I saw this TV movie on German DVD, and though I know very little German, the simple melodrama was easy to follow. Our hero Germanus (Stephan Hornung, a dirty-blond hunk a bit like the young Matthew McConaughey) is a gladiator on the Bay of Naples, along with his brother. Germanus is pitted against the rampaging Lagos (nicknamed The Bear), who won't play by the rules; even though the sponsors of the games signal thumbs-up, Lagos savagely kills Germanus's brother and very nearly kills Germanus. There's gotta be payback!
When all the gladiators are transported up to Germany, Germanus is reunited with his sister Rhihanna who's also training to fight in the arena! When Rhihanna begins to fall for The Bear, you can see the big showdown coming.
It's all a bit like Baywatch, except that the hunks and babes are all gladiators instead of lifeguards. (And their behavior is surprisingly chaste; you can tell the Roman masters and mistresses are decadent, because they dabble in homosexuality.)
Production is excellent, and the action scenes are pretty good; I found myself gasping and wincing during the climactic duel. The theme song, sung in English, is hopelessly sappy...yet I found myself humming it all the next day.
All in all, I'm surprised this movie isn't available (yet) in the US on DVD.
When all the gladiators are transported up to Germany, Germanus is reunited with his sister Rhihanna who's also training to fight in the arena! When Rhihanna begins to fall for The Bear, you can see the big showdown coming.
It's all a bit like Baywatch, except that the hunks and babes are all gladiators instead of lifeguards. (And their behavior is surprisingly chaste; you can tell the Roman masters and mistresses are decadent, because they dabble in homosexuality.)
Production is excellent, and the action scenes are pretty good; I found myself gasping and wincing during the climactic duel. The theme song, sung in English, is hopelessly sappy...yet I found myself humming it all the next day.
All in all, I'm surprised this movie isn't available (yet) in the US on DVD.
