Il colosso di Rodi
Tags: intrigue

Plot synopsis:
A Greek military hero named Darios (Rory Calhoun) visits his uncle Lissipu (George Rigaud) on the island of Rhodes in the year 280 BC. Rhodes has just finished constructing an enormous colossal statue of the god Apollo to guard its harbor and is planning an alliance with Phoenicia, which would be hostile to Greece.
Darios flirts with the beautiful Diala (Lea Massari), daughter of the statue's mastermind, Carete (Félix Fernández), while becoming involved with a group of rebels headed by Peliocles (Georges Marchal). These rebels seek to overthrow Rhodes' tyrannical king Serse (Roberto Camardiel); but so does Serse's evil second-in-command, Thar (Conrado San Martín). He has Phoenician soldiers smuggled into Rhodes as slaves, and his men occupy the Colossus to secure safe entrance for the Phoenician fleet.
The rebels learn of this plan and decide to apply to the Greeks for help; Darios, who is forbidden to leave Rhodes as he is suspected a spy, is to serve as an unwitting message carrier. But as they try to exit the harbor under the cover of night, they are foiled by the Colossus's defensive weaponry and arrested; Darios is of course convicted as a fellow conspirator. However, just before the captives are to be executed, the rest of the rebels break them out.
In their hideout, Peliocles decides that the only way to stop the invasion is to control the Colossus and free their fellow rebels who have already been captured and sentenced to work as slaves beneath the Colossus; the release mechanism for the dungeons is located in the statue itself. Darios realizes that without reconnaissance the mission is doomed to fail and tries to enlist Diala's aid. Unfortunately, he foolishly tells her about the rebels' hideout. Diala, who longs for power, betrays Darios and has Thar have the rebels nearly wiped out – with the exceptions of Mirte (Mabel Karr) and Koros (Ángel Aranda), Peliocles' sister and brother, who have managed to hide.
Peliocles and his men are captured and forced to provide amusement in the local arena; but just when Darios arrives to publicly expose the traitor's plot, Thar executes his coup and kills Serse and his retainers. The rebels immediately set out to carry out their plan, but the rebellion seems doomed to fail: Darios is captured while he tries to work the release mechanism to the dungeons, and Koros, who accompanies him, is killed. An all-out assault of the rebels on the Colossus is foiled by its formidable arsenal, which forces them to retreat into the city.
Thar's plan seems to go smoothly until the soldiers kill Diala's father, who does not want to see his life's work abused, and an earthquake and a violent storm hit the island just as the enemy fleet is visible on the horizon. Thar and his men flee the Colossus when a tremor shakes the structure violently, only to be slain by the rebels in the city streets; Diala, plagued with remorse, frees Darios but is soon afterwards killed by falling debris. As the quake continues, the Colossus finally topples over and crashes into the harbor bay.
After the fury of nature has passed, Darios and Mirte meet Lissipu outside the ruined city. Lissipu remarks that Darios is now free to leave, but his nephew announces that he will marry Mirte and stay in Rhodes to help make the island peaceful again.

Review: In "Airplane," when Captain Oveur asks young Joey, "Do you like gladiator movies?" he is slyly and salaciously referring to films like "The Colossus of Rhodes." While technically not a gladiator movie, Sergio Leone's directorial debut is rife with scantily clad men whose rippling muscles and impeccable abs are fully exposed while they wrestle with each other or undergo whippings, torture, and bondage.
Despite some good action sequences that hint at Leone's directorial talents, the film's dialog is stilted, the special effects dated, and the performances generally wooden.
American actor, Rory Calhoun, a fading western hero who was obviously hired only for his name, wanders through the proceedings like a stranger in a strange land in more ways than one.
If expectations are kept low or the viewer is an undying fan of Rory Calhoun, then "Colossus" provides some camp moments and decent action in addition to its legions of male Italian bodies..
Dario trying to clean up the doomed Rodhes town from enemies and a foreign invasion .Some years before conducting a master class on the art of widescreen composition in The good , the bad and the ugly , Sergio Leone directed his credited directorial debut , though he had previously stepped in to finish most of The Last Days Of Pompeii when the original director fell ill, with this equally epic sword and sandal film starring American cowboy actor Rory Calhoun.
Ample cast formed by American Rory Calhoun and familiar faces as Spanish as Italian actors ; Rory was in Italy for the title role in MGM's Marco Polo (1962), stepped into the lead role of "Colossus" on only one day's notice .
