The Giant of Marathon (1959) User Reviews

THE GIANT OF MARATHON (Jacques Tourneur, Bruno Vailati and, uncredited, Mario Bava, 1959) **1/2

[Bunuel1976 · 6/10 · 28 April 2006]

A momentous collaboration between two (past and future) masters of the horror genre which should perhaps have been made in that particular field, especially since the overall effect (as with most Italian low-grade epics) is somewhat juvenile - unlike either's best work - but also because there are no monsters involved (unlike, say, THE GIANTS OF THESSALY [1960])!

Steve Reeves and Sergio Fantoni make for an above-average hero and villain; Daniela Rocca fares a lot better here than she would do in COLOSSUS AND THE AMAZON QUEEN (1960); and Mylene Demongeot is one of the loveliest heroines in all peplums, evoking memories of the early Brigitte Bardot - who had herself appeared in a supporting role in HELEN OF TROY (1955), one of many film versions centering around another legendary Greek battle (among them THE Trojan HORSE [1961], starring Reeves himself and which I watched later on in my peplum marathon!).

The slow-starting film (which, thankfully, features no intrusive comic relief) eventually picks up with the impressive battle sequence, which occupies about half its length! Bava's camera-work is exemplary and his special effects are apparent in the over-the-top violence, particularly towards the end.

Classical Peplum deals with the famous battle and intervention of Philippides and Miltiades

[ma-cortes · 6/10 · 4 September 2011]

The story is set in 490 BC, during Medic Wars between Greeks and Persians .The Battle of Marathon was a watershed in the Greco-Persian wars, showing the Greeks that the Persians could be beaten; the eventual Greek triumph in these wars can be seen to begin at Marathon. Since the following two hundred years saw the rise of the Classical Greek civilization, which has been enduringly influential in western society, the Battle of Marathon is often seen as a pivotal moment in European history .The defeat at Marathon barely touched the vast resources of the Persian empire, yet for the Greeks it was an enormously significant victory. It was the first time the Greeks had beaten the Persians, and showed them that the Persians were not invincible, and that resistance, rather than subjugation, was possible. The battle was a defining moment for the young Athenian democracy, showing what might be achieved through unity and self-belief; indeed, the battle effectively marks the start of a 'golden age' for Athens. The film is inspired on facts but most events developed are fictitious . Having brought home to Athens the Olympic victor's laurel crown, Philippides (Steve Reeves) is proclaimed leader of the Athenian Sacred Guard , which is expected to defend the city-state of Athens, a year after the chasing of the tyrant Hippias. Athenian followers of Hippias ( uncredited Gerard Herter ) led by Theocrites ( Sergio Fantoni ) conspire and scheme a coup d'etat and a fiendish treason . Meantime , Philippides' heart is already taken by a young girl named Andromeda (a gorgeous Mylene Demongeot ), daughter of Creuso (Ivo Garrani) , one of the various conspirators. Everything personal is likely to be put on hold when the break news that the Persian King of kings Darius's ( Daniele Vargas) vast army is marching on Greece, hoping its internal division will make its conquest a walk-over. Hearless Theocrites reproaches Miltiades to hold back the sacred guard to defend the Pallas Atenea temple after a likely defeat, and proposes instead to negotiate terms with Darius, but is told an alliance with Sparta could save the Hellenic nation. At the same time, Athens's greatest runner, Pheidippides (or Philippides in some accounts by historian Herodotus) had been sent to Sparta to request that the Spartan army ( on of them results to be Sergio Ciani , or Alan Steel , another hunk man like Reeves) march to the aid of Athens. Philippides makes the trail and survives an ambush on his journey ; he goes back with Sparta's engagement during the Persian attack in far greater numbers on Militiades valiant troops. Charis (Daniela Rocca as the matronly sacrificial love interest) , left for dead after overhearing Darius's orders, reaches the camp to tell that the Persian fleet, now led by traitor Theocrites, is heading for Piraeus to take Athens. Miltiades (Albert Lupo) sends Philippides ahead to hold out with the sacred guard until his hopefully victorious Greek troops arrive . Under the guidance of Miltiades, the Athenian general with the greatest experience of fighting the Persians, the Athenian army marched quickly to block the two exits from the plain of Marathon, and prevent the Persians moving inland. Of course , the hero Philippides defeats Darius the Persian at the Battle of Marathon .

