Katherine of Alexandria (2014)

How sad is this?

This is a coming of age storyline that you've seen in one form or another for decades. It takes a truly unique voice to make yet another one worth watching.

It's a movie as timely as it is provocative and amazingly, for much of its running time, it is weirdly funny.

The acting is good, and the firecracker script has some excellent ideas.

I would hardly say this is the "worst film ever made". Grow up. This is far, FAR from the worst film ever made. People are off their heads. It's a fairly decent, low budget indie with a nice message. At least it was a unique story! There is far much more garbage out there. We see Hollywood churning out these horribly made, poorly written horror films, sequels, remakes - all awfully made with an AWFUL amount of money. The reviews this movie have had are scathing, or awesome, there doesn't seem to be a happy middle ground. Which is exactly where this film lies. In the middle ground. It's not great. It's not terrible, it's fine.

We now know who killed Peter O'Toole. It was Michael Redwood. Assault with a dead film. Inept at best, ham handed writing, lines delivered as if actors were zombies, and Mr. Redwood's claim to fame: music, so over the top as to give the listener instant diabetes. Plan 9 from Outer Space is better than this. Many cite Kineheart as the sole standout in this cast. They are wrong. Vacuous....maybe this is a zombie picture. Maybe Redwood is ahead of his time...Zombies From Rome...dunno. All I know is that I want my money back so I can buy a lobotomy and excise this dreck from my brain. I laugh at those in regard to this film who warn away the end spoilers...the end of this film is a blessing. It's only spoiled in its playing.

As a huge fan of historical dramas, both book and movie, I was so looking forward to this movie. I've never written a review on here before but my disappointment with this movie was so intense that I felt it needed airing. This was perhaps the worst acting I have ever seen in my life (55 yrs). The drugged stares into space, the stilted line delivery, the over dramatic acting by lesser actors in bit parts, the choppy scene transitions. The whole thing was tragically sad and I finally, after multiple attempts, shelved it, never to be finished.It's a great story I would love to see it done properly and given it's due diligence. This just wasn't it.

Luckily I went into this film with low expectations, not because of reviews on IMDb (I never trust amateur reviews), but because I'd never even heard of it before...I love to put an independent film in the DVD player without any anticipation, sit back with a cup of Earl Grey and let the screenplay lift me out of the mediocrity of todays films into a brave new world.This film did exactly that.To be honest, I haven't watched too many Peter O'Toole films, even though everyone raves on about him. I didn't expect anything from him either, but boy did he blow me away with his dialogue. Katherine was exceptional and many of the other big names played nice roles too.Impressive for a very niche Brit production.After watching it today I came straight on here to read reviews from other fans. I've never shared a review online before myself, but after seeing some of the crushingly negative reviews, I felt I needed to share my thoughts to add some balance.Firstly, it is blindingly obvious to me that the 1 star reviews here are by a generation completely spoilt by the cheap wizardry of Hollywood, where stories are created sheerly for profit, history is re-written and every story has the same predictable ending fit for an imbecile....And so, when a film like Decline of an Empire comes along with an unusual style of storytelling (dangerous), an original cast (what were they thinking), with real actors who are famous for something other than their body parts (oh my god), and an ending that leaves you with a sense of spiritual growth (!!!), instead of the predictable happily-ever-after-brain-mushing-gunk, people loose their minds!... They just can't take it! I am too young to reminisce the times of Hitchcock or Orson Welles, but I am well aware that era is truly dead... albeit for a few unique gems that come my way unexpectedly, but I feel for those who do reminisce a truly lost art.Thank you for bringing a sweet taste of originality and depth to my screen, it's rare! Very, very rare...