Product Description

VCI is very pleased to present this epic motion picture, which has been mastered from the original negatives and presented in all its widescreen glory for the first time on home video! Love and war intertwine in this fanciful adaptation of history. The brilliant Carthaginian general, Hannibal (Victor Mature) despises Rome. Fueled by vengeance, he drives his army of elephants through the treacherous, frozen Alps into Italy, crushing anyone who dared to oppose him. As a strategy to break the morale of his enemies, Hannibal captures the beautiful Sylvia of Rome (Rita Gam) so she may see the might of his army and spread the news of impending doom to her people. However, a love grows between the two that will eventually be his undoing. This big-budget spectacle produced by Warner Bros. was shot in Technicolor and SuperCinescope and literally features a cast of thousands... over 4,000 foot-soldiers, 1,500 horsemen, 45 elephants and a vast assortment of war machines were employed in the historic battle of Cannae alone. Bonus Features: Anamorphic Widescreen Enhanced for 16 x 9 Monitors, Photo & Poster Gallery, Original Theatrical Trailer, Bios, Scene Selection Menu. Specs: DVD9; Dolby Digital Mono; 100 minutes; Color; 2.35:1 Aspect Ratio; MPAA - NR; Year - 1960; SRP - $14.99.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #27974 in DVD
• Brand: HANNIBAL 1960 (DVD MOVIE)
• Released on: 2004-10-19
• Rating: NR (Not Rated)
• Aspect ratio: 2.35:1
• Formats: Color, Dolby, DVD, Enhanced, Widescreen, NTSC
• Original language: English
• Number of discs: 1
• Dimensions: 5.00 pounds
• Running time: 100 minutes

Customer Reviews

Pyhric Hannibal at Best
Anyone expecting a really good view of the Punic Wars in Italy will certainly not find it here. That being said, there are a number of interesting and amusing scenes that make it half-way worthwhile. Victor Mature sleeps his way through the role of the great Carthegenian general. Mature seems never to have taken his own acting skills that seriously, and that is evident here with his lethargic style.

Probably one of the best parts of the film is the extended scene showing the crossing of the Alps. This was surely one of the great feats of ancient warfare and we get a decent look at how tortuous it must have been here. The Punic soldiers crying out in English somehow lacks something, but this was a 1960 Italian dubbed film! Some of the battle scenes with the elephants are not too bad, but the overall effect is on the poor side. The most vigorous battle shown, Cannae in 217 BC is a joke! There is some attempt to show how the Romans were destroyed here, but somehow it gets lost in the details.

I give the film some credit for staying somewhere near the history, but many details are wide off the mark, and almost purposely so. The romance with Mature and Rita Gam is required of course for this period of movie, but it seems half-hearted at best. Again, Mature's Hannibal seems to almost doze through the scenes! No doubt Hannibal did console himself with a few Roman women for the many years he was in Italy, but what we get here is standard hollywood filler for the time. This film might be fun to watch along with the Italian Propaganada epic, Scipio Africanus. Both have the same lame style, although the older facist film has the production value which this film really lacks. Still, both make for some light viewing in the classic sword and sandal style.

Hannibal After Too Many Cocktails
A very contrived rendition of the Second Punic War between Carthage and Rome in the 3rd century B.C. The fact that Victor Mature plays the lead role is enough to discourage anyone from buying this shallow film. This film is also outmatched in every respect except color by another production and so not really worth one's time or money unless you're a die-hard Mature fanor accept only the color medium for a film.

The screenplay is disjointed as it doesn't really convey the reasons why Hannibal hated Rome so much or why he led an army of almost 100,000 men to trample over the Italian countryside for 18 years. The battle reenactments are small, sparing, and second-rate. The acting stinks especially by Mature whose presence always appears as if he just came out of a cocktail lounge around 3:00 a.m. Victor Mature was barely competent as a back-up actor not to speak of a lead role in a historical epic. Even more shame on the Italians who contrived this silly film about their own history. The direction is purely conventional for the period and so unimaginative. The screenplay is terrible and focuses on a ridiculous love story instead of the historical events for dramatism. History here is simply the backdrop for the romance. The anachronisms of the film themselves would require modern anachronisms to interpret as this film is horribly out-of-date. Wayne's 'Genghis Kahn' is better than this film. At least you have The Duke instead of 'Manure' to watch in a bad film.

A vastly superior film on Hannibal is Carmine Gallone's 1939 'Scipio Africanus' that looks at the conflict from the character Scipio's point of view in which the climax comes with Hannibal's defeat at Zama. Unlike this film, 'Scipio' primarily emphasizes on the history for the drama as opposed to romance. Although the few romantic scenes in 'Scipio' are truly arch-melodrama as one reviewer has commented, they are fortunately fewer than in this film. The character of Hannibal is treated as a tragic hero and honorable foe who, like his Roman antagonist and unlike Mature's character, doesn't waste much time on trivial romance when the life or death of his nation is at stake. Although not in color, at least 'Scipio' was done on an epic scale with 50 elephants, over a thousand horses, and 30,0000 extras under the direction of a competent Gallone. The battle scene for Zama was more a replication rather than a re-enactment and so exceptionally brutal even by some of today's standards. I guarantee you that few professional stuntmen of today would be doing what ordinary guys did in that reenactment. So lavish are the sets and battles that they remained unmatched in film until no sooner than Kubrick's 'Spartacus' or Mankiewick's 'Cleopatra' 25 years later. Despite the film's occasional overdrama, believe me, you will get a lot more accuracy, lavishness, and a breathtaking battle scene from that film on Hannibal. This one with Mature isn't even worth seeing free as it is just a waste of time.

Mature At His Funniest
First thing first! Peter O'tool would make Mature look like a N.Y. back street boy in disgrace. This character is not even worthy of Mature's tallents. For Hannibal being one the 5 greatest generals in the world over of all time in line with Rommel, Patton, Mcarthur,and Napoleion is made a complete joke when portrayed by Mature. It takes a man of staunch mobility such as Russle Crowe, Charleston Heston or Henry Fonda to take on this awesome character's event.

The film had some ok action sequences. Not very dramatic love scenes. crappy sound and picture quality. Needs Steven Spielburg's attention bad.

Don't even bother with it. Blackbeard even in all his glory looked better in a patch!