This Sword and Sandals movie contains adventures , thrills , a love story and hokey historic events dealing with the time of the Medic Wars in which Persian armies sweep the Ancient world , being defeated in Marathon . The picture is well starred by the bouncing Steve Reeves as the famous war-time messenger of the Battle of Marathon named Pheidippides.In 1957, Reeves went to Italy and played the lead character in Pietro Francisci's Hercules, a very low-budget epic based loosely on the tales of Jason and the Argonauts, though inserting Hercules into the lead role .From 1959 through 1964, Reeves went on to appear in a string of sword and sandal movies shot on relatively small budgets, and although he is best known for his portrayal of the Greek hero Hercules, he played the character only twice: in the 1957 film and its 1959 sequel Hercules Unchained (released in the US in 1960). He played a number of other characters on screen, including Sir Edward Bulwer-Lytton's Glaucus of Pompeii; Goliath ; Tatar hero Hadji Murad; Romulus, the legendary founder of Rome (opposite Gordon Scott as his twin brother Remus); pirate and self-proclaimed governor of Jamaica, Captain Henry Morgan; and Karim, the Thief of Baghdad. Twice he played Aeneas of Troy and twice he played Emilio Salgari's Malaysian hero, Sandokan.

Screen-written by Ennio De Concini who wrote lots of Peplum , Giallo and Spaghetti Western . This film is colorfully photographed by the great Mario Bava who little time after launched his career as as a cult terror filmmaker . Atmospheric and evocative musical score by Robert Nicolisi . The Giant of Marathon (Italian: La Battaglia di Maratona) was regularly directed by Jacques Tourneur and Mario Bava (Bava had to step in to complete the film) and in Italy signed it Bruno Vailati who actually was the producer .

battle must have looked great on the big screen, once....

[winner55 · 6/10 · 2 January 2009]

Most of the other reviews are on target, I will limit myself to a couple of points needing consideration.

This was not intended as a muscleman-'sword & sandal' show, but a straight-ahead epic and a war movie. The reason this is easy to miss is because of the choice of Reeves for the lead. He actually tries hard to act in this film - but he has no capacity for it whatsoever.

In order to give him a chance to demonstrate this, the film gives Reeves an annoying romance that takes up half the film.

As an epic, the film is only half here, the second half, the battle itself. The battle sequences aren't bad at all, they are all technically correct, well mounted and nicely shot.

In fact, the visuals of the film are very striking, especially in the meetings with city elders trying to decide strategy. The print used for the DVD is an old TV copy, washed out and grainy; but remembering its original colors, and that it was made in wide-screen, a lot of this must have looked pretty awesome in theaters on first release.

However, visuals work best when the acting isn't important; besides the Reeves' problem, in fact only the central villain is performed with any gusto or skill. Everyone else walks around like cardboard on string. For the better actors involved, that may be partly because, with the exception of the romance, there's very little character-based drama involved here.

I suggest watching it for the battle sequences, and to forgive the damage done to it by the fortunes of poor preservation.

