The Colossus of Rhodes

Sergio Leone’s debut was the only film of his that I hadn’t yet seen. It’s a sword and sandals epic about a group of rebels hoping to overthrow the king of Rhodes but then the Phoenicians get involved and all Hades breaks loose. Not much of Leone’s trademark style is on display here. You start to get a sense of his love for wide vistas but that’s about it. I do have to say that, compared to other Italian sword and sandal pictures, this one has relatively good pacing and story telling. As much as I love the style of Bava’s Hercules movies, they could be pretty tedious.