Underplayed Gems

Revak the Rebel (1960)

Revak the Rebel poster
Original title
The Barbarians
Directed by
Rudolph Maté
Genre
sword-and-sandal film
Country
Italy, United States
Runtime
1h 24m
Rating
5.3 of 10 from 3 voters
Elsewhere
IMDb
The 3D catalogue: film cases on wooden shelves, with the cat sitting at the counter next to its greeting.

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The film shelves have a room of their own that you can walk around in. The cat behind the counter is the AI Catbot, and they pick real films from the same catalogue when you tell them what you feel like watching. Nothing is for sale, here or in there. Go in from here and this film is already out on the counter, with more like it waiting on the shelf next to it.

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How it feels

An Iberian prince seeks revenge against the Carthaginians who abused his nation and family. He turns to the Romans for help.

historicalrevenge-drivendramaticearnestsword-and-sandalbattle-heavymelodramatic

What happens

Revak the Rebel (a.k.a. The Barbarians, a.k.a. Rivak the Barbarian) is a 1960 film set in Iberia in the days leading up to the outbreak of the Second Punic War. Jack Palance plays an Iberian prince whose nation and family are so abused by the Carthaginians that he turns to the Romans for help in achieving his revenge. This film was adapted for the screen by John Lee Mahin and Martin Rackin from The Barbarians, a novel written by F. Van Wyck Mason (although making significant changes to the plot like renaming the hero from Cealwyn to Revak and turning him from a Cassiterides Celtic prince to an Iberian prince from fictional Penda island, named after Cealwyn's father in the novel). The film also only followed the first half of the book and was directed by Rudolph Maté. The film was a pilot for a projected ninety-minute TV series to be called The Barbarians (as it would cover the whole length of the book) which was never picked and got theatrical release out of the US. The film was first released as Rivak the Barbarian or The Barbarians. Revak the Rebel was filmed on location in Italy and it cost NBC $750,000, making it the most expensive pilot ever produced (at the time). The film has been released on DVD as Revak the Rebel by Sinister Cinema, a company specializing on B movies, Z movies, peplums and similar productions. (from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA)

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