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:

No warning. No escape.

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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:

TriStar Pictures, FilmDistrict, Constantin Film

Technical Specs

Sound Mix:

SDDS Datasat Dolby Digital Dolby Surround 7.1

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The first official teaser trailer was released on August 21, 2013, six months before the theatrical release in USA. Coincidentally, that is also Carrie-Anne Moss's birthday.

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Goofs

The bird of prey seen at the start of the villa party is a Harris's hawk (Parabuteo unicinctus). This species is native to the Central and South America so would have been an unknown species in Europe at this time.

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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

Spoofed in Night at the Museum: Secret of the Tomb (2014)

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Soundtracks

Going Off
from Spartacus: Blood and Sand (2010)
Written by Joseph LoDuca
© Starz Entertainment, LLC.
Courtesy of Warner/Chappell Music Canada, Ltd.

User Reviews

It all depends on your attitude

You can take this movie from two different sides.

As somebody who is very much interested in history and geography and has studied both for many years, this movie is obviously full of mistakes and wrong stereotypes. It is almost as inaccurate as the "Spartacus" series. And this is never an original movie. We have all watched movies with very similar story lines about the evil Romans who want to control everything, the poor gladiators who stand up against them and the forbidden love between a rich young woman and a foreign slave. I can understand why many people are rating this film down. If you really want to watch a sophisticated movie about that time, go for the classic "Ben- Hur".

What I think is strange is that all these stereotypes were highly predictable from the trailers only. I am asking myself why people even went to watch this movie if they were going to hate it for the reasons mentioned above. Some people just want to bash a movie and seem to have a very sad life if they waste their time watching movie they dislike so much.

I went to watch the movie for something different. I wanted to watch a colourful movie with impressive sets and costumes and stunning 3D effects of an exploding volcano. I was eager to watch a fast pace flick with a lot of fighting scenes, some tension here and there and maybe a few love scenes with beautiful actresses. And I exactly got that.

In addition to this, the acting was just good enough and included a few interesting characters. I really liked Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje and Jessica Lucas in this film even though they played stereotypical characters and could have had more screening time. If you are going to watch this movie for Carrie-Anne Moss or Kiefer Sutherland, please do not. They have been much better in other movies in the past.

In the end, it all depends on you. If you want to watch an original and profound movie and learn something about the Roman Empire, just forget it. If you want to watch a effect ridden action adventure, you are going to like this. It is not the movie of the year but I surely had a great time watching it.