Das Ende der Götter

I saw the brilliant original by Damiano Damiani (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0093255/) about twenty years ago. This is not a remake. Compared to the original screenplay, the story in this film is a joke in the best tradition of Hollywood, and it utterly does not follow the original plot.

This is a propaganda movie, a failed copy of the masterpiece by Damiano Damiani and a poor attempt to substitute real world values by thin air speculation and candy, pure Hollywood style. Nevertheless the movie has a value of its own, I have never seen Dolf Lundgren in a role like the one he took in this movie, and I could say that Monica Cruz play is not worse than her sister's, not to mention that Monica is somehow prettier than Penelope. It is a shame that Ornella Mutti did not participate in the original by her compatriot Damiano Damiani.

a Biblical film. not great ambitions, few nice fight scene, basic line, a cast with exercise in this type of drama ( Hristo Shopov - new / old Pontius Pilat, Hristo Jivkov - ex - John in Passion of Crist, now Stefan ), Dolph Lundgren in skin of different kind of role, Max van Sydow, Enrico Lo Verso , F. Murray Abraham as solid pillars , Ornela Mutti like drop of scent and beautiful Monica Cruz - alter -ego of her sister and basic attraction of a movie who is not Quo Vadis, not Jesus of Nazareth but little exercise to recreate atmosphere of Church beginnings. so, it is just an exercise. not spectacular, not interesting, almost boring and predictable but decent at first sigh. crumbs of history - legend about Tiberius death -, pieces of innovation - the decree about Chistianity freedom -, authentic miracle of come back to life of Tabitha and the end - mixture of dust and faith. a drawing like so many others.

Sometimes it is a matter of 'giving up two hours of your life.' Then, there is what I call my 'Lifecycle time' when I have donated my time to exercise and so no risk of lost time over a bad film. After reading the mixed reviews I expected a Romanesque Jerusalem based soap opera and the film delivered big time in that regard. Perhaps it begins with the cool art work on the DVD cover where Monica's troubled countenance begs one to 'rent me.' As for the film, I found it entertaining Lifecycle fare. Nice location shots in Bulgaria and Tunisia, decent choreographed battle/fight scenes, very good role/performance by Dolph Lundgren, Monica offers nice Miriam eye candy and well done job by Daniele Liotti as lead Tito Valerio Tauro. Also enjoyed Hristo Shopov as the scheming Pontius Pilate. Bottom line: Better than expected, have seen lots worse but some will regret giving up two 'real life' hours to see it.

The basic motif to see it was Max von Sydow. Unfortunatelly, he remains the only one. Because, not being real bad, it has the unluck to be a grey one, easy to ignore, easy to critic, easy to see it as remind of Quo Vadis , for Ursus becoming Brexus, for Taurus. The story remains conventional and, not so good, totally predictable. The acting is like the story - without spices or some salt. The love story sounds nice. But it only sounds. The life of first Christians and the effort of poor Tito Valerius for conquest the truth are decent points and the presence of the two Bulgarian actors reminds The Passion of Crist, another reasonable good point.

Short, a Christian film, modest but far to be awfull, well intentioned, having desire to have some targets - the cast remains the clue in this sense - but not being more than modest and decent.

In 35 A.D. , an overconfident Roman tribune named Tito Valerio (Daniel Liotti) is sent to a remote part of the empire called Palestine to on a bizarre investigation to discover the death and possible resurrection of a certain Jesus from Nazareth , only to attract the suspicion of the local governor Pontius Pilate (Shopov) . This is the thrilling tale of one man's quest accompanied by a hunk barbarian slave (Dolph Lundgren) to uncover the mystery of all mysteries and while an official cover-up is presumed . A Roman agent is sent by emperor Tiberio (Max Von Sydow) to Palestine to investigate rumors of the resurrection of an executed criminal . Sent to disprove the resurrection and on a spiritual quest , he discovers faith , love (to Monica Cruz who looks exactly like Penelope as physical as acting) and a revelation that could shatter the empire . The tribune is taken prisoner and submitted a set-up .

Interesting story treating the resurrection of Jesus Christ with intrigue , suspense , a love story and adding historical events . As appears several historic characters as Tiberius , Caligula , Pontius Pilate , Apostle Peter finely performed by Enrico Lo Verso , Saulus of Tarsus well played by Fernando Guillen Cuervo , Maria mother of Jesus and Maria Magdalena in a brief acting by Ornella Muti . I found the film's motif a timeless subject , engaging and handled very skillfully too . Being conceived as both a theatrical film and a TV movie and treatment by the famous author of best-sellers about ancient world named Valerio Manfredini . The story from Suso Cecchi D'Amico and Ennio Flaiano even had an exclusive one-week theatrical engagement in Dallas , Texas . It's an acceptable treatment of the political and religious thought-world of the time , convincingly developed and the intent of the filmmakers is ultimately both ambitious and entertaining . The biggest weakness of the movie is the acting . Daniel Liotti as hard-nosed investigator and Dolph Lundgren as bouncing illiterate both deliver some stiff line-readings . But Liotti ultimately rises to the occasion , especially in the crucial last half-hour . Max Von Sidow is a credible emperor Tiberio who sends Daniel Liotti off on a dangerous mission . The picture has a Christian point of view that holds interest , while the former adaptation had offbeat and ambiguous resolution . The production was supported of a 500,000 Euros grant from the European Council fund Eurimages . It's an European co-production among various countries but specially Italy and Spain by producer Enrique Cerezo . Atmospheric musical score by Andrea Morricone in similar style to her father Ennio . Colorful and evocative cinematography by Giovanni Galasso , the filming took place for eight weeks in Tunisia and one week in Bulgaria . The motion picture is professionally directed by Giulio Base . Giulio is an expert on Television religious biopics and Roman spectacles such as he has proved in ¨Padre Pio¨ , ¨Maria Goretti¨ , ¨San Pietro¨ , ¨Pompeii¨ and of course , ¨The final inquiry¨ .

The original version titled ¨Inquire¨ (1987) treated the Resurrection as a mystery thriller , directed by Damiano Damiani was starred by Keith Carradine as Tito Valerio and Harvey Keitel as Pontius Pilate and Phyllis Logan as Claudia Procula who in the recent rendition is performed by Anna Kanakis . This 1987 picture was engaging , thought-provoking , violent and gritty but but sadly was ultimately rather flat and dull and had box office flop , however this new retelling (2006) is more commercial , more amusing and aimed for all kind of public as teens as adults .