Greetings,

I am in the mood for some good old fashion Sword and Sandal movies, specifically about Roman style Gladiators.

Of course, I've got Spartacus under my belt; both old and new. Of course I have seen the Ridley Scott flick. However, I'm looking for things a little more B.

So, what suggestions do you have for me? Like I said, I want Roman Gladiators (Murmillos, Thraex, Retarius, Secutors, Oh my), so no Texas Gladiators 2020 or anything like that.

Thanks for the help.

There's a Roger Corman-produced historical epic on the cheap called THE ARENA, if I am remembering the title right. I've never seen it, but Pam Grier is the Nubian gladiator. So I should have already seen it.

Yeah, The Arena (also sometimes seen under the very misleading title, Naked Warriors) is a fun one. It might not be quite what you're looking for, though, as it functions more like a women's prison movie set in the Roman Empire than a conventional gladiator movie. Then again, there are a fair number of old gladiator flicks that focus on the notion of slave uprisings, so it isn't totally without precedent.

The Vikings with Kirk Douglas and Tony Curtis. No latin names, but the same attitude exists.

Spartacus is actually really really really damn good.

It's a little frustrating because most of the sword and sandal epics that occurred to me are Greek based and involve "epic journeys." There's a whole host of Steve Reeves movies - primarily Hercules movies - any one of which will have its quotient of camp, but very little in the way of gladiatorial-like combat.

I have turned to Netflix and suggestions they have that seem promising, to me at least, are a double feature DVD of Magnificent Gladiator/Revolt of the Barbarians and Thor and the Amazon Women/Revenge of the Barbarians.

Finally, I unearthed Return of the Gladiator(aka Il Ritorno del gladiatore più forte del mondo / Three Giants of the Roman Empire)

I have seen none of these, so I hope you try them and add them to our ever growing list of reviews of obscure movies.

That's the one Corman remade with Playboy playmates, directed by Timur "Night Watch, Wanted" Bekmambetov. The hopping scene is not to be missed.

I found this on a wiki about Peplum...

Italian gladiator movies, 1948–1965
Inspired by the success of Spartacus, there were a number of Italian peplums that heavily emphasized the gladiatorial arena in their plots, with it becoming almost a peplum sub-genre in itself; One group of supermen known as "The Ten Gladiators" appeared in a trilogy, all three films starring Dan Vadis in the lead role.

Fabiola (1948) aka The Fighting Gladiator
Sins of Rome (1952) a.k.a. Spartacus, directed by Riccardo Freda
The Invincible Gladiator (1961) Richard Harrison
Revenge of the Gladiators (1961) starring Mickey Hargitay
Gladiators Seven (1962) a.k.a. The Seven Gladiators, starring Richard Harrison
Gladiator of Rome (1962) a.k.a. Battle of the Gladiators, starring Gordon Scott
The Slave (1962) a.k.a. Son of Spartacus, starring Steve Reeves
The Last Gladiator (1963) a.k.a. Messalina Against the Son of Hercules
The Ten Gladiators (1963) starring Dan Vadis
Ursus, the Rebel Gladiator (1963) a.k.a. Rebel Gladiators, starring Dan Vadis
Spartacus and the Ten Gladiators (1964) a.k.a. Ten Invincible Gladiators, starring Dan Vadis
Maciste, Gladiator of Sparta (1964) a.k.a. Terror of Rome vs. the Son of Hercules
Revolt of the Seven (1964) a.k.a. The Spartan Gladiator, starring Tony Russel & Helga Line
The Two Gladiators (1964) a.k.a. Fight or Die, starring Richard Harrison
Triumph of the Ten Gladiators (1965) starring Dan Vadis
Challenge of the Gladiator (1965) starring Peter Lupus
The Revenge of Spartacus (1965) starring Roger Browne
Seven Rebel Gladiators (1965) a.k.a. Seven Against All, starring Roger Browne
Seven Slaves Against the World (1965) a.k.a. Seven Slaves Against Rome, a.k.a. The Strongest Slaves in the World, starring Roger Browne & Gordon Mitchell

I found this fun playlist of Trailers for Peplum movie son youtube:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IiJNgy4V ... playnext=2