"The Last Days of Pompeii" (1984) TV mini-series

Director:

Peter R. Hunt

Writers:

Edward George Bulwer-Lytton (novel)
Carmen Culver (writer)

Release Date:

6 May 1984 (USA)

Genre:

Drama

Plot:

This costume series portrays aspects of life in Pompeii, a coastal luxury resort near Naples catering for the very rich of imperial Rome...

Plot Keywords:

Volcano | Gladiator | Flogging | Ancient Rome | Slavery

Cast

Ned Beatty	...	Diomed
Brian Blessed	...	Olinthus
Ernest Borgnine	...	Marcus
Nicholas Clay	...	Glaucus
Lesley-Anne Down	...	Chloe
Olivia Hussey	...	Ione
Siobhan McKenna	...	Fortunata
Franco Nero	...	Arbaces
Linda Purl	...	Nydia
Anthony Quayle	...	Quintus
Duncan Regehr	...	Lydon
Laurence Olivier	...	Gaius
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Tony Anholt	...	Lepidus
Joyce Blair	...	Lucretia
Peter Cellier	...	Calenus
George Claydon
Brian Coburn
Francesca Romana Coluzzi	...	Stronice
Brian Croucher	...	Melior
Christopher Ellison
Willoughby Goddard	...	Medon
Howard Goorney
Stephen Greif	...	Sporus
Peter Howell
Malcolm Jamieson	...	Petrus
Bernard Kay
Sidney Kean	...	Slave
Howard Lang
Catriona MacColl	...	Julia
Jill Melford
Michael Quill
David Robb	...	Sallust
Barry Stokes	...	Gar
Gerry Sundquist	...	Claudius
Benedict Taylor	...	Antonius
Marilù Tolo	...	Xenia

Runtime:

East Germany:245 min (6 parts) | Italy:310 min (4 parts)

Country:

Italy | UK | USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Filming Locations:

Italy

Company:

Centerpoint

Quotes:

Lydon: [to Marcus] I won't fight Glaucus for you!
Gar: [standing up cockily] Then I will... if our "champion" is too unsteady.
Lydon: [glares at Gar] Sit down, boy.
[Gar suddenly realizes that he's overstepped his bounds and slowly sits down]
Lydon: Now I want all you heroes to understand something *very* clearly. Whoever feels like killing Glaucus may do so, but that man first kills me.
[He picks up a dagger and holds it out to each of the gladiators in turn, who all drop their eyes]
Lydon: What? No one wants to be Pompeii's new *champion?*
[He stops in front of Gar and meets his eyes squarely as he holds out the dagger, and Gar looks down uncomfortably. Lydon throws the dagger to the ground and leaves the room abruptly]

Duncan Regehr was Hot

All of the things people posted about how silly the movie was may have been true, but it's all balanced out by how Duncan Regehr looked in his Gladiator outfit. Those eyes, those cheekbones, that body....hot damn! Now this is what we need more of in today's TV. Who cares about the script, other actors...just find guys as hot as this one was, and the ratings will soar. At least, I will be watching every day, that's for sure. But even today's hot actors just don't seem to be as hot as Duncan was....sigh! Orlando Bloom may be gorgeous, but he just can't hold a candle to the scorching good looks that seemed to pour out of the TV whenever Duncan had a scene. I can't figure out why more producers didn't get a clue and use this guy in movies here. I STILL think he ought to make a comeback. He should pull an Anthony Hopkins on us and come back as one of those devastatingly handsome older men.