Perfectly adorable

just watch it!

This is one of the few movies I've ever seen where the whole audience broke into spontaneous, loud applause a third of the way in.

True to its essence, the characters remain on the same line and manage to entertain the viewer, each highlighting their own distinctive qualities or touches.

Who has the control of the news has the truth to the mass,this saying apply just to cluelees people,nowadays everyone goes to school to learn about everything, and has a countless of books which describes every single fact from the past, whatever point of view,this picture made as jews propaganda to show to the world how they were considered a choosen people,sponsored by Israel and jews producers they tried change the history,actually Masada had just a little group called Zealots who today we shall them as terrorist,after the about few months of siege following to building a ramp to reach to the plateau's walls,when the tower war machine destrroyed it,all them already committed suicide or were killing by the leaders,the second option is probable more sustainable according some sources,more the suicide is forbiden by Jewish's law,anyway back to the picture just worthy for a fine performance by english actors O'toole,Quayle and Warner for them 6 out 10!!!Resume:First watch: 1983 / How many: 2 / Source: TV-DVD / Rating: 6

In 66 CE, set in Judea , a group of Jewish rebels, the Sicarii, overcame the Roman garrison of Masada with the aid of a ruse . After the destruction of the Second Temple in 70 CE, additional members of the Sicarii fled Jerusalem and settled on the mountaintop after slaughtering the Roman garrison . According to Josephus , the Sicarii were an extremist Jewish splinter group antagonistic to a larger grouping of Jews referred to as the Zealots led by Eliazar (Peter Strauss), who carried the main burden of the rebellion . Josephus said that the Sicarii raided nearby Jewish villages including Ein Gedi , where they massacred 700 women and children . In 73 CE, the Roman governor of Iudaea , Lucius Flavius Silva (Peter O'Toole , the only cast member who didn't fall ill) , headed the Roman legion X Fretensis and laid siege to Masada . The Roman legion surrounded Masada, built a circumvallation wall and then a siege ramp against the western face of the plateau .This is an interminable , but still good version , adapted from Ernest K. Gann's novel titled ¨The antagonists¨ during the first Century AD about a handful of Jews fighting to retrieve their freedom , recreating faithfully the siege of the impregnable fortress . The series is formed by 4 episodes , but there is an abridged rendition from the original TV presentation . This is a sort of would-be Jew epic with propaganda and jingoist overtones . The main cast is frankly well , though they give rating interpretations . The Jewish leader is well played by Peter Strauss , he is nice and as tough and two-fisted as a brave Zionist guerrilla should be ; while the Roman commander who feels of the loneliness colonial administrator , finely performed by Peter O'Toole , ponders the badness and goodness of the attacks . Support cast is pretty good , plenty of known and prestigious secondaries , giving enjoyable acting , as American actors are playing the Jews and British actors are cast as the Romans , such as : Barbara Carrera , Anthony Quayle , Paul L. Smith , David Warner , David Opatoshu , Joseseph Wiseman , Denis Quilley , Alan Feinstein , Clive Francis , Warren Clarke , Nick Brimble , and Timothy West as emperor Vespasiano , among others. This ¨Masada¨ film displays a rousing and imaginative musical score by the great Jerry Goldsmith . And an evocative cinematography by Paul Lohmann , being shot on location in Israel, where the historic events took place . The series was compellingly directed by Boris Sagal . Masada is an ancient fortification in the Southern District of Israel situated on top of an isolated rock plateau , akin to a mesa , being the Zionist headquarter for a group of Jews freedom fighters . It is located on the eastern edge of the Judaean Desert , overlooking the Dead Sea 20 km east of Arad . Herod the Great built palaces for himself on the mountain and fortified Masada between 37 and 31 BCE . After the sack of Jerusalem Jews fled to Masada to get their freedom and their homeland . According to Josephus , the siege of Masada by troops of the Roman Empire at the end of the First Jewish–Roman War ended in the mass suicide of 960 people, the Sicarii rebels and their families hiding there.

From the late sixties till very recently, film producers had a very pro-Atheist agenda, and contrived most stories to fit into that narrow spectrum. This is one such example.The story is fairly well known. A Jimmy Jones style mass suicide of maniacs, the leaders of whom had as little to do with Jewish religion as today's suicide bombers have to do with the mosques they would only attend for rare occasions to persuade others to join their cause. It is where we get the word "zealots", which has come to connote more religious groups.The film does make it clear, however, that the leading zealots were not religious, and had issues with the spiritual ones who joined them.The leader of the group, played by Strauss, is a maniac from beginning to end. We are given enough of his personality to see why feeble minds would believe him, and we can interpret his nature pretty accurately. It boggles the mind as to how the Roman commander is fooled by him. He clearly uses his family man position to further his lust for power and blood. He is a true rendition of a homicidal maniac. The film tries to make it look as though he may have turned into a maniac when he got religion, but in real life, he is truly just a monster who only uses religion for his blood-lust. He has no real faith. One scene shows him supposedly crying for the innocent, and praying, but in real life, this would be completely for show, and would never fool a true Roman military mind.The Roman commander seems to be the sanest, and thus is viewed as an Atheist. His barbaric acts are done unwillingly. This fits in with the true Hollywood agenda of making people believe no one is ever killed by Atheism, which makes the film laughably ridiculous.However, the performances are great. Most of the minor characters are very good. The Jewish mistress is very believable.The fight scenes with Struass look poorly done, but not as poor as later movies in which we are expected to believe men loaded with full armor can move like acrobats, and no one ever has the Sun in his eyes.The contrived point of view cheapens what could have been a great movie.

Honor is due all around. First, credit must go to Joel Oliansky, who developed Gann's slender book into full-range drama with wit and wisdom. Boris Segal directs a huge cast so well, and so unobtrusively...You never wonder where you are, or which side you're listening to; there are so many characters that are memorable, even if they only have two lines...It's the best performance of Peter Strauss's career, and one of O'Toole's crown jewels. Jerry Goldsmith can furnish haunting melodies and epic marches. In short, nobody in this miniseries has fallen down on the job...Except for ABC, who took more than a decade to get it out of the vault and onto videotape, and still hasn't gotten "Masada" put on DVD.The strongest kind of drama is when you can sympathize with both sides; Silva has been saddled with irrational orders for a military conquest (sound familiar?) where none is possible - or even necessary. Eleazar knows only one thing for sure: "No man should be another man's slave." But Rome must prove a point. Rome cannot allow defiance to succeed; the Jewish zealots cannot submit to Roman enslavement. "You can take their victory from them." Mesmerizing...and well worth your time.