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Sodom and Gomorrah

Play trailer Poster for Sodom and Gomorrah 1963 2h 34m History Drama Play Trailer Watchlist
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50% Tomatometer 8 Reviews 37% Popcornmeter 100+ Ratings
Hebrew leader Lot (Stewart Granger) leads his people to a fertile valley adjacent to the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah, hotbeds of vice and corruption ruled by the merciless Queen Bera (Anouk Aimée). When Lot orders a dam to be busted in order to prevent destruction of the cities by the attacking Helamites, the queen, in gratitude, allows Lot's people to settle in Sodom. Soon, however, the veneer of civilization begins crumbling as Lot and the Hebrews become corrupted by the Sodomites.

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Sodom and Gomorrah

Critics Reviews

View All (8) Critics Reviews
Variety Staff Variety Sodom and Gomorrah has many of the faults of the Biblical epic, but many good qualities. Mar 5, 2014 Full Review Chicago Reader This isn't really as awful or as campy as you might expect, but it's not exactly a masterpiece either. Mar 5, 2014 Full Review Bosley Crowther New York Times It is an obvious but feeble imitation of "The Ten Commandments" of Cecil B. de Mille, and it is much more concerned with salt-mining than it is with debauchery or lust. Mar 5, 2014 Full Review Isabel Quigly The Spectator In this case silliness triumphs over everything - morality, script, cast and music; it even triumphs over dis- approval-you can't be disgusted at anything quite so preposterous. Jul 13, 2018 Full Review Film4 Staff Film4 Aldrich makes the most of the story's depravity, dredging the depths of lust and betrayal as Granger locks into a bitter power struggle with the cities' sultry queen, Aimée, and her ambitious brother Baker. Mar 5, 2014 Full Review TV Guide An interesting addition to the Aldrich filmography, which is laden with moral cynicism. Rated: 2.5/4 Mar 5, 2014 Full Review Read all reviews

Audience Reviews

View All (15) audience reviews
CodyZamboni This movie is an overlong, boring, tedious slog for the first 2 hours. Just endless scenes of uninteresting people wandering in an uninteresting desert, dealing with unecessary soap opera sub plots, Movie finally picks up with decent battle carnage involving walls of fire, floods, bow and arrow, stone slinging, and sword stabbing, between hundreds of stuntmen.. Then Lot and his tribe finally get to to be citizens of Sodom. Let the wickedness commence !!! But it's too little, too late to save this mess. The few tame scenes in Sodom of sin, depravity, corruption, and fx destruction, are mostly watered down to satisfy the censors, Overall, a major disappointment given a usually reliable director like Robert Aldrich Rated 2 out of 5 stars 07/29/23 Full Review Crom W Another classic bible story, one of the better ones. Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars 03/20/23 Full Review harri k I mean, yes, it is naivë and hoakey in its flat religiousity and moralism. Yes, it is frustratingly tame and petty in its treatment of the source material. Yet there are hints of moral ambiguity, layers and deconstruction albeit it all inevitably mushes down to wasp sentiments of good and bad, black and white, faith over reason, and so on. Also, taking liberties from the source material in a rather traditional way, the narrative does create entertaining character arcs and presents intriguing political dynamics, which could have carried the film much further. Some of the parts are unintentionally comedic. Rated 3 out of 5 stars 03/31/23 Full Review Terry S I couldn't help but think that Stewart Grainger should have cut his hair. The special effects were really lame but sure make you appreciate what they can do today ! Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars 05/20/22 Full Review Audience Member Typical late-50s/early 60s sword and sandal fare: short on script and believability. The producers should've stayed with the true drama surrounding Lot and his daughters. Sodom and Gomorrah were treasure troves of sin and debauchery longing for a slimy new-wave troupe of post-WWII movie makers to display to the silver screen. Yet, all we're seeing is a sneaky lesbian queen, a battle inserted to pump blood into the anemic script, and the predictable duel at the end. The movie wastes the time it needed to present the actual, more intriguing biblical story. It failed to even pretend to live up to the accuracy provided by The Ten Commandments which was produced only six years earlier. Although the latter movie took a great deal of artistic license, it caught the meaning of the corresponding biblical drama of the Exodus. Sodom and Gomorrah was reduced to a sword & sandal hero flick which teaches nothing and stood for nothing. Even worse (exacerbating the movie's lost messaging), we're indifferent to Ildith's fate when she choose to look back to her devastated home since the merged kingdoms seemed no worse than any other of the time as implied by the movie. A very important point was overlooked and there was no justification, as far as we can see from the movie, for her to feel this great sentiment for her native kingdom. If you remember, the utter historic and legendary sliminess of Sodom and Gomorrah was vividly realized by her turning into a pillar of salt. The movie simply failed to realize that it was the slimy aspects of the city that she missed--even after only a few minutes into the mass exodus. Even after God, Himself, mandated the exodus, she still couldn't part from her weaknesses. After watching the movie, we never learn how and why Sodom and Gomorrah remain as one of the darkest points in human existence through the ages. I can't recommend this movie as standard biblical fare. Rated 1.5 out of 5 stars 02/01/23 Full Review ashley h Sodom and Gomorrah is a disappointing film. It is about the events that lead to the downfall of the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah. Stewart Granger and Pier Angeli give terrible performances. The screenplay is badly written. Robert Aldrich did a horrible job directing this movie. I was not impressed with this motion picture. Rated 1 out of 5 stars 03/31/23 Full Review Read all reviews
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Cast & Crew

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Movie Info

Synopsis Hebrew leader Lot (Stewart Granger) leads his people to a fertile valley adjacent to the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah, hotbeds of vice and corruption ruled by the merciless Queen Bera (Anouk Aimée). When Lot orders a dam to be busted in order to prevent destruction of the cities by the attacking Helamites, the queen, in gratitude, allows Lot's people to settle in Sodom. Soon, however, the veneer of civilization begins crumbling as Lot and the Hebrews become corrupted by the Sodomites.
Director
Robert Aldrich
Producer
Joseph E. Levine, Maurizio Lodi-Fè, Goffredo Lombardo
Genre
History, Drama
Original Language
Italian
Release Date (Streaming)
Jul 11, 2019
Runtime
2h 34m
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