Leone served his apprenticeship in film by assisting various Italian directors as well as Walsh, Wyler and Melvyn Le Roy By the late '50s he was writing scripts for gladiatorial epics, the genre in which he first gained directing experience, and took over "The Last Days of Pompeii" when the director Mario Bonnard fell ill before directing alone "The Colossus of Rhodes." Not until 1964, however, did he establish himself as a true original with his first film in what would come to be known as the Man With No Name trilogy "The Colossus of Rhodes" begins in the island of Rhodes in the Mediterranean Sea 280 B.C.Rhodes is celebrating a proud day in her history A magnificent statue will now dominate the seas But the Colossus was erected in blood and the people in Rhodes do not want slavery The chief of the rebels, Peliocles (Georges Marchal) needs a man like that visitor Dario (Rory Calhoun), who's a great warrior in Greece Thar (Conrado San Martín)who is in love with Diala (Lia Massari)is no longer content with the power Serse (Roberto Camardiel) stupidly bestowed upon him He wants this beautiful island to sell to Phoenicia, than he'll be the reigning monarch Of course the rebels don't have enough men to attack them openly There's only one plan, to enter the Colossus But the Colossus is impregnableHow could they hope to get in?
Rhodes' best soldiers are imprisoned underground A heavy gate seals the only exit This gate can only be opened by a control in the Colossus If you want to see how the Colossus is a huge trap don't miss this Sergio Leone's directorial debut.
I purchased the Historical Epics collection and watched COLOSSUS OF RHODES the same evening I got the DVDs. Having seen over 60 Peplums in the past 3 months and still wanting to see more of this underrated genre, I believe I have a pretty good idea what makes a great S&S (and what I enjoy and dislike about these films) and COLOSSUS OF RHODES is not one of them.
The film is so all over the place that many scenes from this film have been used as stock footage in other Peplums made after this, including the fun and thrilling TRIUMPH OF THE TEN GLADIATORS, which didn't have a tenth of this film's budget and yet accomplished more in respect to entertainment than this first Sergio Leone effort.The actors are mostly serviceable with the exception of Georges Marchal and Mimmo Palmara who clearly stand-out from the pact.
Sergio Leone had to start somewhere as a director and this film is good enough for a first film and as visually spectacular as it is, COLOSSUS OF RHODES features few of those Leone qualities that would become a staple of his style in his Spaghetti Westerns.All in all, there are much more satisfying Peplums out there, maybe not as spectacular, like GIANT OF MARATHON or the TEN GLADIATORS sequels.
The supporting cast is good enough to make up for Calhoun, although the dubbing is poorly done.It's not as sophisticated as "Spartacus", but it's certainly more effective than, say, "Clash of the Titans." If you like sword-and-sandal films, this one is well worth your time..
Notable now mainly as an early work by Sergio Leone, this ambitious entry in the sword-and-sandal genre has the kind of long, detailed story-line rarely seen in productions of this sort, and it's unencumbered by the religious "piety" which clings to, say, "The Revolt of the Slaves." If anything, "Colossus" may be a tad too ambitious, since the second half of its two-hours-plus running time could use a bit of trimming.Worth noting are the scenes involving the head of the giant statue which is of hollow construction.
Stephen Boyd or John Derek, Leone's original choice, would have done better jobs.) Also worth noting is the movie's apparent motto of: "Shirts off, chains on." Rarely have so many muscular men been subjected to such a variety of bondage and torture, beginning with the pre-title sequence in which a bare-chested, spreadeagled Georges Marchal, (who was born for this kind of role,) is rescued from a prison-camp.
Technically master director Sergio Leone's debut, The Colossus of Rhodes wasn't his first foray into swords-and-sandals epics.
Great action, good plot, outstanding costumes and sets add to the enjoyment of seeing this film..
Legendary Italian director Sergio Leone intentionally gave himself a long apprenticeship, working as assistant or second unit director on numerous projects throughout the fifties, including William Wyler's version of Ben Hur. He wanted to pick up as much experience as he could before beginning his own projects.
But in between his apprenticeship and beginning the Dollars Trilogy he made this little-known and little-seen sword-and-sandal adventure, his first time in the director's chair.Colossus of Rhodes is one of a vast number of peplums that were being produced in Italy in the early 1960s.
There is a whole subplot which involves plenty of horse-riding through rugged terrain, the look of which was replicated almost shot-for-shot in certain scenes in Fistful of Dollars.Aside from the direction, Colossus of Rhodes suffers from all the hallmarks of a cheap European production  lousy screenplay, bad dubbing, and some really cringeworthy overacting.
