"Masada" (1981) TV mini-series

User Rating:

7.9/10   

Director:

Boris Sagal

Writers:

Ernest K. Gann (story)
Joel Oliansky (writer)

Release Date:

5 April 1981 (USA)

Genre:

Action | Drama | History

Plot:

After the destruction of the Second Temple, 900 Jewish zealots hold out against a 5000 man Roman legion on the mountaintop fortress of Masada.

Plot Keywords:

Roman | Zealot | Masada | Palestine | Roman Legion

Awards:

Nominated for 3 Golden Globes. Another 3 wins & 11 nominations

Cast

Peter O'Toole	...	General Cornelius Flavius Silva
Peter Strauss	...	Eleazar ben Yair
Barbara Carrera	...	Sheva
Anthony Quayle	...	Rubrius Gallus
David Warner	...	Senator Pomponius Falco
Giulia Pagano	...	Miriam
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Reuven Bar-Yotam	...	Joshua (Butcher) (as Reuben Bar Yotam)
Richard Basehart	...	Narrator
John Terry Bell	...	Israeli Master of Ceremonies
Heinz Bernard	...	Elder (as Heinz Bernhard)
Christopher Biggins	...	Claudius Albinus, Falco's secretary
David A. Block	...	Reuben
Christal Blue	...	Fatima
Nick Brimble	...	Milades
Warren Clarke	...	Plinius (mutineer)
Nigel Davenport	...	Senator Mucianus
Vernon Dobtcheff	...	Chief Priest
Michael Elphick	...	Vettius
Alan Feinstein	...	Aaron
Clive Francis	...	Attius, Head Tribune and Vespasian's spy
Patrick Gorman	...	Tribune
David Hooks	...	Kophar
Ken Hutchison	...	Fronto
George Innes	...	Titus (as George Peter Innes)
Alex Karras	...	Roman Soldier
David Mauro	...	Epos, Silva's servant
Kevin McNally	...	Norbanus
Derek Newark	...	Engineering Officer
David Opatoshu	...	Shimon
Alexander Peleg	...	Zidon (as Alex Peleg)
John Phillips	...	Centurion
Richard Pierson	...	Ephraim
Denis Quilley	...	General Marcus Quadratus
Norman Rossington	...	Maro
Joe Sagal	...	Seth (as Joey Sagal)
Michael Schneider	...	Surgeon
William Morgan Sheppard	...	Sergeant (as Morgan Sheppard)
Michael Shillo	...	Ezra
Paul L. Smith	...	Gideon
Ray Smith	...	Lentius - Would-Be Assassin
Anthony Valentine	...	Merovius, Head Tribune
Jack Watson	...	Decurion
Diana Webster	...	Quintilia
Timothy West	...	Emperor Vespasian
Joseph Wiseman	...	Jerahmeel, Head Essene

Also Known As:

"The Antagonists" (UK)

Runtime:

394 min | Argentina:131 min | Finland:122 min (theatrical version)

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Finland:K-12 (cut) | Singapore:PG | Argentina:Atp

Filming Locations:

Masada, Judean Desert, Israel

Company:

Arnon Milchan Productions

Trivia:

In order to avoid the heat of the Israeli desert, the crew employed a unique shooting schedule: they divided the day into three eight-hour segments and only shot either late at night or early in the morning. They avoided shooting between late morning and late afternoon, the hottest part of the day.

Goofs:

Anachronisms: During the scene in which the Jews are ascending the trail up to the summit of Masada, a vehicle the size of a bus can clearly be seen travelling on a road in the background

Quotes:

Kophar: [in a patronizing tone] Your excellency, what an honor.
Cornelius Flavius Silva: Hello, Kophar. I see you're still one step ahead of leprosy.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Dead End (1985)

"We have won a rock in the middle of a wasteland on the shore of a poisoned sea."

Back in 1981 this epic mini-series about the ill-fated Jewish rebellion against Roman rule pulled in what was then the biggest TV audience of all time, yet it's languished on the shelf forgotten for the past couple of decades. The Region 1 DVD isn't even released by producers Universal and comes with no extras, though it does include the uncut six-hour-plus series, but not the abridged feature film version released outside the US as The Antagonists, which apparently featured some different scenes (the abridged version was not a success: in the UK it had the dubious honour of being the lowest-grossing film of it's year).

As with most siege epics, the action is limited to the beginning and the end, with much of the interim filled in with intrigue and character development while we wait for the big battle that in this case, famously, never actually happens. Not altogether surprisingly it spends more screen time with the Romans than with the zealots - even if the zealots' strategy was more than simply watching and waiting while sporadically taunting their would-be conquerors, with their penchant for spectacle and infighting, the Romans are always better dramatic value in these sorts of epics. Certainly Peter O'Toole effortlessly dominates the series as the humane Roman commander forced by the political situation back in Rome to fight the rebels rather than negotiate with them only to find himself facing mutiny, senatorial spies and other political animals as well as heat, windstorms and not enough water before his legions can even start to virtually move mountains to reach the clifftop fortress of Masada. By contrast, then-reigning king of the miniseries Peter Strauss has less to work with as his character spends much of the series waiting and trying to raise moral with only a few half-hearted attempts at soul-searching along the way, only really coming into his own in the still powerful final scenes.

The supporting cast is impressive, with a line-up of familiar Brits including David Warner, Anthony Quayle, Timothy West, Dennis Quilley, Anthony Valentine and Nigel Davenport making up the officers, emperors and senators while the likes of Jack Watson, Norman Rossington, Warren Clarke, Michael Elphick and Nick Brimble swell the Roman ranks. The Judeans have to make do with Barbara Carrera, Joseph Wiseman, David Opatoshu and Paul L. Smith. For the most part they're blessed with exceptionally good dialogue with few lapses (though Anthony Valentine's "I'm a tribune, darling" is an unwelcome moment of unintended camp) thanks to Joel Oliansky's surprisingly intelligent and often witty screenplay, which boasts a good understanding of the politics of the day on both sides and an ability to offer memorable character moments for even the bit players - siege engineer's Quayle's briefing on the practicalities how to get the most out of slave labour is a perfect example of how to juggle exposition and background research without it seeming like a history lecture.

Visually it's often impressive too, although at times Boris Sagal's direction is caught between location naturalism and old-school studio work. The destruction of Jerusalem has something of the look of a late De Mille epic to it, with Albert Whitlock's old school columns of fire matte paintings having an almost storybook stylisation that wouldn't look out of place in The Ten Commandments but despite some obvious studio interior-'exteriors' in a few scenes, it's a genuinely spectacular production from a time when the big-screen epic had long fallen from favour. There's also an extraordinarily good score from Jerry Goldsmith (with additional music by Morton Gould based on his themes) at the peak of his powers even if his great elegiac finale cue was never used. Still pretty impressive stuff.