This is all conjecture but fascinating for its bold effort to try to reconstruct a rather almost totally unknown chapter of history: No one really knows what brought around the fall of Assyria. The intrigue here is spun around two powerful brothers, king Sardanapalus of Nineveh and his brother, king of Babylon. They fall in love with the same woman, and the king of Babylon, Shamash, out of jealousy starts war with his brother Sardanapalus (Howard Duff). In this context the prophet Zoroaster appears, he only plays a part in the beginning when he expresses his ominous prophecies, so unfortunately we see very little of him. But in the Babylonian league is Hammurabi, who makes a good performance, Stelio Candelli, actually the only quite convincing character. Jackie Lane as the mutually desired lady is awful. The war does not go well on either side, and Hammurabi is left to take over the lot. Among the Babylonians is Arbaces as the villain, the same name of the villain in "The Last Pays of Pompeii", who kills Shamash by treachery, exacerbating the war and making it derail in bitterness. It is enjoyable if you appreciate films of this kind, the Peplum productions went on for a decade, and they are all great feasts for the eyes and only loosely connected with history but never resort to historical distortions. Here various historical figures from different times are bundled up together in one historical drama, concentrating several centuries into one, but it doesn't matter. The three great battle scenes are enough impressive anyway, while perhaps the most spectacular part is a lion hunt in the middle of the film.
Review of War Gods of Babylon