Time and again one of the good guys will get into trouble only to be saved by the most uninspired, improbable last-minute heroics, to the point where the villains are unbelievable because they just look like absolute pushovers.It's interesting though that, just as the Italians would create westerns free from rosy moralism a few years later, this Italian-made sword-and-sandal flick also seems to have dispensed with most of the kind of sickly nobleness that plagued the US epics of the 1950s.
While retaining the popular slave revolt theme, the rebel characters do seem a lot more genuine than any patronising Charlton Heston character, despite the deficit in acting talent.For Leone fans it's a bit difficult to know how to class Colossus of Rhodes.
"The Colossus of Rhodes" is one more of the 50's and early 60's sword and sandals fever and it doesn't add much to the genre.I accept some scenery and settings are acceptable (the big statue is one of them) and also the plot if you are not very demanding.
The action scenes are nothing new and the special effects are just correct.But perhaps the main flaw of the picture is its unbearable duration (more than two hours); but this is a usual bad habit of director Sergio Leone who went on to better products in the western genre also demerited by a clear and unnecessary overrun that he couldn't seem to avoid."The Colossus of Rhodes" is just for peplum fans and very patient ones too..
Word was that director Sergio Leone who stepped in during 1959 and took over directing "The Last Days of Pompeii" with Steve (Mr. Hercules, himself) Reeves wanted to make a sword and sandal film...at that time Italy was churning out the musclebulgers by the dozens.....Steve Reeves with that physique carved from granite was the king of these musclebulgers.....and to a lesser degree by another musclebulger named Mark Forrest.
Calhoun had made his reputation during the 50s making westerns and was hired......anyhow, story is a typical Italian sword and sandal epic of evil rulers, mob scenes, tortures with whips and chains and a few lovely women to look at.....main story line concerns a giant erected statue called the Colossus which stands over the entrance of the harbor to the island of Rhodes in 280 BC.
Massari has all the charm of a wooden box and little to no sex appeal.....in most sword and sandal movies the women are skimpily dressed to the extreme to attract the male audience.....in Colossus the women are covered with full length togas and long dresses....go figure.....Mylene Demengeot who co starred with Steve Reeves in "Giant of Marathon" would have been a better female leading lady for this film....anyhow....there are still legions of sword and sandal fans out there who remembers all those gladiator films....the genre was resuscitated briefly in Russell Crowe's 2000 film "Gladiator".....word was the director wanted Steve Reeves to come out of retirement and play a role but Reeves was in declining health at the time and could not commit....so sad to see the king of these S&S films decline the role......only real criticism is this film is about 20 minutes or so too long coming in at 2 hrs and 15 minutes.......still not bad to see for sword and sandal fans..
Sergio Leone's directorial debut is an ambitious, if unrefined, production that doesn't hold a candle to his finest works but it still manages to create moments of tension & suspense by skilfully utilising all the available resources to finish as an amusing, if somewhat forgettable, sword-n-sandal epic.Set during the void years between the days of Alexander the Great & the advent of Roman Empire, The Colossus of Rhodes (also known as Il colosso di Rodi) follows a Greek war hero who visits his uncle on the island of Rhodes to enjoy his vacation but inadvertently becomes involved in a plot to overthrow the tyrannical king.Directed by Sergio Leone (best known for The Dollars Trilogy & Once Upon a Time in the West), The Colossus of Rhodes takes some time to find its footing but once the premise is set, it throws in some good dose of action, twists & betrayals into the mix to deliver an experience that works to quite an extent & is sufficiently enjoyable.Despite the low budget, this Italian production features some impressive set pieces that have an extravagant feel to it.
The director's trademarks are missing yet there are hints of few elements that Leone would perfect in his later films.But as polished & refined its set design is, the story doesn't have enough meat on it and the characters inhabiting it aren't that interesting either.
However, for a debut effort, the technical execution is surprisingly good.On an overall scale, The Colossus of Rhodes marks the beginning of a filmmaking career that would later attain immortality by changing the landscape of the western genre forever.
One could hardly believe Leone directed this thrilling film about ancient pagans, swords and sandals.
And this hate was fostered by the equally psychotic movie critics.Make no mistake, that the control freaks who praise Leone's control freak westerns probably won't like a film this good, but also make no mistake that those control freaks have a short shelf life.
Rory Calhoun gave a great performance and I still remember when he appeared in a film called, "The Red House" starring Edward G.
I went into The Colossus of Rhodes knowing it wouldn't be anything too mind-blowing, especially since the director, "first-time" (in quotes as he directed before in uncredited capacity) Sergio Leone, was under likely restrictions from the producers as to what he could do with the material.
