Quo Vadis (1951)
Genre: Drama / History
Duration: 171 minuten
Alternative title: Qvo Vadis
Country:
United States
Directed by: Mervyn LeRoy
Stars: Robert Taylor, Deborah Kerr and Peter Ustinov
IMDb score:
7,1 (18.314)
Releasedate: 8 November 1951
Quo Vadis plot
"THIS IS THE BIG ONE! The splendor and savagery of the world's wickedest empire! Three hours of spectacle you'll remember for a lifetime!"
After three years in the battlefield, General Marcus Vinicius returns to Rome. Once back, he meets Lygia and falls in love with her. She's a Christian and she doesn't want anything to do with a brutal killer. Gradually she begins to feel something for Marcus, but then the danger threatens Emperor Nero who begins to persecute the Christians.
Actors and actresses
Marcus Vinicius
Lygia
Petronius
Nero
Poppaea
Peter
Paul
Eunice
Ursus
Plautius
Reviews & comments
simonvinkie
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- 2271 messages
- 827 votes
Quo Vadis was a classic I've wanted to see for a long time, but never really got around to it until yesterday. I have to say that I went into this movie with the wrong expectations. Was expecting to see a movie like Spartacus. With a lot of action and spectacle, but that wasn't real. Certainly not the first half, which was really just a romantic drama in Roman times. In the second half the film became much more immersive, bigger, more spectacular and also much better.
Peter Ustinow steals the show as the completely deranged Nero. His demise was particularly interesting to watch in the second half. The movie also looked nice. The use of color was also beautiful and I had absolutely no idea that I was watching a 1951 film. Anyway, this was a good movie, albeit a little less than expected. The first half in particular was not great, but that was compensated by the very strong second half. Although there were unfortunately some boring parts and the film did not captivate the entire running time. Still, it was a fun, entertaining movie.
3 stars
Translated from Dutch · View original
rcuppen79
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- 717 messages
- 1632 votes
Beautiful, epic spectacle film set in Roman times, as they often made in the 1950s. In the late 1940s, cinema declined dramatically and with the advent of television, Hollywood seemed to lose its dominant position in entertainment. In order to get people back into the cinema, they went big with various expensive productions in the 1950s. Quo Vadis is one of the forerunners of that genre. With a budget of $7.5 million, the film was one of the most expensive productions ever. The numbers don't lie: 110 speaking roles, more than 30,000 extras, and 32,000 costumes. Quo Vadis was worked on for more than three years. But it was well worth it, because Quo Vadis looks beautiful and was a great source of inspiration for films such as The Ten Commandments, Ben-Hur, Spartacus and Cleopatra.
Visually, there is nothing wrong with this film, but just like the aforementioned examples, Quo Vadis also suffers from the usual negatives. With a running time of almost 3 hours, the film is a bit on the long side, and especially the first half of the film has a very slow tempo. The story is unfortunately too weak to hold your attention for almost 3 hours, but fortunately the great scenes save the film.
The protagonists Robert Taylor and Deborah Kerr are somewhat colorless and are completely outplayed by Peter Ustinov as the crazy Emperor Nero (he deservedly received an Oscar nomination for this). Other notable supporting roles include Patricia Laffan as the devious Poppaea, Leo Genn as Patronius (also nominated for an Oscar) and the six-foot behemoth Buddy Baer (younger brother of former boxing champion Max Baer) as Lygia's bodyguard. Especially the bullfight in the Arena is beautiful to see.
Quo Vadis is certainly not perfect, but it is a beautiful film to watch.
Translated from Dutch · View original
scorsese
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- 13237 messages
- 11127 votes
Nice film in which a general returns to Rome after a victory and falls in love with a woman. Most of the spectacle has been saved for the last part, and the film is really too long for that. The turnaround of the main character is quite easy. Peter Ustinov puts his role pretty thick and is quite entertaining. Furthermore, enough pomp and circumstance on the screen in the form of costumes and sets.
Translated from Dutch · View original
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