Roger Corman is fond of saying it’s best to make a low budget movie by telling a story that suits the budget – not trying to take a big budget story and faking it. He says he learnt this lesson the hard way, using this, The Undead and Saga of the Viking Women as examples. This especially cries out for a large budget – there are scenes upon scenes which cry out for extras and production value: Atlas fighting an opponent in a Colosseum, ambush sequences, soldiers hailing leaders (this is particularly laughable), battle sequences, Atlas’ final battle, dance sequences, etc. They try to cover it in the script with lines like “the countryside has been decimated” and “our soldiers have been weakened” and Corman does everything he can – keeping shots tight, using sound, keeping the camera moving - but it doesn’t work.
It’s a shame because the film has a lot going for it. The story is a decent one – a tyrant is involved in a siege and persuades them to agree to settle it by single combat; he persuades Atlas to fight on his behalf; Atlas then finds out his boss is a baddy and joins the other side. (Charles Griffith, who wrote the script, was best known for oddball humour but he was also good on structure.)
There’s also two strong performances from Frank Wolff as the tyrant (cheerful, sly, intelligent and attractive) and Barboura Morris as a femme fetale who turns good (sexy, leggy). Michael Forrest copped criticism as Atlas for being skinny but there’s no reason why a more lithe, sinewy warrior wouldn’t have worked as opposed to a muscle man (eg Brad Pitt in Troy). The problem with Forrest’s performance isn’t his physique it’s his stuff, unvinvolving performance (the Fabian haircut doesn’t help).
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