Ursus in the Land of Fire (1963)

People are voting emotionally.

Instant Favorite.

I cannot think of one single thing that I would change about this film. The acting is incomparable, the directing deft, and the writing poignantly brilliant.

Although I seem to have had higher expectations than I thought, the movie is super entertaining.

A fairy-tale flavored adventure movie with Ed Fury and A. Micantoni. What I believe to be the worthiest of mention are Hamilan the usurper's role and the spooky score. Also the tournament, and then Ursus enslaved.Micantoni, who plays the usurper, reminded me of Wallach, and made the best of his scenes; he has one of the couple of the best one-liners of the movie: his comes after he has killed his wife, who refused divorcing him. The 2nd belongs to Ursus, when he thanks one of the guards for his advice.The setup reminded me of the political westerns that were being made in the same decade, with the social awareness: here, a village of shepherds being attacked by the soldiers from across a lake, in a fight for resources, then a military coup, almost like one of those very fashionable for a time political westerns made in Europe …; but these are also from the fairy tales. Anyway, the story is well handled (though Ursus' idea of avenging the peaceful shepherds is to defy single-handed and challenge the new king, which promptly results in his arrest; the fact being that Ursus doesn't have a plan for avenging his people, but entrusts himself to a whirlpool of events, his single plan might of been of course to defeat the king in the arena, supposing that the sovereign would of taken up the challenge). The cast has a lot of clergymen, more pious and cautious than just, and a prophet; anyway, the high priest proves of some help to the insurgents.The landscape is mainly dreadful, but I think I recognized the waterfalls from another s & s movie.By the early '60s, the European kids seem to have got a peculiar education by movies like this, which is a fact perhaps less analyzed sociologically.

If the Italians had made a version of Dynasty back in the early '60s that was set in ancient times and featured Greek warriors, snakes, monsters, strong men and impaling, it would have looked a lot like this movie. There's all kinds of back stabbing, bed hopping and double dealing here, as well as plenty of action, although unlike Dynasty, there are no catty slap fights between Joan Collins and Linda Evans...:( With all the wheeling and dealings it's difficult to discuss the story much without giving anything away. Suffice it to say that a "BAD PERSON" steals the kingdom from "A GOOD PERSON" whilst wiping out a the home village of a "REALLY BIG GOOD PERSON" who then teams up with the PEOPLE to free the land and dispense beefy, man-skirted justice.Special bonus appreciation points go to Claudia Mori who played the king's niece, turncoat and an especially sultry femme fatale.Ed Fury played Ursus in both movies and he's one of my favorite peplum heroes. He's a big imposing guy but not in a bulky ponderous way that some other Hercules types appear. He actually seems capable of performing some of the athletic action packed stunts his role requires.This is a solid combo of peplum action and adventure. A little more humor would have tipped this into the five star basket, but as it stands we're looking at a more than respectable four star entry into the peplum lists.

Actually they are five muscle men tossing make believe rocks but in a run of the mill film of good guy freeing oppressed people you take what you can get.The action is good but the story is average and the same one we've seen in just about every film like this. Worse its paced much too slowly. The dubbing is interesting as voices change depending on whats being said. Its a bland exercise that is best summed up by its semi volcanic eruption- its not quite the spectacle anyone hoped for.

Having heard good things about this sword-and-sandal movie, I found myself a tad disappointed with some of its aspects, but in general, this is superior to most of its competition and "Hercules" fans will find it well worth a look. Of particular note are several of the imaginative and impressive indoor sets which are a clear cut above the plywood-columns sort of decorating one often sees in this genre. Of course, any "Hercules" movie must largely be judged on the appearance and appeal and talents of its main actor, and here we're fortunate to have Ed Fury, who not only looks good with his shirt off but who has some personal flair as well. He plays the part with an agreeable touch that's a welcome break from the "grimly determined muscleman" school of acting. Another way of judging these movies lies in the quality of the tortures which are inflicted on the hero. Here, we have two good ones. In the first, Fury is chained to one of those wooden poles which protrudes from a circular grist-mill. "Encouraged" by a burly overseer who lashes him across his bare back, Fury must walk around in a circle, pushing that pole and turning that grist-mill. (And boy, is this a big grist-mill!) Unlike other such sequences, such as that involving Victor Mature in "Samson and Delilah," this horizontal pole is not at waist level but rather positioned above Fury's head so that his chained arms are extended upward from his body. This seems to make the ordeal even more strenuous and painful and effectively showcases Fury's physique. In the second torture, he's forced to stand on a dungeon floor amid a number of sharp metal spikes which protrude upward. He's also forced to hold above his head an enormous flat stone. Eventually his arms will weaken and the weight of that stone, pressing inexorably downward, will impale him on those spikes just before it crushes him. The appeal of this torture is that it turns the hero's chief asset -- his strength -- against him. The longer he's able to hold up that stone, the more he prolongs his agony. And in the process, of course, the more entertainment he provides for his captors -- and for the movie audience as well!