Lavishly produced technically but underdeveloped with character and plot, this search version of the tale of Pompeii in 79 A. D. was a major disappointment to me, and I sat through it in one sitting waiting to find something to interest me in regards to these characters involved in the story. I have watched patiently many mini-series that did take time to get into the story, but by at least the end of the first part, found interesting performance and characters, and lots of passionate elements that are sadly lacking here outside the scantily clad gladiators played by the most muscle-bound Ensemble I've seen in a movie since the days of the Peplum films.
Certainly the ancient Roman setting is beautiful to look at, exotic and historical, with references to past Roman history and issues of the political atmosphere and the sociality of the society through the games (mostly anti-Christian, showing them in the Coliseum with the lions entering), but the special effects are not on par with Ray Harryhausen. Laurence Olivier looks exhausted as a former senator, a far cry from the strength that he had shown as Jesus just a few years before. But Siobhan McKenna is very good as his wife, and Brian Blessed (Emperor Augustus from "I Claudius") is quite commanding as a converted Christian imprisoned during the eruption.
However the leads are not very exciting, with Leslie and down, Olivia Hussey and Linda Purl play characters that aren't really well-developed, and Ned Beatty truly overacting in one of the most laughable performances I've seen in an epic of this nature. Franco Nero, dressed all in black, is a fascinating villain oh, what's a sequence where he seemingly drugs hero Nicholas Clay to have Isis related entities is truly bizarre. Ernest Borgnine, as the head of the Gladiators, basically is playing Ernest Borgnine in a toga. It takes a lot of patience to get to the last half-hour where, after hints of Vesuvius having been shaking several times throughout the miniseries finally does explode, and with a whole lotta Shakin goin on and the pillows tumbling, things to get to finally take off. Overall though it's a disappointment, although Blessed's soliloquy at the end is quite touching and filled with hope.
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