Hannibal

An interesting docudrama telling the story of Hannibal Barca, the ancient Carthaginian general who led his forces against Rome.

Throughout the film we follow Hannibal, from his childhood when he swears to forever be an enemy of Rome to his crossing of the alps and ultimately the decisive Battle of Zama where his forces face off against those of the Roman general Scipio. Despite some minor historical inaccuracies (the modern names France and Spain being used to describe their ancient counterparts) the story is told very faithfully and despite being a TV production the film has great production value and almost feels cinematic at points.

Alexander Siddig gives a wonderful performance as Hannibal, so much so that it's his version of Hannibal that comes to mind when I think of Hannibal Barca. Shaun Dingwall is also great at portraying Scipio and in the few scenes they share together they play off each other very well.

Overall it is a very good docudrama and was my personal first introduction to the history of Hannibal and Carthage. I'd highly recommend it for anyone interested in ancient Roman or Carthaginian history or ancient history in general.

Rome's worst nightmare Hannibal Barca (Alexander Siddig) man who was born to defeat Romans. A nice epic movie based on true story of Carthage's one of the finest military commander Hannibal Barca, he marched an army, which famously included war elephants, from Iberia over the Pyrenees and the Alps into northern Italy, Man who defeated roman army in their homeland Italy in series of battles out of which the most famous included the Battles of Trebia, Trasimene and Cannae, he stayed undefeated for over an decade in Italy till he was called back to secure his homeland Carthage after roman invasion. A very interesting movie for people who likes Epic Battles. Alex Siddig truly rocks in this movie.

I have a bad habbit comparing everything about the ancient world these days to Gladiator, which is fictional but one testosterone bomb of a movie, with insane effect and a Russel Crowe with an aura that would make him the roman equalliant to the legendary Erwin Rommel if he was a general in old rome for real.

But as a documentary rather than a big budget fictional Hollywood-movie, Alexander Sidding fits the role of Hannibal well and I was very satisfied with the outcome of this film, even though the roman players were not much to brag about. But its fantastic they finally make a REALISTIC movie, where telling the true story are in focus! Why invent a bullshit story when we have so many real stories to make movies about? Fact is often more amazing than fiction! I got what i hoped for and a good lesson in history, although I wish the movie had dwelled more with everyday life in Carthage. The name Hannibal means "son of Baal", Baal being an acronym for the god we all know as Satan, which could be interesting to dwell with.

But it is a movie i definitely will have in my movie collection. Absolutely. It will not get a 10 as Gladiator, but an good 7. 3 from the the top 10 for not having Riddley Scot to make the scenery, plus all the roman actors should get sacked, and we should have Russel Crowe as Scipio Africanus instead! Now that would be one hell of a movie..

I was very impressed with the quality and history telling in this BBC adaption. The BBC seem to have a talent for picking famous stories and fetching them to life in a unique drama and documentary blend. I had little knowledge of Hannibal before watching it (most people just know about the elephants) but after watching it i new the entire history of Hannibal. The acting was excellent with actors such as Alexander Siddig (kingdom of heaven) and a lot more fine actors . I would say this is a must for any person who enjoys history and enjoys a good factual story of a man who turned the tables on the greatest nation in the world (Romans) .

his performance is admirable. and this is the first virtue of film. the second virtue - the BBC high science to give to public a seductive, impressive, fascinating portrait of the Hannibal actions. but, each god has its sacrifices. in this case - the historical accuracy. the first excuse - for a real close to testimonies image , it needs a series. and a smaller target. but a good, a real good thing defines this beautiful film - the return to the history lessons - as memories and fragments of rumors about the words of teacher about Zama , elephants and the force of Carthagena- but, maybe, in same measure, as return to the sources about the great hero and his wars against Rome. and this is the best detail in this case.