Gladiator, Sword and Fantasies

Antiquity, swords and tragic heroes: the perfect ingredients for an epic movie. The documentary shows the beginnings of the sandal and sword film until today - from the silent film era to the boom of the expensive Bible epics in Cinemascope to low-cost Italian costume films until finally to the Hollywood success "Gladiator" at the turning point of the millennia. While films like "Ben Hur" have had great success, others, such as "Cleopatra" with Elizabeth Taylor, have been traumatic setbacks for the film studios. Unpublished interviews with stars such as Oliver Stone, carefully selected film excerpts and excellently restored archive footage revealing the greatest and most decadent moments of the screen antique and their heroes.