The Giant of Marathon

[mhrabovsky1-1 · 1 January 2006]

Giant of Marathon was made during a very busy 1959 for Steve Reeves, as he completed "Hercules Unchained", "The Great White Warrior", and "Goliath and the Barbarians" while also making Giant of Marathon. Steve Reeves was by far the king of these so called "sword and sandal" epics churning out of Italy during the late 50s and early 60s...and why not? Reeves had a muscle bulging physique second to none and was by far the best looking of the muscle guys who made these Hercules type films in Italy. The story concerns the city of Athens and all of Greece being invaded by sea and land by the traitor Darius and his Persian army. Reeves is the hero of the olimpic games and a hero to all of Greece. As such a duo of traitors tries to convince him to team up with the Persians and attempt to lure him with wicked women and seduction. Along the way a very lovely Mylene Demengeot, a 1960s Angelina Jolie look alike with the big lips becomes his love interest. Plenty of action on land and sea and a good wresting match with Reeves and a blubber gut wrestler who feels insulted by Reeves. Check out the underwater scenes with Reeve's greeks planting long speared boulders in the water to sink Persian ships. This is a typical Reeves muscleman epic. Just watching the lovely Demengeot throughout is fun for the male audience. Reeves basically single handedly wipes out the persians and the traitors and wins his love interest in the end. Good fun for the Saturday afternoon crowd and Reeves fans in general.

It could have been really good, but it isn't

[bensonmum2 · 5/10 · 29 June 2005]

• Giant of Marathon could have been a really good movie. It's got a lot going for it. Steve Reeves, fresh off his stint as Hercules, is good and dependable in this kind of movie. He did Sword and Sandal as good as anyone. The movie also has some very nice action sequences. I'm far from an expert, but the battle scenes in Giant of Marathon are the best I've seen in a Sword and Sandal. My favorite bit had to be the ship equipped with James Bond style pinchers that were used to sink other ships. Nice touch. The movie also features a "good" bad guy. Teocrito is about as villainous as they come.

• But the movie isn't what I would call "really good". It has far too many problems. The first is the love story underlying the action. The love scenes are so corny that they are difficult to watch. Cringe inducing is the best way I can think to describe it. Another real and more important problem is that parts of Giant of Marathon can be incredibly boring. When the battle scenes aren't on screen, nothing happens - a lot of ridiculous talk that isn't in the least interesting.

Incredibly inept film from two master directors

[funkyfry · 2/10 · 19 November 2008]

I'm thinking that it's extremely unfortunate, from the perspective of this film or of those who would like to enjoy this film, that Jacques Tourneur seems to have departed from the production rather early. Certainly the pace of the film is completely dead in the water and the direction is more the listless early style of Mario Bava, who was uncredited for his direction of this film. Bava excelled when he was able to put aside plot and character and just focus on atmosphere, but this film did not allow him to do that. Instead it features many dialog scenes and a rather dull political story that Bava is unable to make digestible. The action scenes are fairly good towards the end, and there are some nice shots with the classic Bava lighting. That's about it.

Steve Reeves is our hero, this time appearing (as he did 3 years early in his debut in Ed Wood's "Jailbait") sans beard. He plays Phillipides, an Olympic champion caught up in the Greco-Persian war. He's in love with blonde Andromeda (Mylène Demongeot), whose father Creuso (Ivo Garrani) is part of an aristocratic plot to overthrow Athens' democracy and replace it with a Persian puppet government.

The first half of the film is basically setting up the romance and the war, and then in the second half you mostly see Steve Reeves running for what seems like 15 minutes, and then a huge naval battle with some interesting underwater photography.

Only a few of the shots in the film seem to bear any mark of Tourneur's style, such as the one that shows the Persian King Darius (Daniele Vargas) framed against his legions of soldiers in extreme closeup to contrast with the background. My guess personally is that Bava directed most of this film. It is a dull film even compared to Bava's Hercules films with Reeves.

It loses something in the translation and sadly it's not the only thing

[CelluloidRehab · 2/10 · 6 May 2009]

This is the typical Italian sword & sandal epic : low budget, melodramatic cardboard acting, repetitive, horrible dubbings, sub-par action sequences, "loads" of homo-erotic imagery & one chiseled foreign bodybuilder on the marquee. In this case, a beardless Steve Reeves as the marathon's progenitor, Phillipides.

