Pompeii (2014)

A slave-turned-gladiator finds himself in a race against time to save his true love, who has been betrothed to a corrupt Roman Senator. As Mount Vesuvius erupts, he must fight to save his beloved as Pompeii crumbles around him.

Director:

Paul W.S. Anderson

Writers:

Janet Scott Batchler (screenplay), Lee Batchler (screenplay)

Stars:

Kit Harington, Emily Browning, Kiefer Sutherland

9 wins & 4 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Kit Harington	...	Milo
Carrie-Anne Moss	...	Aurelia
Emily Browning	...	Cassia
Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje	...	Atticus
Jessica Lucas	...	Ariadne
Jared Harris	...	Severus
Joe Pingue	...	Graecus
Kiefer Sutherland	...	Corvus
Currie Graham	...	Bellator
Dylan Schombing	...	Young Milo
Maxime Savaria	...	Biggest Thracian
Ron Kennell	...	The Weasel
Tom Bishop Sr.	...	Cassia's Carriage Driver
Rebecca Roberts	...	Milo's Mother (as Rebecca Eady)
Sasha Roiz	...	Proculus

Storyline

Set in 79 A.D., POMPEII tells the epic story of Milo (Kit Harington), a slave turned invincible gladiator who finds himself in a race against time to save his true love Cassia (Emily Browning), the beautiful daughter of a wealthy merchant who has been unwillingly betrothed to a corrupt Roman Senator. As Mount Vesuvius erupts in a torrent of blazing lava, Milo must fight his way out of the arena in order to save his beloved as the once magnificent Pompeii crumbles around him.

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Plot Keywords:

pompeii | slave | arena | mount vesuvius | lava bomb | 

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Taglines:

A City will Fall. A Hero will Rise.

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Genres:

Action | Adventure | Drama | History | Romance

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated PG-13 for intense battle sequences, disaster-related action and brief sexual content

Details

Official Sites:

Official site [Germany] Official site [Japan]

Country:

Canada Germany USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

21 February 2014 (USA)

Also Known As:

Pompeii

Filming Locations:

Cinespace Film Studios, Toronto, Ontario, Canada

Box Office

Budget:

$80,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$10,340,823, 23 February 2014, Wide Release

Gross USA:

$23,219,748

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$117,831,631

Company Credits

Production Co:

Constantin Film, TriStar Pictures, FilmDistrict

Technical Specs

Sound Mix:

SDDS Datasat Dolby Digital Dolby Surround 7.1

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Paul W.S. Anderson's wife and frequent leading lady Milla Jovovich visited the set.

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Goofs

Vesuvius did not spew lava in the 79 ce eruption. The film correctly shows a massive pyroclastic flow (a mix of very hot ash, rock and gases) which travels at very fast speeds up to 700 kph. This is what destroyed and blanketed Pompeii.

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Quotes

[first lines]
Title Card: In the darkness you could hear the crying of women, the wailing of infants, and the shouting of men. Some prayed for help. Others wished for death. But still more imagined that there were no Gods left, and that the universe was plunged into eternal darkness. - Pliny the Younger, A.D. 79.

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Alternate Versions

During post production, the film company made edits to violence and bloodletting to appease the BBFC in the UK in order to secure a '12A' rating. These cuts persisted into all theatrical versions of the film released in other countries.

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Connections

References 300 (2006)

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Soundtracks

Masquerade
from Spartacus: Gods of the Arena (2011)
Written by Joseph LoDuca
© Starz Entertainment, LLC.
Courtesy of Warner/Chappell Music Canada, Ltd.

User Reviews

Impressive and shallow

Hollywood deals with an ancient catastrophe.

The above phrase contains all one needs to be aware with regards to Pompeii. Brilliant and breathtaking spectacle marred by superficial storyline.

We live the last days of Pompeii leading to the eruption of Vesuvius. A slave arrives in town in order to fight for his life as part of a spectacle for a senator from Rome. He befriends another gladiator and the daughter of the town's governor falls for him.

On the one hand, a great job has been done to escalate the audiences tension as we await for Armageddon to hit and the visual climax does not disappoint. The effects are spectacular and the destruction is displayed to its full core.

Sadly, whilst these men who were treated like animals and were an object of sport for their slave owners had a chance to escape they put everything to jeopardy for a girl crush who was also part of the system that oppressed them. Had this been presented from the angle of a friendship between two men that were to fight one another to death it would have some resonance but for some cheesy romance it proved a major anticlimax in the otherwise impressive high point leading to sheer indifference as to whether any of them survived or not.