The Revolt of the Slaves Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		2.0
Video		3.0
Audio		2.5
Extras		0.0
Overall		2.0

The Revolt of the Slaves Blu-ray Movie Review

An action-adventure set against the backdrop of Rome

The Revolt of the Slaves is an Italian action-adventure production which is set against the backdrop of the Roman Empire and the persecution of devout Christians. The film was loosely based on the novel Fabiola as written by author Nicholas Patrick Wiseman. Aimed at audiences hoping for an epic with Christian foundations, the film was produced by Paolo Moffa (The Island Princess, Seven Seas to Calais).

Set against the backdrop of Roman rule with African slave leaders helping to deliver harsh punishments to white Christian slaves persecuted for their religious beliefs, The Revolt of the Slaves is an adventure which delivers action, peril, and swashbuckling swords at each turn. The theme is one which explores Christians facing opposition on their views and the struggle for these believers to pursue their beliefs at any cost to them.

Fabiola (Rhonda Fleming) is the drop-dead gorgeous daughter of an upper-class leader involved in the Roman empire. Everywhere Fabiola goes she makes a strong impression on others and her naturalistic charm makes a mark. She eventually falls head over heals for the persecuted Christian slave, Vibio (Lang Jeffries), who is thrust into danger at each turn of the storyline.

"Help! You're my only hope."

Unfortunately, the film feels dated and non-essential in its approach: the film feels like a hollow shell of an adventure film and it lacks the creativity and originality one would hope to find. However, the filmmaking still has some interesting production elements which are noteworthy. The music score by Angelo Francesco Lavagnino (Lost Continent, White Vertigo, Empire in the Sun) is fitting for this type of production (even if it never reaches true greatness) as it capably fits the tone one would expect for an epic production.

The cinematography by Cecilio Paniagua (Sonatas, Island of the Doomed) utilizes a wide canvas to showcase the production design. This is one of the film's more important production elements. A weak aspect of the filmmaking which frustrates throughout the experience is the awful costumes by Vittorio Rossi (The Ten Gladiators, The Last Days of Pompeii), which look thread-bare and completely wrong given the period and setting. Historical accuracy went out the window.

The screenplay was written by Stefano Strucchi (I nostri mariti, Amore facile) and Duccio Tessari (My Son, the Hero, The Return of Ringo). For the English language release of the film in America, English dialogue was written by Daniel Mainwaring (the screenwriter of Invasion of the Body Snatchers). The story is fairly straightforward and basic in its approach. This is an ordinary Christian-prosecution film with action and adventure tossed in to keep audiences entertained. There isn't much depth to the story and it never feels as well developed as one would hope to find. (For a true masterpiece on Christian prosecution see Martin Scorsese's Silence).

Directed by Nunzio Malasomma (The White Devil, I Don't Know You Anymore), The Revolt of the Slaves feels like a rather laborious exercise in period-filmmaking. The film lacks the kind of creative gel needed to truly excel at its storytelling goals. The script (and direction) is merely average and the end result is a film that feels lost in its own ideas. The film feels merely functional as an adventure. The Revolt of the Slaves is a misfire unsure of its own voice.

The Revolt of the Slaves Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

The Revolt of the Slaves arrives on Blu-ray from Kino Lorber with a 1080p MPEG-4 AVC encoded high definition presentation in the original 2.35:1 widescreen aspect ratio. When the film was first released in Italy there was a cut of the film which was 100 minutes long. The version presented by Kino on this release is of the US theatrical cut (which runs a little longer than the European version, with the total run-time being 102 minutes). The film seems to have received little care as far as any restoration efforts are concerned for this release.

The film presentation has dim and disappointing color reproduction that feels altogether dated. The print which was utilized has a number of marks and scratches throughout the entire presentation. Dust, debris, and other detriments are distracting and one can't help but feel like the transfer could have used a better scan or source print. The image is utterly disappointing and though clarity and detail are reasonable, the quality of the scan itself leaves much to be desired.

The Revolt of the Slaves Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

The audio fares even worse than the video presentation. This is an entirely mundane mono audio track and though overall clarity is not altogether terrible (dialogue is clear enough to be easily understood), the track lacks the kind of detail and finesse that one would hope for with an ideal presentation. The presentation also suffers significantly due to the comically out of sync audio: lips and dialogue are constantly out of sync and its just downright terrible to behold this mess. 

This sync issue is due to the film production origins and is not a fault of Kino's encoding. The film was produced in Italy and it utilized Italian actors. The film was dubbed into English (cheaply and horribly) and the track is consistently out of sync in a laughably horrible way which can make one feel agitated constantly. There is nothing to get excited about with this audio presentation.

The Revolt of the Slaves Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

There are no supplemental materials included on this release by Kino Lorber.

The Revolt of the Slaves Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

The Revolt of the Slaves is a standard action-adventure film which centers around the perils faced by Christians in Rome. Unfortunately, the filmmaking doesn't manage to muster the kind of energy or excitement that one would hope to find from this type of story. The Blu-ray release fares no better, either. The transfer is altogether poor and the audio quality is even worse (with grating sync issues). The release also lacks any supplemental materials. An easy pass.