Review of David and Goliath

Even the great biblical epics of Hollywood's golden age can't compare to the book they were based on. Most of them suffer from strange casting and overly campy dialogue. In the case of "David and Goliath", the issue is bad photography, obviously recycled sets and costumes, and horrendous dubbing. It's obvious that of the cast members, only Orson Welles (as King Saul) had English as his first language. Portly and imperious, Welles is the only actor to come out with his dignity intact. The actor playing Goliath simply laughs and sneers evilly in every scene he is in, and it is very uncomfortable to watch Philistene maidens dancing around him in an erotic way. The actor playing David seems about a decade too old for his role, and the other characters are simply too one dimensional to believe. The scene of David arriving in Jeruselem to find it overrun with corruption is interesting, although a bit far fetched with the encounters he makes, and the battle scenes are gratuitously bloody. It really looks like any other Italian sword-and-sandals trashy flick made throughout the 60's. The bible deserves better. For more interesting looks at the life of the future King David, check out "David and Bathsheba" (Gregory Peck, 1952) or even "King David" (Richard Gere, 1985). Leave this one for bible teachers to show pre-teenagers to learn the old testament.