film would be over, but for the politicking in the Roman Senate affecting their command structure. Eventually Hannibal's wife Milly Vitale and young son show up forcing Mature to make some choices. Rita Gam makes one of her own as well.
I would have liked to have seen more the real Hannibal story, warts and all because he wasn't the nicest guy in the world, but a brilliant military strategist who later met up with a better one named Scipio, but that's way after the action in this film.
Mature is a stalwart Hannibal and the battle scenes and the crossing the Alps scenes are well staged. But the overall plot leaves a lot to be desired.