We start with the story of how Phillipides becomes champion of the olympics, as the credits & titles roll. This is immediately followed by a lengthy written paragraph, setting up the back story of the love rectangle between Phillipides and Theocratis' arranged wife (Andromeda) and his concubine (the mannish Karis). The front story is your basic power struggle, mixed in with conspiracy and some battles with the Persians. We can't forget the Spartans. Then toss.

These epics seem like historical re-enactments in terms of the dialog, acting, costumes, sets and battles. History is the casualty in most, however, as is the enjoyment level and consciousness. The historical aspect would have been the only saving grace. Instead, crack the grappa, watch this with friends and savor the unintentional comic genius present in this movie. It is a rare and beautiful thing for the genre, though most of good ones star Steve Reeves. Also see Hercules and Hercules Unchained for reference.

-Celluloid Rehab

This should have worked...

[dbborroughs · 2/10 · 14 April 2004]

Maybe its the dubbing, but this story of a Greek hero who is at first the key to taking control of Athens and later to beating the invading the Persians, should have worked. Certainly it's the best looking Steve Reeves movie, with some really good action sequences but this movie is awful.

If its not the the dubbing then perhaps its the editing and direction which appears to have taken the "lets use every piece of available footage" approach to film construction. Sequences go on and on and on. We Persians invade and we get to see every soldier land in Greece, and we see a boulder crash into a camera. Why couldn't the sequences have been trimmed. It makes things seem last for hours despite it only being 90 minutes long.

Another clunker from Reeves.

Great special effects, underwater and battle scenes lift this historical film

[SimonJack · 6/10 · 28 March 2014]

This film combines some events from history, mythology and tradition in an interesting story. It's rather loosely connected and far from anything great. But it covers something of the forerunner of the Olympics, the historical Battle of Marathon in 490 BC, and some traditional characters. Steve Reeves plays the lead. The former Mr. America and Mr. Universe got to show a little of his physique and prowess in this film, winning the Greek games early in the film.

This is one of more than a dozen spaghetti myth and ancient history films Reeves made. Some reviewers refer to these as sword and sandal flicks. The Europeans loved Reeves. He didn't rise to the stardom that Clint Eastwood did from his spaghetti westerns. American audiences through most of the 20th century liked Westerns. But interest in ancient history, mythology and far eastern cultures has been hit and miss over the years. In the mid 1950s to early 1960s, Reeves made a number of such films. They were generally well-received at the box office, but none were great cinematic achievements. His most famous role was as Hercules.

Also, unlike Eastwood, Reeves wasn't interested in pursing a movie career. He turned down a couple of lead roles in what became blockbuster films in the U.S. And he gave up a movie career less than 20 years after he started. He wrote a health book, promoted nutrition and raised horses.

I enjoyed a couple of other reviews for "The Giant of Marathon" that gave some good history and background. Reeves is OK in his role here, and most of the cast are capable. But, as I said, the film seems disjointed and suffers from lower production qualities. But there are two things that stand out to me in this movie, and which earn it the six stars that I give it. The first was the embedding of the long spiked poles in the bay bottom to sink incoming ships. I don't think I've ever seen such interesting underwater scenes. I wonder if that really happened, or if it was done just for this film.

The second plus for the film was the very realistic special effects of men being injured or killed in the sea battle. Several excellent scenes showed this. That was some very fine make-up, camera work, costuming and special effects. I don't think we saw such realistic killing and injury shots on film again until "Saving Private Ryan" five decades later.

History buffs especially should enjoy this film.

The Persians Are Coming

[bkoganbing · 5/10 · 2 December 2010]

Giant Of Marathon is a cut above the peplum films of the Italian cinema, being directed by Jacques Tourneur. The film concerns the activities of one Phillipides, played by Steve Reeves who goes running around all of Greece as an ancient Paul Revere arousing the populace with the sum and substance cry of 'The Persians Are Coming'. Indeed they were.

