O Colosso de Rodes

Technically master director Sergio Leone's debut, The Colossus of Rhodes wasn't his first foray into swords-and-sandals epics. He was famously the second unit director for Ben-Hur and had to take over the reigns himself for The Last Days of Pompeii. Although he's known now for his Westerns, he certainly had a little niche going at the start. Unfortunately, there's fundamental flaws with that niche and it just doesn't hold up to today. Bland characters, bland story. It takes itself too seriously and ends up overly camp. It wants to have a camaraderie about war but it comes off awkward and childish ending with meaningless conflict and catastrophe. It's an interesting film and relatively watchable but it's terribly dated. While it has the pace of his subsequent films, it has none of the grit or tension. The most disappointing aspect is that the photography is incredibly flat. While the frames take a massive expanse for a debut, there's no depth and the sets are just obvious. Well, at least he got better.

5/10