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Pompeii

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Pompeii

PG-13

Released Feb 21, 2014

1h 45m

Adventure

Action

History

Drama

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Tomatometer

Popcornmeter

27%

Tomatometer

168 Reviews

34%

Popcornmeter

25,000+ Ratings

In 79 A.D., Pompeii, a bustling port city, stands in the shadow of Mount Vesuvius. Milo (Kit Harington), a former slave, is a gladiator who has caught the eye of Cassia (Emily Browning), a wealthy merchant's daughter. However, their difference in social status is not the only obstacle to their love; Cassia has been promised to Corvus (Kiefer Sutherland), a corrupt Roman senator. When the eruption of Mount Vesuvius rains lava and ash down on the city, Milo races to save her before it's too late.

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Critics Consensus

This big-budget sword-and-sandal adventure lacks the energy and storytelling heft to amount to more than a guilty pleasure.

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Kate Muir

Times (UK)

Pompeii 3D is a swords-and-sandals disaster epic that contains all the B-movie tropes you might hope for... The only element missing is a decent script.

Rated: 2/5

Jun 2, 2015

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Chris Stuckmann

ChrisStuckmann.com

Hammy performances, poor editing, straight-to-DVD special effects, and bland direction.

Rated: D-

Apr 23, 2015

Full Review

Larushka Ivan-Zadeh

metro.co.uk

It's entertainingly silly stuff with an 'oh, no - they wouldn't?' finale of the ooziest toasted cheese.

Rated: 3/5

May 13, 2014

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Joshua Polanski

Midwest Film Journal

One of the greatest cinematic achievements of the 21st century.

Mar 3, 2025

Full Review

Iván Kazi

EscribiendoCine

A disaster movie with romantic appeal, with tragedy, like Titanic (1997), but more Balkan and action-oriented. Oh. And there's a gladiators sub-plot... [Full review in Spanish]

Rated: 5/10

Dec 7, 2022

Full Review

Keith Garlington

Keith & the Movies

Its blunders are aplenty and it’s impossible to take anything the film does seriously.

Rated: 2/5

Aug 24, 2022

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Dumont S

Tem ação, tem desastre, tem gladiador… mas falta alma. Os efeitos são legais e a destruição final é divertida de assistir, só que o enredo é bem genérico e os personagens não empolgam muito. No fim das contas, dá pra ver sem grandes expectativas.

Rated 0.5 out of 5 stars

05/01/25

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Danny R

A hour and 40 mins, and no story was told, the lack of emotional connection to the characters is just the tip of the iceberg with how bad this film is, not to mention (minus a few actors) the litter of awful actors Kit Harington being the worst of the lot.

Rated 0.5 out of 5 stars

03/07/25

Full Review

Audience Member

Bad script, storyline, and video game CGI. The movie should have been about the horrific and devastating volcanic eruption, not a Roman soap opera. Was it really necessary to add a sunami to this terrible event? Kiefer Sutherland only interesting character, but there was no one to root for. I wanted this film to be better. But it was not.

Rated 2 out of 5 stars

01/05/25

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Audience Member

Absolutely horrendous. Barely ANY factual content about the eruption and destruction of Pompeii. Pfffttt....what a true waste of time.

Rated 0.5 out of 5 stars

12/15/24

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Gorptholemew T

🍀 3.5/10 Gladiator but shitty, oh but did we tell you there was a volcano as well. Cool glossy state of the art visuals effects aren’t enough, for this utterly uninteresting, underdeveloped, movie. that even my man Paul W.S Anderson doesn’t even manage to make it fun like he’s previous work (Well ok I guess it is a tragedy based on real events so erm yeah). Still that last shot was actually pretty Great.

Rated 1.5 out of 5 stars

11/21/24

Full Review

BJ M

This disaster epic is a lot better than it is being rated. The visuals were spectacular.

Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars

10/12/24

Full Review

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Paul W.S. Anderson

Director

Kit Harington

Milo

Carrie-Anne Moss

Aurelia

Emily Browning

Cassia

Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje

Atticus

Jessica Lucas

Ariadne

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Synopsis

In 79 A.D., Pompeii, a bustling port city, stands in the shadow of Mount Vesuvius. Milo (Kit Harington), a former slave, is a gladiator who has caught the eye of Cassia (Emily Browning), a wealthy merchant's daughter. However, their difference in social status is not the only obstacle to their love; Cassia has been promised to Corvus (Kiefer Sutherland), a corrupt Roman senator. When the eruption of Mount Vesuvius rains lava and ash down on the city, Milo races to save her before it's too late.

Director: Paul W.S. Anderson
Producer: Jeremy Bolt, Paul W.S. Anderson, Robert Kulzer, Don Carmody
Screenwriter: Janet Scott Batchler, Lee Batchler, Michael Robert Johnson
Distributor: Sony Pictures Entertainment
Production Co: Constantin Film, Impact Pictures
Rating: PG-13 (Disaster-Related Action|Brief Sexual Content|Intense Battle Sequences)
Genre: Adventure, Action, History, Drama
Original Language: English
Release Date (Theaters): Feb 21, 2014, Wide
Release Date (Streaming): May 13, 2014
Box Office (Gross USA): $23.2M
Runtime: 1h 45m
Sound Mix: Datasat, SDDS, Dolby Digital

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