The ancient histories beginning with Herodotus tell of the athlete/runner who brought news of the Greek victory and then promptly died as his body gave out. Here Tourneur opted for a happy ending, but the film is still good with some very nicely staged battle scenes.

Phillipides was probably the first celebrity athlete in the history of the world. As the winner of one of those original Olympic games he was a sports celebrity figure back in those ancient times. And because of that he's the guy sent on a diplomatic mission to Sparta to get those rival city states working together to beat back the Persians.

Of course Phillipides does just that, but Athens is facing some problems from what would later be called fifth columnists in the city. Phillipides has to deal with them as well.

Steve Reeves as athlete is not shown as a runner, he's shown heaving a discus which would be more in line with the kind of a support his upper body would be an asset for. In fact as a runner all that weight on top would be quite the liability. But he sure looked good.

Giant Of Marathon would not be considered a great film in most quarters. But it is Citizen Kane next to some of the peplum films I've been viewing lately.

Brilliant!

[By-TorX-1 · 8/10 · 18 May 2006]

Hopefully, one day Steve Reeves will get the justice of a really good DVD collection. He deserves no less.

Although not the greatest transfer, this movie is fantastic. The battle scenes are great, particularly the underwater sequences, and they are suitably epic. Add to that a great treacherous villain, a complex femme fatale and a truly heroic central character and you have a great movie. Plus, I have to add the allure of Andromeda to my rating. Now, I'm sure that I am probably reading too much in to it, but, many of the battle scenes really evoked scenes from Saving Private Ryan for me (the bullets driving through the water). Spielberg a peplum fan? With Mario Bava holding the camera, why not?

First hour is very boring, last half hour has its moments

[gridoon2024 · 6/10 · 23 December 2018]

The only memorable scene throughout the first hour of "La battaglia Di Maratona" is Steve Reeves wrapping his superhumanly powerful arms around the waist of a wrestler and crushing the air out of him in a devastating bearhug. Other than that, there is very little action and a shallow romance with Mylene Demongeot. In the last 30 minutes or so, we finally get some battle scenes - which include a few surprisingly gory bits (people are speared through). Overall, the film has fair production values but is only for Steve Reeves fans - and they will get an eyeful. **1/2 out of 4.

Uninspiring "Action" Wannabe

[SilverScreenQueen · 4/10 · 19 December 2008]

Honestly, I am a fan of Sword and Sandle films. Unfortunately, this did nothing for me. Although the DVD I picked up promised "breathtaking action scenes", the lovey-dovey romance took over most of the film, and the most exciting battle scenes were relegated to the the tail end of the whole movie.

Phillipedes is a good example of a "perfect hero". He has very few character flaws, other than being seemingly obsessed with a woman supposedly not meant for him. The main women all swoon or fight over him. His acting was unimpressive, and he is much too perfect to really be an enjoyable character.

Theocrates is the classic villain. He quite plainly spends most of his time trying to stir up evil feelings against Phillipedes and abusing others. He was obviously engaged to Andromeda at the beginning, thus setting up 2 different love triangles. He dies a horrible death at the end of this movie, like every villain at the time.

Andromeda, I'll give her, is very beautiful, but is just the classic blonde. Obsessed with Phillipedes, she shows no real strength of character. She is simply an attractive goddess with few other attributes. Her name, as in the Ethiopian princess, is meant to give an air of extreme beauty, which is her only outstanding trait.

Characters like Karis took away from the plot. She was just there to prolong the movie and draw out the story, making it more difficult to follow. The dark-haired, cold hearted beauty, she obviously could never compare to the sunny-haired, bright-eyed blonde she is competing with.

Worst of all was the filmography. The whole movie was in a terrible state. The version I watched was dark, grainy, and in poor shape in general. The colors seemed very fake and out of place, even for a late '50s film.

Predictable plot, standardized characters, and fake sets? This was clearly not an action movie. It should instead have been labeled as a love story in the simpler days of our world.

