Thursday, June 19, 2014

Review of Pompeii, the movie

Pat’s Picks: ‘Pompeii’ truly a man-made disaster (Great Falls Tribune).
The story of Pompeii and Herculaneum is one of the most infamous and tragic in human history. The people of those communities didn’t have a chance as nearby Mount Vesuvius came alive and buried the two villages and everyone unlucky enough to have been there at the time.

Unfortunately for anyone hoping to get a real glimpse of that story in the recently released “Pompeii,” you’ll be sadly disappointed and maybe a little angry. The actual disaster is such a sidebar that more than an hour through the 1 hour, 45 minute crapfest, the volcano hasn’t even been properly introduced.

[...]

If you’re looking for an accurate story of the demise of Pompeii and Herculaneum, there’s absolutely no reason to watch even five minutes of the movie meant to tell that tale.

It’s simply an epic catastrophe in storytelling.
Too bad, although I can't say I was expecting anything much different. It gets a 5.7 at IMDB and even lower ratings at Rotten Tomatoes.

Some past posts on the eruption of Vesuvius and on Pompeii are here, here, here, here, here, here, and here, and links. And there's lots more on Herculaneum here and follow the links.