Goliath and the Dragon (1960)

Director: Vittorio Cottafavi

Starring: Mark Forest, Broderick Crawford, Gaby Andre, Philippe Hersent

More info: IMDB

Tagline: The mightiest adventure of them all!

Plot: While the hulking Goliath (Mark Forest) was away fighting a three-headed monster and an overgrown bat, his younger brother, Illus (Wandisa Guida), remained at home, romancing the beautiful Thea (Federica Ranchi) and angering the vengeful king (Broderick Crawford) she's engaged to. But reversing his brother's death sentence is only part of Goliath's mission; he must also rescue his kidnapped wife (Leonora Ruffo).

My rating: 7.5/10

Will I watch it again? Yup!

#3 from SWORD & SANDAL TRAILERS VOL. 1. (part of the TRAILER TRASH PROJECT)


Man, oh, man this is fun stuff. I would love to have seen this in a theater at the age of 6. It would have rocked my shit until STAR WARS came along. THIS is the stuff that Saturday matinee adventures are made of. A Giant bat, a giant three-headed dog that breathes fire, a kick ass stop motion animated dragon, a shitty fake as hell dragon for the close-ups, hot broads with blossoming bosoms, swords, feats of strength and derring-do. To make it even better, Les Baxter's score hits all the right notes that a sword & sandal picture needs.






The acting's not too shabby. Mark Forest makes a great hero and he's got that look and way of carrying yourself that is required to run around half naked killing beasts and bad guys. He can certainly hold his own with a Steve Reeves or Gordon Scott.









GatD moves along at a pretty good clip, too. There's barely a dull moment so, if you're able to get past the low budget with the dragon and everything else, you're going to have a blast. I HIGHLY recommend at least renting (Netflix it) the Something Weird Video DVD which is LOADED with extras (lots of S&S trailers that are just a hoot to watch) including another 60s Italian muscleman actioner, CONQUEROR OF ATLANTIS (1965). You know from the title this is not high art so just go into it prepared to have some old fashioned fantasy fun and you'll come out the other end pleasantly surprised.