Even with the formula of a 2nd-string old time movie like this one might expect some slight subversion, as Kubrick had little moments with Spartacus Leone would with this film.
The plot is fairly simple, and sometimes doesn't even make too much sense- unless you're a fan of Lex Luthor in schemes involving making the colossus more important than Greece- and it's mostly excuses to show off characters in togas and saying pedantic dialog and acting both pretty and crude (though not very dirty or 'off the street' as in other Leone films).
I know I shouldn't go too far in length to compare this to his great films (matter of fact, I can't think of one of Leone's westerns, or Once Upon a Time in America, being less than excellent), and that it's his technical debut as director.
Over half a dozen credited scriptwriters (including director Sergio Leone) assembled this typical early 60's peplum in which the Colossus of the title is nearly four times the size of the original and serves as a sort of combined Bastille and Death Star around which both the talk and the action coalesce for over two sprawling hours.As in the spaghetti westerns that later made his name, Leone slaughters plenty of people, but denied firearms the action here tends to feel messier and more drawn out..
A few years before he made Clint Eastwood famous, Sergio Leone made his directorial debut with "Il colosso di Rodi" ("The Colossus of Rhodes" in English), a sword-and-sandal epic.
The star is Rory Calhoun, who actually seems a little out of place: the movie is set in Greek-Roman times, so most of the cast members sound English, but then in comes a guy with an all-American accent!
A big-budget (for a change!) Italian sword-and-sandal epic, partly filmed in Spain to give it that extra picturesque look.
The film is mainly of interest to modern film fans as being the first movie that Sergio Leone - famous for his spaghetti westerns - directed, and his skill shows even here with the interesting visual compositions on screen which make the movie highly watchable.Although lacking in his particular artistic style which became prevalent after FOR A FEW DOLLARS MORE (you know, slow scenes of high tension, extreme close-ups intercut with long-shots, a reliance on props as symbols), THE COLOSSUS OF RHODES shows none of the amateurish mistakes that a first-time director might make and instead is a fully watchable and well-directed movie.
There are lots of different sub-plots involving an invasion of Rhodes by a foreign army, the central slave revolt, some romantic interludes between the lead Dario and various court women and also the intervention of Mother Nature at the climax when a devastating earthquake destroys the city.The acting is fairly efficient for a sword-and-sandal movie with most of the cast acquainting themselves well with their various roles; the villains are despicable and the good guys muscular and honest.
Sergio Leone's "Il Colosso di Rodi" is simply the best Italian epic there is on the movie market.
It might be that Leone just gave definitive achievements in each of the genres that he worked inthe sword and sandals; the western; the gangster movie (if he would of had the time to shoot his GONE WITH  and the WW2 Soviet epic, as were his intentions, we might have had the definitive hallmarks of another two genres, as well).He was the Fellini of the genre movies.
Well, it should be pretty obvious why anyone is still watching this film  director Sergio Leone later became a force in cinema with his "Fistful of Dollars" trilogy  but I will go ahead and brave the "gladiator movies" jokes and admit that I've seen quite a number of these over the years and I particularly enjoy the ones by Mario Bava ("Hercules in the Haunted World," "Viking Massacre," etc).
I didn't notice that particularly, but I do think that it was a good way to make the film at least marginally believable instead of laughable.That said, the chemistry between Calhoun and his female co-stars (love interests) is pretty much non-existent.
Another thing is that this film avoids almost all the supernatural and magical elements that tended to be emphasized more and more as the peplum cycle of the late 50s/early 60s wore on, signaling that this was a more "serious" production than most; again a sign that this was intended for more of an adult audience that would patronize something like "Ben Hur" as opposed to "Hercules Versus the Moon-Men." And it also goes out of its way at various points to turn genre conventions on their head, much as Leone's famous Westerns later did  for example introducing a huge group of slaves like in "Spartacus" but instead of having them revolt, having them turn out to be the army of the oppressor in disguise.
When you've seen a number of the Hercules and Maciste films you start to appreciate anyone who approaches the genre with anything even resembling ambition and respect for history.Fans of the great director Leone might consider this a disappointment or even an embarrassment, but in my opinion it's nothing of the sort.
We should all be glad that thanks to Leone's reputation a nice print of one of the better sword and sandal Italian epics is finally available again.
Any viewer expecting from Sergio Leone's sword and sandal directorial debut some kind of "Once Upon a Time in Greece" luscious, elegiac epic is going to be disappointed - like, "I found a dead rat in the soup" disappointed.