Ravishing Valentine to Steve Reeves

[PrincessAnanka · 19 March 2007]

This is the ultimate tribute to Steve Reeve's phenomenal male beauty, captured in all its glory at the peak of his powers in l959. "Giant of Marathon" is given an exhilarating beginning with the powerful music score of Roberto Nicolosi, whose symphonic theme, underscores a nearly naked Reeves in brief scenes that showcase his power in the beginning of this vastly entertaining swords and sandals saga. When he swims towards the camera and comes up for air, the music swells and we see a rare glimpse of Reeves laughing. In another snippet, he's shown wrestling with another athlete and both are clad in very brief white loin clothes. It's sexual connotations is definitely there but Reeves looks so god-like you can't imagine him doing anything so earthy as coupling with another handsome jock. Throughout the running time, Reeves magnificent torso and charisma are given the star treatment, especially in the final portion where he and his warriors swim underwater to sabotage the enemy. In their flimsy briefs, this proves to be a beefcake bonanza, featuring not only Reeves but numerous handsome Italian extras. Mario Bava and Jacques Tourneur directed this classic adventure tale with Bava also responsible for the outstanding photography. From this film, he was launched into his legendary series of horror classics, creating such classics as "Kill, Baby, Kill," "Black Sabbath" and others. Reeves is beardless in this adventure and it adds to his boyish charm. At the beginning, he is crowned with a wreath of olive leaves and wearing only his loin cloth, his incredible torso is displayed in all its glory. If you're a Steve Reeves fan--which I definitely am--you might also explore the series of muscle man moveis made by Reeves American cohort, Lou Degni, re-named Mark Forest from the Bronx and a Mr. America winner. His physique is also stunning with a handsome face and acting ability to go with it. "Giant of Marathon" should be restored to its full technicolor glory. Even more than "Hercules Unchained," this is the Steve Reeves movie that fully exploits his extraordinary beauty.

Political Talk, A Little Romance With Very Little Action

[Rainey-Dawn · 1/10 · 20 January 2017]

Once again there is ample costumes and props that are eye-candy for the viewer, a few lovely sets and a somewhat political story, some romance thrown in with little action. It did not take me long to fast-forward through this one.

The film is about: A Greek soldier leads the fight against an invading Persian army. But it's very talky with little action. They spend almost the entire film just talking with all the stuff that lead up to the "great battle scene" which had Andromeda tied to the front of a ship as if she was suppose to be some kind of martyr like Joan of Arc.

Sadly, I was unimpressed with this story. I only enjoyed some of the costuming and props.

1/10

The Closing Battle Is Pretty Good

[sddavis63 · 3/10 · 14 December 2009]

The giant of marathon is Phillipides (Steve Reeves) - an Olympic champion and warrior called upon to defend ancient Greece against an invasion by Persia from without and the treason of Theocrates from within. In the course of doing that, he manages to get a couple of beauties to fall in love with him, of course.

In all honesty, 80% of this movie is for the most part uninteresting, dealing with romances that I really didn't care about and political machinations that were rather confusing to say the least. It had a cheap feel right off the top, performances that were plodding and, as an Italian-French production, was rather poorly dubbed into English. I give credit for the last 20% or so of the movie, though. The closing sea battle between Athens and Persia was a pretty good ride, as Phillipides and Theocrates finally confront one another in battle. Still, though, it's not a good movie. For the sake of that closing battle, it gets 3/10

No Horses Were Unharmed In This Film

[verbusen · 5/10 · 25 August 2021]

This is an OK sword and sandal flick. Not the best I've watched and it doesn't have any super natural creatures involved so this is just human vs human. However, they really abuse the poor horses in this thing. 5 of 10, best if watched in a riffed variety like The Film Crew did which is pretty amusing (the team pre-Rifftrax). It's on the internet free as a regular film (bad copy) and on places like Tubi to watch riffed by The Film Crew.

