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Demetrius & The Gladiators | 
 enlarge | Director: Delmer Daves
Actors: Victor Mature, Susan Hayward, Michael Rennie, Debra Paget, Anne Bancroft
Studio: 20th Century Fox
Category: Video
List Price: $9.98
Buy New: $3.19
You Save: $6.79 (68%)
New (13) Used (20) Collectible (8) from $0.99
Rating:  43 reviews
Sales Rank: 16917
Format: Closed-captioned, Color, Hifi Sound, Ntsc
Language: English (Original Language)
Rating: NR (Not Rated)
Media: VHS Tape
Number Of Items: 1
Running Time: 101 Minutes
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.4
Dimensions (in): 7.3 x 4.2 x 1.1
ISBN: 6301412729
UPC: 086162117831
EAN: 9786301412728
ASIN: 6301412729
Theatrical Release Date: June 18, 1954
Release Date: March 15, 1995
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Condition: Factory sealed. Ships same day order received (except Sunday)
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| Editorial Reviews:
Amazon.com
Amid a cast of all-stars in 1953's The Robe, Victor Mature made the strongest impression as the Greek slave, Demetrius. It was only natural, then, that Mature should star in this 1954 sequel, in which the newly liberated Demetrius forges an alliance with his Christian brethren to hide the sacred robe of Christ, coveted for its "magic" by the vile emperor Caligula (Jay Robinson, also reprising his role in The Robe). Captured and manipulated into believing his beloved Lucia (Debra Paget) has been killed, Demetrius rejects his pacifist faith, plots vengeance while becoming a rising star in the bloody arena, and falls prey to the scheming senator's wife Messalina (Susan Hayward), who craves his... affection. It all leads to a crisis of faith that will determine Demetrius's fate as a noble Christian or downfallen hedonist. Inheriting The Robe's CinemaScope production values, Demetrius and the Gladiators has everything you'd want in a Biblical epic, riding the wave that would crest two years later with Cecil B. DeMille's The Ten Commandments. It's campy, of course--Robinson is outrageously over-the-top; Mature is too contemporary (preceding the absurdity of Richard Gere's King David by 30 years); and Hayward seems closer to Rodeo Drive than ancient Rome. Still, there are abundant pleasures here, from the lavish arena battles (a bit cheesy, but still impressive) to a straightforward morality tale that doesn't compromise its themes of religious loyalty. You don't watch movies like this for historical accuracy, but for the combination of thrills, passion, and glory that were Hollywood trademarks of 1950s epics, long before the more secular ambition of Gladiator. --Jeff Shannon
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| Customer Reviews: Read 38 more reviews...
 demetrius & the Gladiator August 30, 2008
Ileana C. Serrano (Illinois, USA)
Ok so its old time drama but the movie still carries solid performance from the cast. Movie score is not bad either. Lets just say that it may have inspires the Gladiator & Rome of this generation.
Demetrius and the Gladiators May 8, 2008
Essie
This is the sequel to The Robe. It is very good, full of action, and historical in respect to the persecution that occured to the early Christian church.
One of the Greatest ! April 7, 2008
Willie R. Anderson Jr. (Dallas, TX U.S.A.)
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
The Film is one that I and my wife believe is one of the Greatest Christian films that we could relate to alot and I believe even for alot other professing Christians !!!!
not bad for its day November 5, 2007
Gary B. Bowers (CA)
this movie was one of my favorites when growing up. 50 years later I watched it again and still think it is a worth while movie. I really liked the actor who played Caligula (Jay Robinson). I believed he died early on after this movie. Played the part to a "T". He was much better to watch then Victor Mature who was not right for the part. Hard to believe he would be a threat to anyone let alone a gladiator!!
The arena scenes are good with good action and fight sequences. Good movie for us old timers who enjoy 50's movies.
 don't buy it May 12, 2007
organic (Penn Yan, NY United States)
0 out of 7 found this review helpful
This is a terrible movie - it would be bad enough if we hadn't read the book, The Robe, but because we did, the book portrays Demetrius as a thoroughy moral, loyal and admirable person, and the movie shows him as a pleasure-loving, vacant-eyed, immoral fighting machine. Where the movie makers came up with this spin is beyand me, but someone should have stopped them. Actually, after reading the book and 'knowing' Demetrius in that manner, I found the movie nauseating - like a crude and mean characture of a good friend.
Don't buy it.
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