The story of Pompeii and the catastrophic eruption of Mount Vesuvius on October 24, 79 A.D., which wiped out the city of Pompeii and its inhabitants in a matter of days, has always been a source of great inspiration for numerous American filmmakers and others. Hundreds of films about the history of Pompeii and its last days have been recorded and aired.
All have been united by that tragic event.
Vesuvius beginning to spit fire in an instant, dropping lava bombs on the city to engulf things and people, Vesuvius devastating everything leaving nothing but death and devastation.
The eruption of 79 A.D. so tickled the imagination of numerous filmmakers that they wrote and invented stories about that tragic event.
Stories of passions, of loves, of escapes, of gladiatorial fights. Stories that all have one common thread, Pompeii and its tragic eruption.
And that is exactly what famous directors Paul W.S. Anderson and Ben Demaree, to name a few, have done, bringing one of the greatest tragedies in history to the big screen in 2014: the eruption of Mount Vesuvius and the destruction of Pompeii.
Paul Anderson’s film titled precisely “Pompeii” based on the immense tragedy of the eponymous city, depicts an epic story of love, courage and survival in an ancient world about to be obliterated by the fury of nature.
Ben Demaree for his part, tried to ride the wave of success of Paul Anderson’s film, making Apocalypse Pompeii. Which unlike its predecessor does not deal with a love story, but with the attempt of former U.S. soldier to save his family from the eruption of Vesuvius during a trip to Pompeii.
Plot of the film Pompeii by Paul Anderson
The film Pompeii is set in 79 AD, the very year in which the catastrophic eruption of Mount Vesuvius that destroyed Pompeii took place.
It tells the story of Milo (played by Kit Harington), a skilled gladiator forced to fight for his life in the arena of Pompeii. During one of his performances, Milo attracts the attention of Cassia (played by Emily Browning), a beautiful young woman of noble origins.
Cassia is the daughter of a wealthy Pompeii merchant and is betrothed to Corvo ( Kiefer Sutherland), a cruel and unscrupulous Roman senator. Despite her situation, Cassia feels attracted to Milo and a forbidden love develops between the two.
Angered Corvo orders his officer to fight in the arena of Pompeii against Milo to kill him. But suddenly Vesuvius begins to show signs of restlessness. In an instant Pompeii is engulfed by a shower of fireballs.
In total chaos, Milo launches himself into a race against time to rescue Cassia and free himself from the shackles of Roman oppression. Once she is caught up and freed, she escapes on the back of her own horse. But the fury of Vesuvius overwhelms them too; they will both die embraced in a tender kiss swept away by the powerful pyroclastic flow.
Plot of the film “Apocalypse Pompeii”
Jeff Pierce (played by Adrian Paul) is a former Special Ops commando member. He is in Naples along with his wife Lynne (Jhey Castles) and daughter Mikaela (Georgina Beedle), on business.
The wife and daughter decide to visit Pompeii, along with other tourists. But during the tour, some earthquake tremors begin, and Lynne immediately warns her husband, reassuring him that she and their daughter are fine.
Suddenly the tremors become more and more insistent and Vesuvius begins to erupt.
Jeff, seeks help from the Italian government and the U.S. Embassy to reach his family, but gets no results.
So he turns to a fellow soldier who, with a secretly stolen military helicopter, manages to reach his wife and daughter, despite the violent eruption of Vesuvius, located with the help of GPS.
The undertaking will not be easy, but the family manages to unite.
Other films dealing with the history of Pompeii
These are just some of the great films set in Pompeii that based on the tragic event of the eruption have made extraordinary films. These are, of course, films and not documentaries, on which fantastic and imaginative stories have been stitched with Pompeii and the eruption as their background.
Also produced in the same vein as the previous ones were: the last days in Pompeii in 1959 by Mario Bonnad, Pompeii, the last Day directed and produced by the BBC in 2003, and Pompeii yesterday, today and tomorrow by Paolo Poeti in 2007.
They certainly will not be the last to use the history of this ancient city as a setting for their films. So let’s expect to see Pompeii and Vesuvius in other poignant and brilliant cinematic works.
