Goliath and the Dragon (1960)

Undescribable Perfection

That was an excellent one.

Did you people see the same film I saw?

It is a whirlwind of delight --- attractive actors, stunning couture, spectacular sets and outrageous parties. It's a feast for the eyes. But what really makes this dramedy work is the acting.

The monsters alone make this film worth watching. Story is fun enough and it plays out well. Costuming, sets, props nice as usual - lavish. The cinematography, directing and editing are just as tolerable as any one of the other many 1960s peplum.I enjoyed this film as much as Hercules the Invincible (1964) - in-fact, I think I like this one a little bit better than "Invincible" due to the many monsters and the darkness of some of the scenes. They are comparable films and would be a great double feature together.The film is not great but I found it enjoyable, entertaining and that is all that really counts.6.5/10

I had previously watched this in Italian during a pretty disastrous screening at the B-movie retrospective at the 2004 Venice Film Festival where the whole audience howled with laughter; in hindsight, I have to say that watching it on the big screen certainly magnifies its inherent faults tenfold. Actually, now that I've given it another look, it's not worse than most other peplums - though certainly not up to Cottafavi's best work, THE 100 HORSEMEN (1964) but his offbeat framing and vivid sense of color enlivens several sequences to be sure. For the record, Cottafavi also made that which is arguably the best Hercules film of all, HERCULES AND THE CAPTIVE WOMEN (1961), whose shortened US version (alas) has just been released on R1 DVD.Anyway, the plot kicks into action immediately as Mark Forest (playing the titular he-man, named Hercules in the original Italian-language version) goes to recover a diamond from a monster-infested cave which includes a hilarious large cat creature with bat wings which I clearly recall sending the Venice Film Festival audience in hysterics! The villain of the piece is Broderick Crawford who naturally chews up the scenery and approaches the role as if he were playing a gangster; at one point he even puts down his equally crooked, if actually brighter, henchman by calling him a "moron"...after which Crawford is apparently revitalized and inspired into devising newer and more ingenious traps to spring for Hercules...er...Goliath! The busy plot line, of course, involves several action set-pieces, court intrigues, much invoking of the Greek gods, women threatened with torture...and more laughable monsters (the dragon of the English title is so cheap that only its head ever makes any significant appearance). There is the usual coterie of maidens in these mythological epics who, thankfully, are very easy on the eyes here especially Leonora Ruffo (as Goliath's wife; she went on to repeat the role in Mario Bava's HERCLUES IN THE HAUNTED WORLD [1961]) and Gaby Andre' (as a duplicitous slave who also falls for Goliath).The version I watched this time around, via Alpha's DVD, was the AIP English-dubbed and rescored one (by the ubiquitous Les Baxter); surprisingly, it was a widescreen print - but the colors were way too much on the red side so that I had to tone down the colors on my TV set to make the whole thing viewable!P.S. Amusingly, my father and I attended a multi-part course on film appreciation some 10 years ago and when the lecturer mentioned such peplums in a positive light, my father, knowing the man to be a University professor, exclaimed loudly: "Don't tell me you appreciate that stuff?"

Mark Forest, aka Lou Degni from the Bronx, made his movie debut in this colorful swords and sandals saga and became an overnight sensation. No one had ever seen muscles that big--or beautiful--with a body and a sensually beautiful face to go along with it. No, not even Steve Reeves could match Forest in this department. His torso is incredible. With the biggest pectorals and lats in the business and a justly famed ridged stomach. Although born in the Bronx, he became the most sought after physique model of the 50s and later won Mr. America and Mr. Universe. Everyone agreed it wasn't just his stupendous physique that made him a sensation. He had a smile and charisma to burn. This is captured in this film and he went on to make a string of highly successful muscle men features, the best of them, "Kindar the Invulnerable" and "Hercules versus the Mongols" and "Hercules versus the Barbarians." Forest left Italy at the peak of his career to return to America to study opera and performed all over Europe. Today, he still teaches voice and sings and works--surprise--as a personal trainer to a handful of lucky stars in Los Angeles.. Reeves may have been the king of Italy's muscle movies during the 60s but his prince was Mark Forest--perhaps the biggest and most fabulous of them all.

I saw the poster for GOLIATH AND THE DRAGON outside a theater when I was a kid and was dying to see it. Unfortunately I had to wait over thirty years until just the other day when I found a cheap VHS copy in a video store. Was it worth the wait? Absolutely --- but not for the reasons I'd expected. In addition to the cool poster what intrigued me about the film were the Jim Danforth stop motion sequences added for the American release. Pictures of the dragon made it look pretty good. Unfortunately the model is poorly used in the film itself, and nowhere is it shown off to such good advantage as in the publicity stills. Animation-wise the film was a major disappointment.And other-wise? Well, you gotta give this movie a big A for Ambition. Hercules (excuse me, GOLIATH) doesn't just duke it out with soldiers, he battles a three headed dog, a bat monster, a centaur, a bear, and at one point even wrestles an elephant to the ground! Unfortunately none of these conflicts is handled with anything like the skill needed to really bring them off, but you've gotta love them for trying. And the movie, goofy and slipshod as it is, never bores. Peplum fans should check it out.