Acceptable and middle-budgeted Peplum or ¨swords and sandals¨ movie with the corpulent Alan Steel, or Sergio Ciani , it stars a B-big name cast as Lisa Gastoni, Mimmo Palmara , Rosalba Neri , Vassili Karis , among others . As the mighty Ursus (Alan Steel) to free an enslaved group of people from an oppressive , evil ruler and surely all who stand in his way . As Ursus to keep wits and strength about him when he is blinded by a potion of an astute magician (Gianni Rizzo) . In this rarely seen muscle epic , Ursus along with his pals , a young acrobat named Pico (Arnaldo Dell'Acqua , brother of secondaries : Roberto Dell'Acqua, Alberto Dell'Acqua and Ottaviano Dell'Acqua) and a sympathetic mute called Manina (Enzo Maggio who holds the comical relief) all take part in a battle royal . This time the hero known as Ursus (renamed Samson for Americans) survives and runs head-on into the forces of a cruel tyrant (Mimmo Palmara) who has thrown-out a King (Carlo Tamberlani) and ruled over a city called Atra , in Tunisia region , helping prince Dario (Vassili Karis) , who falls in love for an enemy princess (Rosalba Neri), to retrieve his throne . All the usual comes into play as the bad guys are eventually subdued . As Ursus survives long enough to battle a villainous in an exotic oriental country .
This exciting Peplum contains emotion , noisy action sequences incorporating circus acrobatics , spectacular battles with lots of sword-wielding warriors , court intrigue and many other things . There's a bit more intentional humor with tongue-firmly-in-cheek than usual in this Peplum opus . It stars Sergio Ciani , a hunk man who made lots of roman epic films , also called ¨Musclemen movies¨. Sergio's luck changed when an Italian producer persuaded him to play Peplums similarly to Steve Reeves , who really paved the way for others actors to seek their fame and fortune in Italy playing bouncing adventurers . Other stars by the time on this type of movies are the followings : Mark Forest , Gordon Mitchell , Dan Vadis , Reg Park , Brad Harris , Samson Burke , Richard Harrison , Rock Stevens and Kirk Morris . Nobody, nevertheless , topped Steve Reeves in popularity , though Gordon Scott made him a important competence . Alan Steel started off his beefcake run off as a body double for Reeves in both the "Hercules" sequel ¨Hercules Unchained¨ (1959) and in ¨Giant of Marathon¨ (1959) , in which he also had bit roles . Within a couple of years Steel was posing front-and-center as Herk himself and entering in the star-system based on pumped-up heroes playing ¨Sansone or Samson¨ (1961) , opposite another physique-minded American import , Brad Harris in the title role . On numerous occasions Steel was asked to play the legendary Greek hero , as well as the equally well-built demigods Samson and Ursus, even though the film titles often fused (or confused) them in their titles . Steel starred as ¨Hercules in Ercole Contro Roma or Hercules Against Rome¨ (1964) , ¨Hercules Against the Moon Men¨ (1964) , ¨Sansone Contro Il Corsaro Nero or Hercules and the Black Pirate¨ (1964) , and ¨Hercules and the Treasure of the Incas¨ (1964) , the second movie mentioned being one of the only spectacles to actually incorporate science fiction into the genre. In contrast , his Hercules serves as a mere sidekick in the Zorro-like spectacle ¨Golia e Il Cavaliere Mascherato or Hercules and the Masked Rider¨ (1963) starring Ettore Manni . In addition , he performed Ursus , ¨Il Gladiatore Ribelle or Ursus , the Rebel Gladiator¨ (1962) opposite Dan Vadis . He also played the supporting role of Kaldos in ¨Rocha , son of Samson or The Fury of Hércules¨ (1962) when it was Brad Harris' turn to play the title role , and ¨Samson and his mighty challenge¨ (1964) . By mid-decade the Herculean phase had faded away and Steel went on, unlike others peplum stars, to other film styles such as dramas , thrillers , horror, oaters , even comedies and he eventually moved into Spaghetti Western and spies . In the late 1960s he and fellow movie musclemen Kirk Morris and Gordon Mitchell served up "spaghetti westerns" entitled ¨Sapevano Solo Uccidere¨ (1968) and ¨Fast hand¨ (1973). The film benefits itself from an acceptable secondary cast , full of familiar faces as Carlo Tamberlani , Nello Pazzafini and three gorgeous Eurotrash actresses as Rosalba Neri , Orchidea De Santis and Lisa Gastoni . In spite of mediocre interpretations , the acting honors go to Mimmo Palmara as a nasty usurper .
Colorful cinematography in Eastmancolor , TotalScope 16 mm by Izzareli , shot on location in Tunis and Lacio , Rome and Elios Studios . Atmospheric and evocative Original music by Angelo Francesco Lavagnino who composed lots of Peplums and Spaghettis . The film was professionally directed by Gianfranco Parolini , aka Frank Kramer , but with no originality . Parolini often uses action sequences incorporating circus acrobatics and lots of humor and irony . He began directing Musclemen epics as ¨Rocha¨, ¨The Macabeos¨ with Brad Harris , ¨Samson¨ , ¨Fury of Hércules¨ and ¨The ten gladiators¨ with Dan Davis and Gianni Rizzo , Parolini's usual actor. After that , he continued with ¨commissioner X¨ series stars Tony Kendall , fantastic with ¨three supermen¨ and warlike movie as ¨5 per l'Inferno¨ with Gianni Garco (Sartana) and the nimble acrobat Nick Jordan , Parolini's regular . His first Western was ¨Johnny West¨ and later on , ¨God's gun¨ with Jack Palance and he also directed the first ¨Sabata¨ with Lee van Cleef . It's followed by ¨ Return of Sabata¨ with similar artistic and technician team and ¨Indio Black¨ with Yul Brynner . "3 Avengers" is a so-so Péplum , If you like lots of sword fighting , this ones for you.
