Goliath Contro I Giganti (1961)

After leading his army to victory in a five year confict, Goliath prepares to celebrate but is attacked in his tent by assasins and from one of them he learns that the tyrannical Burkhan has usurped the throne in their home kingdom. Goliath sets sail for Beyrath, but word reaches Burkhan that Goliath is on his way, and a sets a trap for the hero. In the meantime Goliath's ship is wrecked by a giant monster and he and his crew are washed up on the shore a long way from home, facing a trecharous journey - and when they finally arrive, the reception is far from welcoming...

The film opens rather too quickly, with no particular explanation of why the otherwise heroic Goliath is leading an invading army, and the first few scenes in particular seem very rushed. Fortunately the film slows down to a more sensible pace but in turn becomes a rather generic Peplum entry - missing out the interesting potential of having an anti-hero lead character. However the pacing is strong, and the story interesting enough to keep the film entertaining, and much to its credit the script avoids the usual comedy relief that ruined many otherwise fine genre films. The climactic battle for Beyrath makes for a good ending, but sadly the film does drag out a little afterwards for a rather unnecessary confrontanation with the titular giants that seems to exist only to give the film its title. As with many of the Pepla, the Goliath name seems to be rather randomly used, with no reference to the biblical character (indeed in Germany the character was renamed Hercules), and most likely stems from the success of Fredinando Baldi's biblical Peplum, David e Golia (1960), and the renaming of the Hercules film Il Terrore dei Barbari (1959) into Goliath and the Barbarians in the US.

Director Guido Malatesta was replaced part way through the film by Gianfranco Parolini (credited here as the artistic director) after becoming fed up with the non-existant budget, while the second unit duties were handled by rookie Spanish director Jorge Grau. The film as a whole looks good, with the all usual genre elements - crowds of troops, classic architecture and dancing girls. The opening is of particular note, with a curious Newsreel atmosphere and there are some particularly well staged gladiatoral combat and battle scenes, while fans of Spaghetti Westerns should recognise the 'desert' locations that would become very familiar a few years later. However the film is really let down by the monster attack on the boat; a scene so bad and so woefully filmed that it would look out of place in a genre parody - the obviously model boat rivals that of Ghost Galleon (1973) for its ineptitude, and the less said about the giant model head that Goliath fights, the better. Fortuantely the soundtrack, by genre regular Carlo Innocenzi is solid, and although rather unoriginal, it fits the film just fine.

Aside from a minor, uncredited role in Spartacus (1960), Brad Harris made his film debut here in Sansone (1961) - another American muscleman brought in to fill the Italian film industry's insatiable demand for rippling heros, particularly after Steve Reeves was forced to tone down due to injury. He makes for a good Goliath, suitably muscle-bound and a surprisingly decent actor too. The respected Italian character actor Ferdinando Rey gives a very impressive performance as Burkhan, giving him a lot more depth than the usual 'evil dictator' line, with the help of some good characterisation, he makes the man seem weak and afraid, overruled by his wife. In the supporting cast, Nello Pazzafini as the head of the guard should prove a familiar face to Euro-Western fans. There are two rather interestingly contrasting beauties in the two female lead roles - the stunning blond Gloria Milland as Princess Elea, while Barbara Caroll plays the more subtly attractive redheaded Diana.

Apart from the monster, and the rather drawn out ending, Goliath versus the Giants is one of the better Pepla thanks to some solid direction, and above average acting, particularly from the always reliable Ferdinando Rey. Recommended to genre fans.

Anyone famous in it?	Brad Harris - American actor who starred in several Pepla, including Sansone (1961) and Fury of Hercules (1962) Ferdinando Rey - Spanish born actor, best known for his work with Luis Buñuel, including Viridiana (1961)
Directed by anyone interesting?	Guido Malatesta - little known director who also worked with Harris in Formula 1 - Nell'Inferno del Grand Prix (1970) Gianfranco Parolini - Italian director responsible for the very enjoyable Sabata (1969) and its sequels.
Who else was involved?	Jorge Grau - a Spanish director, best known for his zombie film Living Dead at the Manchester Morgue (1974).
Any violence/gore?	Lots of fighting, one bloody shot.
Any sex?	None.
Who is it for?	All Peplum fans should see this, and it makes a decent place for newcomers.

Visuals	Original Aspect Ratio - 2.35:1 anamorphic widescreen. Colour Generally very good looking print - strong colours, good detail and minimal grain and damage for most of the time, but several scenes are very blurry.
Audio	English and Italian mono - both sound fine.
Subtitles	None.
Run-time	Feature: 1hr 31m 41s (PAL)
Extras	The disc includes: Interview with director Gianfranco Parolini - a very animated discussion with the director about Sansone, Goliath contro i Giganti and some of his other films. Includes clips from the first two and some very interesting stories. In Italian, with English subtitles. (17 minutes) - same as included on RHV's Sansone DVD. Original Italian trailer. The DVD case has an insert with some crew notes, and a brief Goliath filmography. In Italian.
Region	Region 0 (ALL) - NTSC
Other regions?	Not available elsewhere.
Cuts?	The film is believed to be fully uncut. The print used is Italian language.

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