Pompeii

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Pompeii

PG-13

Released Feb 21, 2014

1h 45m

Adventure

Action

History

Drama

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Popcornmeter

27%

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168 Reviews

34%

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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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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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Brian Eggert

Deep Focus Review

Why, when an estimated 16,000 lives were lost when Vesuvius erupted in 79 AD, does Pompeii tell a story about the least interesting of them?

Rated: 0.5/4

Aug 18, 2022

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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

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Jacob B

Paul W.S. Anderson takes a break from pissing off Resident Evil fans to piss off historians instead with Pompeii, a movie that really only stands out because of the genre mashup of disaster film and historical fiction. Naturally, the part where Mount Vesuvius erupts is the best moment of the film with terrific, if not on the same level as Roland Emmerich's 2012, special effects. But before that, you have to deal with boring arena fights that just scream "We have Gladiator at home", a clichéd story that seems to be emulating Titanic when it comes to love, uninteresting characters with Kit Harington only being there to get female Game of Thrones fans' butts in seats & Kiefer Sutherland being the only one to deliver a memorable performance thanks to his odd accent to remain consistent with the rest of the cast and an ending that felt like it made any investment we did have in the heroes pointless. Remember, our main characters are fictitious so you can't really make any arguments about it being a foregone conclusion. After the okay, if somewhat weird, film adaptation of The Three Musketeers from 2011, Paul W.S. Anderson's next period piece film is a dull, clichéd film that only picks up steam in more ways than one at the climax whilst the rest of the film prior to that can best be described as at its core, doing nothing more than beating around the bush. At least this film has coherent editing unlike the following Resident Evil film. Now THAT was a massive letdown, even for people who unironically like those movies.

Rated 2 out of 5 stars

07/30/24

Full Review

Tallon K

It was successful...in showing even when then they rip off a successful plot (Gladiator), writing, directing, and acting still make a difference. Even the costumes and music couldn't be replaced with cheap CGI.

Rated 1 out of 5 stars

07/27/24

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Dave C

Freakin decent. Stayed awake the whole time!

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

07/21/24

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Georgan G

Good special effects if you enjoy disaster flicks. The plot has nothing to do with what really happened in 79AD, but if can suspend belief it's an ok film.

Rated 3 out of 5 stars

02/07/24

Full Review

GuestLord D

Movie should of stuck with one theme instead of trying to be two at once

Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars

10/10/23

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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