Pompeii
Short description
Pompeii is set in 79 A.D. in the Roman city beneath Mount Vesuvius. Milo, a slave, is sold away from Cassia, the daughter of his master, and is trained as a gladiator. Cassia has been promised in marriage to a corrupt Roman senator, and when the volcano erupts, Milo must escape the arena and make his way through the collapsing city to reach her and his friend Atticus, a fellow gladiator trapped in the amphitheatre.
Paul W. S. Anderson directed the film, the eleventh of the fourteen features he has directed in chronological order, following Resident Evil: Retribution and preceding Resident Evil: The Final Chapter. The screenplay is by Lee Batchler, Janet Scott Batchler and Michael Robert Johnson, and Anderson produced with Jeremy Bolt and Robert Kulzer. Kit Harington plays Milo and Emily Browning plays Cassia, with Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje as Atticus, Kiefer Sutherland as Corvus, Carrie-Anne Moss as Aurelia and Jared Harris as Severus. The credited cast numbers 37 and the credited crew 318.
The production, mounted by companies including Summit Entertainment, FilmDistrict, Constantin Film and TriStar Pictures, carried a budget of 100 million USD and took 118 million USD worldwide, a modest return against its cost. On IMDb it holds 5.5/10 from 122,000 votes, and on TMDB 5.5/10 from 3,458 votes. A film critics' rating of 4.4/10 from 166 reviews places it somewhat below those audience scores. The film runs 105 minutes.
What's left behind the scenes
- At the beginning of the film, when little Milo crawls out of a pile of corpses, you can see a finger twitching on one of them.
- The character of Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje wears armor that Dennis Quaid wore in Rob Cohen's adventure action film "Dragonheart" (1996).
- Keith Harrington's gladiator costume in the opening scene was created specifically to showcase the actor's abdominal muscles, but by the start of filming, the actor had not developed those muscles sufficiently, and the filming of the opening scene was postponed for a while so the actor could prepare properly.
- Kit Harington, who played the main character, trained seriously before filming began. After reading the script, he gained over 12 kg of muscle mass through physical exercise and a strict diet over five weeks. After that, he spent another four weeks sculpting his muscles and reduced his weight to 63.5 kg. The actor later claimed that he was in such excellent physical shape for the first time in his life.
- Among the ash-covered remains, archaeologists discovered two bodies embraced (though not in the poses depicted in the film), now known as "The Lovers." They were initially believed to be a young couple, then members of the same family, but DNA analysis revealed they were young men around twenty years old, and not related to each other. A corpse of a large man, likely from North Africa, was also found near the arena.
- One of the largest cities of the Roman Empire, Pompeii, with its majestic temples, arenas, and baths, was recreated thanks to grand sets. Only a third of the film's environment was made using computer graphics.
- During preparation for filming, in order to recreate the scenes of the 2000-year-old disaster as accurately as possible, the creators carefully studied video footage of real natural phenomena – earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, and tornadoes.
- The opening scene shows Milo as a child in Britain, and the action takes place in 62 AD, when Pompeii was severely damaged during a volcanic eruption. Some buildings and structures in the city were never repaired by 79 AD, when the eruption of Vesuvius depicted in the film occurred, destroying Pompeii.
- To film large-scale scenes, cinematographer Glen McPherson created an original setup: he attached a camera to a remotely controlled helicopter, which was raised to a height of over 60 meters. This allowed the creators to obtain unique shots, allowing the audience to see the history and tragedy of Pompeii on a scale of place and time.
- Kiefer Sutherland’s character tells the character played by Jared Harris that the Senate will not invest money in Pompeii, but he will – privately. Senators in ancient Rome were subject to strict rules. They were not allowed to leave the territory of the empire without the permission of the other senators, had to always wear a toga (with rare exceptions), were forbidden to own large ships sufficient for international trade, and were not allowed to engage in any banking activities. Thus, the actions of Sutherland’s character would have led to his expulsion from the Senate, confiscation of all his wealth, and exile, or even execution.
- In reality, thumb gestures during gladiatorial combat differed significantly from those shown to audiences today. A downward-pointing thumb from a statesman meant that the victor should plunge his sword into the sand and that the losing gladiator would be spared. A thumb pointed upwards, conversely, symbolized the need to deliver a fatal blow.
- A significant portion of the scenes with Carrie-Anne Moss's character were cut during editing.
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