I could never quite see the attraction of Mature in these roles, but I suppose it was the capability in action sequences that won out for him. Another great lack in the film is the gladiatorial scenes themselves. They try hard, but the effects and the editing combine to make an unconvincing fight. Victor Mature looked surprisingly fit after supposedly being badly mauled as well. Fortunately the film doesn t take itself too seriously.
Reds are accurate, but the transfer otherwise is a somewhat tired-looking effort.
Colors are not uniformly bright and clear and a fair bit of speckling and the odd scratch mar the image. Edge enhancement is quite obvious at times. This is a film that obviously needs some sprucing-up, although one can still enjoy the proceedings well enough on the current disc. The Dolby Digital 4.0 track does a very nice job of directional speech and sound effects across the fronts and conveys Waxman's score with considerable majesty. The surrounds kick in occasionally in the large crowd scenes.