The Persians are coming

[kosmasp · 6/10 · 23 August 2020]

But fear not Steve Reeves is here to save the day. If you are not familiar with Steve Reeves ... wait how did you find yourself on this site? I'm actually curious, because I can't imagine this being the very first Sword and Sandals movie one would find out about - or the first with Steve Reeves, which would be more specific and maybe a little bit more probable.

Having said that, again the Italians are taking things from Greek History and/or mythology and mix them up in a way they thought would be entertaining. At I would say it sort of works. If you are into those movies that is, this is quite the decent effort. Nice stunts (as clumsy and fake as I remember them from when I was a kid, though I was more amazed by them back then for sure) and all that other stuff that is needed too ...

Steve Reeves movie

[BandSAboutMovies · 4/10 · 26 November 2020]

Directed by Jacques Tourneur (Cat People, I Walked With a Zombie, Night of the Demon), this film also has a credit for Mario Bava as directing it. That's because a few days before it was due to play theaters, major scenes had to be reshot when the editor discovered that several extras were smoking cigarettes on camera*.

Our hero is Phillipides, who if you want something visual and it's not too abysmal...just kidding. He's played by Steve Reeves.

In between battles between our hero and the Persians, there's an attempt to marry him off to Charis (Daniela Rocca, who became famous from the movie Divorce Italian Style, which was written by the same writer as this film, Ennio De Concini; she also fell hard for that movie's director Pietro Germi and attempted suicide after he turned her down), but his heart is set on Andromeda (Mylène Demongeot).

While this has little of his style, the fact that Bava got the film done in time won him some major favor from Galatea Film, who rewarded him by giving him the chance to make his own project and direct it. That ended up being Black Sunday.

*Bruno Vailati also directed some scenes. He's listed as the AD, but in Demongeot's biography, she claimed that Tourneur left most of the directing to his assistant.

Solid peplum, well shot by Mario Bava

[Leofwine_draca · 6/10 · 21 July 2016]

A rousing Italian/French peplum adventure yarn, teaming screen legend Steve Reeves with a fine director in Jacques Tourneur and one of the best directors of photography in Italian history - Mario Bava. The combination makes for a beautifully-shot, colourful, and well paced movie, which is a bit slow to start off but soon comes into its own with imaginative battle sequences and a story which is always moving.

A clean-shaven Reeves plays Phillipides, an Olympic legend who is a hit with all the ladies - and who finds himself torn between a forbidden beauty, Andromeda, and Karis, a woman ordered to seduce him by the bad guys and who ends up falling in love instead. These romantic subplots are what make up the first half of the film, interspersed with plenty of dancing, a few fights here and there and lots of sweeping spectacle thanks to Bava, who really gives the film an expensive-looking veneer.

The second half of the movie concerns an invasion by the Persians, with Phillipides attempting to rally the Spartans to his cause. There's an excellently-shot hand-to-hand combat scene involving an emissary who is attacked by a gang of cut-throats, who outnumber him 5-to-1 but still end up getting beaten. Then the film culminates in an fine sea battle in which the Olympic heroes chuck burning spears at the approaching enemy ship, which retaliates by crushing their own ship with an awkward pair of pincers! At this point, there's also some great underwater photography and lots of violence as underwater attackers are shot and speared by the enemy. Finally, a battle ensues, of which you can probably guess the outcome.

Reeves is as good as ever as the masculine hero, and here he's supported by a strong cast which offers some good female characters. Tourneur's direction is assured and Bava's camera-work gives the film fine visual splendour. While the plot may be familiar, even interchangeable stuff, GIANT OF MARATHON is still a fine piece of solid entertainment.

Well-told tale...

