Gladiators 7 is a 1962 film directed by Pedro Lazaga. The film has several elements from Akira Kurosawa's film The Seven Samurai.

Gladiators 7
Directed byPedro Lazaga
Screenplay by
Story by
Produced by
  • Anacleto Fontini
  • Italo Zingarelli[2]
Starring
Cinematography
Edited byOtello Colangeli[2]
Distributed byMetro Goldwyn Mayer
Release dates
  • 11 October 1962 (1962-10-11) (Italy)
  • 7 May 1964 (1964-05-07) (United States)
Running time
105 minutes
Countries

Plot

edit

A Greek gladiator seeks revenge for the murder of his father and finds his lover captured by an evil tyrant.

Cast

edit

Production

edit

The film was partially shot on some of the locations where El Cid was filmed.[3] Parts of the film were shot in Spain.[4]

Release

edit

Gladiators 7 was released theatrically in Italy on 11 October 1962 with a 105 minute running time and in the United States on 6 May 1964 with a 92 minute running time.[3]

Reception

edit

In contemporary reviews, "Tube." of Variety found the film to have a cliche screenplay with "stiff acting" and "mechanical dubbing".[5] "Tube." noted that among the action sequences, the best involved a bout between a bull and a bare-handed gladiator but that the film was "erratic in tempo and dramatically heavyhanded [sic]."[5] A review in the Monthly Film Bulletin stated that "the customary ingredients of colour, passion, and swordplay, here lavishly applied, add up to a lighthearted and lusty swashbuckling film."[6]

References

edit

Footnotes

edit
  1. ^ Bowker 1983.
  2. ^ a b c d e Kinnard & Crnkovich 2017, p. 65.
  3. ^ a b Kinnard & Crnkovich 2017, p. 67.
  4. ^ Labanyi & Pavlović 2015, p. 249.
  5. ^ a b Variety's Film Reviews 1964-1967. Vol. 11. R. R. Bowker. 1983. There are no page numbers in this book. This entry is found under the header "April 29, 1964". ISBN 0-8352-2790-1.
  6. ^ "Sette Gladiatori, I (Gladiators 7), Italy/Spain, 1962". Monthly Film Bulletin. Vol. 31, no. 364. British Film Institute. May 1964. pp. 77–78.

Sources

edit
  • Variety's Film Reviews: 1964-1967. Rr Bowker Llc. 1983. ISBN 0835227901.
  • Kinnard, Roy; Crnkovich, Tony (2017). Italian Sword and Sandal Films, 1908-1990. McFarland. ISBN 978-1476662916.
  • Labanyi, Jo; Pavlović, Tatjana (2015). A Companion to Spanish Cinema. John Wiley & Sons. ISBN 978-0835227902.
edit