Epic Italian historical dramas

I’ve been getting pretty deep into Italian history lately—you know, all that stuff about old cities, states, and those intense civil wars. I did a little digging and realized that Italians have actually made a ton of historical epics. We’re talking movies like Swordsman of Siena starring our girl Sylva Koscina, La Donna dei faraoni which covers ancient Egypt, Theodora, glory of the Empress of Byzantium, The Decameron, and obviously that whole massive run of films set in the Roman Empire.

Do you guys actually dig these flicks?
Are they total trash to you now, or do you still watch them with a bit of nostalgia compared to all the CGI garbage we see today?

Here’s a list, though it probably doesn't cover every single historical movie out there.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of...h_centuries.29

PS
The Italians actually made a movie about Zrinski and the siege of Sziget, but they titled it "Orlovski a Sziget" or something like that—not sure why they went with that.
The plot is pretty much the same thing, though. Most of the actors were from the old Yugoslavian circuit. It was shot back in the 60s, but I honestly can't track down the title right now.

The Italians have filmed a ton of stuff like this—it’s practically baked into their culture. It’s honestly no surprise they started putting on these big spectacles as early as 1901 or 1902. I actually just caught an old Italian version of Spartak from 1912 the other day, and I have to say, it was a surprisingly solid flick.
It would be pretty cool to get my hands on their version of Sziget, though I highly doubt anyone can actually track it down nowadays.

Benjamin Thompson66 said:The Italians have filmed tons of stuff like this; it’s a huge part of their tradition. Honestly, it’s no surprise they started cranking out those spectacles around 1901 or 1902. I actually just caught an old Italian version of Spartak from 1912 the other day—pretty decent flick.
I'd love to track down their version of Sziget, but I doubt anyone can even find a copy anymore.

Man, that's a bummer. I'd really love to see that one. 👎

There’s some piece set during the Renaissance era. It covers the rise of gunpowder and firearms. Something like Men-at-Arms, maybe. 🤷

And here is their version of Hercules featuring Sylvia.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qileqC-vU6w

Do a little digging on Bekim Fehim; he was actually the lead in quite a few of those old-school American historical and mythological epics.

He even took on the role of The Odyssey, among other things.

They weren't exactly cinematic masterpieces, but they hold a certain nostalgia for me since I spent my childhood glued to the television here in the States, wasn't I? Channels like Channel 5, Channel 4, CNN, United States, and all those others...😉