[poe426 · 10/10 · 15 July 2011]

A clean-shaven Steve Reeves, it seems, can run faster, jump higher, and shoot straighter than anyone else- which he does, handily winning the Olympics. As farmboy Phillipedes, Reeves is a natural athlete who isn't to be trifled with: when an unscrupulous wrestler has the unmitigated gall to grapple with him, he squeezes the stuffing out of the guy. As in most of these sword and sandal epics, there's behind-the-scenes political intrigue and plenty of action. There's also the stunningly beautiful Demongeut as Andromeda: in her see-through gown, she's just about all the reason ANYBODY would need to get motivated (to do anything)... Tourner and Bava (or one or the other) handle the million-man mêlées about as well as anyone's ever handled a crowded battlefield and, as the movie nears its end, Phil must utilize all of his Olympian skills to save the day (a good excuse to showcase said skills), running and jumping and swimming like, well, a true Olympian. The aquatic attack at film's end is VERY well-staged and I'll be ****ed if I can figure out how they faked the numerous spearings: it looks to me like some of those guys might've actually been seriously hurt. One of the combatants makes this timeless observation: "There is no justice in war!"

Classic Steve Reeves

[ebiros2 · 14 September 2011]

Fairly decent Greek epic starring none other than the great Steve Reeves.

I've first read about Steve Reeves in Arnold Swartzenegger's book that he was the first modern body builder with perfect body symmetry. This is the first movie of his I've seen knowing that it's Reeves who's acting on the screen. I may have seen his other movies without knowing that it was him, because I've seen many Hercules movies as a child, and he might have been in it.

I could see that he was a ground breaking talent who was good looking enough to be an actor even if he wasn't the Adonis that he was.

Do I dare say that the Italians knew how to make male exploitation films done in good taste ? Reeves' masculine beauty is highlighted to its max in this movie. I'm sure this was not accidental.

It's a pretty feel good movie, that's not a pure clash of the muscle men type of production.

Steve Reeves was all that he was said to be. A great natural body builder who also had beautiful appearance.

Giants of Marathon

[coltras35 · 9/10 · 27 December 2023]

A story set in 490 BC, the time of the Medic Wars during which Persian armies sweep the Ancient world. Having brought home to Athens the Olympic victor's laurel crown, Philippides joins as commander the Sacred Guard, which is expected to defend Athens.

Democracy done by the sword and old fashioned heroics are on offer in this excellent peplum starring Steve Reeves. There's a healthy mix of romance, politics, scheming by villains and action - Spears on fire, horses and men collide in wild fire, splendid looking naval battles and superb underwater fights. The climax is wired tight with suspense. The pace is brisk and the energy is high. Sergio Fentoni makes a nasty villain and Mylene Demongeot is the beautiful heroine. Definitely one of Steve Reeves finest moments.

"You Young People Have Strange Ideas!"...

[azathothpwiggins · 16 June 2021]

What immediately catches the eye about THE GIANT OF MARATHON is the fact that it stars the one and only Steve Reeves, and is co-directed by none other than Jacques Tourneur and Mario Bava! Bava would go on to direct HERCULES IN THE HAUNTED WORLD, arguably, the best of the many Hercules movies.

Reeves is larger than life as Phillipides, who, after watching two oily wrestlers batter each other, must take one of them on. He makes quick work of the bloated behemoth. Lusted after by the beautiful Karis (Daniela Rocco), Phil is actually drawn to the lovely Andromeda (Mylene Demongeot), who is sworn to marry the treacherous Teocrito (Sergio Fantoni).

Meanwhile, Phil's Greeks are at war with Persia, putting a crimp in his love life. Can he get the Spartans to join forces with Athens to defeat the Persians? And, what about Phil and Andromeda? Will these two kids ever get together?

One of the more sophisticated films of its type, it contains far less cheeeze than most such productions. It also puts more energy toward the historically-based plot, characters, sets, etc., instead of focusing on one sweaty fight after another. The battles are actually huge in scope, unlike the constrained, horseback slugfests in other, lesser movies.

Don't worry, Phillipides does get a chance to start an avalanche, complete with tumbling, sofa-sized boulders! He also helps his comrades set an ingenious trap for the Persian fleet! The ensuing battle at sea is quite impressive.

Highly recommended for lovers of the genre...