the audience applauded

Save your money for something good and enjoyable

How sad is this?

I enjoyed watching this film and would recommend other to give it a try , (as I am) but this movie, although enjoyable to watch due to the better than average acting fails to add anything new to its storyline that is all too familiar to these types of movies.

The 1950s produced many, many period piece epics. Most of them weren't very good, which is why the classics we watch every Easter are so revered. But in Technicolor splendor, it's easy to see why Hollywood was so anxious to expose audiences to the grand world of King Arthur, Robin Hood, and other Biblical or Middle Ages stories.Quo Vadis is one of the many, and like its counterparts, it doesn't really stand out from the crowd, despite a very valiant effort. On paper, it's pretty similar to Ben-Hur: it's set and filmed in Rome, has several epic adventurous scenes that include special effects and thousands of extras, and the plot involves cruel Roman rule and the birth of Christianity. There's even a chariot race scene!Although nominated for eight Oscars, Quo Vadis isn't the film most of us remember fondly and watch every April. Why not? Well, no offense to Deborah Kerr, but it's the acting. Robert Taylor and Deborah Kerr star in this one, and Robert Taylor is no match for Charlton Heston's emotional range. Peter Ustinov plays the deranged, foppish, silly Emperor Nero, and every time he's on the screen you either want to burst out laughing or leave the room in search of more popcorn. He's just awful, and unfortunately, he has a pretty big part. I can't really think of any reason to sit through this one, unless you're the one person in the world who doesn't absolutely love Ben-Hur. Watch this and then you'll love the other by comparison.

Whither goest thou ? ... is what my translation program came up with. There have been many remakes of this story over the years; this one starring Robert Taylor and Deborah Kerr as Marcus and Lygia. Peter Ustinov, who could play anything is in here as Nero. Roman Marcus falls for christian Lygia. And the un-mistake-able voice of Walter Pidgeon narrating the whole deal. imdb says that both sophia loren and liz taylor are in uncredited roles. Lots of pomp and circumstance, befitting emporer nero. large crowds of ceremonies and extras. Everyone recites their lines almost in monotone, perhaps to symbolize the royal order of the empire, or maybe just because they were all bored with the predictable script. It's very okay. One of the more interesting characters here is "Poppaea", empress to Nero. Agnes Moorehead would have been PERFECT in this evil, scheming role. Nominated for many oscars, but didn't win any. Directed by Mervyn LeRoy. He was nominated for Best Director Random Harvest, but received two honorary awards later on. This is earlier Peter Ustinov, before he got bigger and older. Interesting bit of history, but it's another big hollywood set piece.

Of the half-dozen film versions that have been made from the novel by Nobel Prize winner, the Polish Henryk Sienkiewicz (1846-1916), the most successful and widespread was that of Mervyn LeRoy. Counting on the cast with such star-studded figures as Robert Taylor, Deborah Kerr and Peter Ustinov, he adapted the grandiose epic and romantic story set in the era of decline and disappearance of the first dynasty of Roman emperors (Julius-Claudius, 27 BC-68 AD), of which the last was Nero. In the middle of the splendor and expansion of one of the most powerful empires that ever existed, a young patrician and Roman soldier falls in love with a beautiful foreign host in a Christian home. He will soon understand, to his great disappointment and torment, that he will not be able to seduce her like any Roman woman, nor make her his mistress. These are hard times. Nero is a bad emperor. His mental disorders and his excesses are leading to Rome to chaos and ruin. He is surrounded by both competent men (the elegant, epicurean and intelligent Petronius, the great philosopher Seneca) who try to breathe in some sanity, as ambitious men who seek only their own recognition. Nero's delusions outline a threat that will soon become a reality. All Rome will pay a very high price. Both the fire that will devour the city, and the arrest and extermination of many Christians who live peacefully with the rest of the population, will mark a deadly time. Ligia, the beloved of the soldier Vinicio, is Christian, with which it is in serious danger. He, leaving behind his résumé of superfluous delights, throws himself head first to his authentic love and, realizing that he can only earn it with his heart, will do everything possible to save her from the city threatened by fire and the clutches of the Collective madness that is wreaking havoc with the Christians, making them suffer for believing them the authors of the catastrophe that destroys Rome. This epic drama is a reflection of an era in which Christianity had expanded enormously and was beginning to suffer the consequences of constituting a form of religious worship that was still seen in Rome with suspicion. It is also the reflection of the end of the first imperial period that happened to the Roman Republic, with the intermediate transition of Julius Caesar. A love that has to overcome great obstacles, the progressive maturity and religious conversion of a man deeply in love, the exaltation of the new faith, the annihilation of reason and peace at the hands of a lunatic ruler, and the destruction of much more Which is the most important city in the world. The fall of past beauty, of a past glory that is consumed in the flames and vanishes with smoke. Nothing will be the same. But the cycles are always renewed, and new lives and new illusions will continue walking along the path of the times, becoming the eternal question: "Where we go?"

Quo Vadis is an engaging costume drama about life in Nero's Rome.The film is a love story between a roman soldier and a captive Christian woman. It is about the conflict between the pagans and the Christians and the persecution of Christians under Nero's rule. It is about Nero and his relationship with his sister and Petronius (who wrote Satyricon). There are a few sub plots as well - one involving Petronius' intense love affair with a slave (played by Martina Berti).The Christians in Rome look down on the debauchery of the pagan rulers while the pagans look at the Christians with a certain amount of fear. In a prolonged scene, a Christian priest conducts a secret meeting with some underground Christians. Parallels can be drawn to today's world where Muslims look down on the debauchery of the Westen world while the West consider Muslims to be backward.The action is limited to a chariot chase sequence and then the bloody finale in the coliseum. Quo Vadis is more of a drama than an action film like BENHUR or GLADIATOR. But the coliseum scene is spectacular. While not as opulent as CLEOPATRA, there are many epic scenes and long shots involving thousands of extras.I watched it in two sittings. I was impressed by Leo Glenn as Petronius. Deborah Kerr was very erotic even when she played a tame but devout Christian woman. Peter Ustinov nailed the role of the boorish Nero physically. But his dialog delivery was too theatrical. Marina Berti was nice eye candy. Robert Taylor was effortlessly macho as the Roman soldier.I bet Martin Scorsese loves this film.(7/10)