"Simply the best of them all--a vast spiritual and physical panorama. Literate screenplay and compelling performances. Plus the best music score ever written."
"The end of the Golden Age of cinema had definitely arrived by the time this was made. Alec Guinness is great as Marcus Aurelius, but Stephen Boyd and Sophia Loren are simply awful."
"A sadly underrated director, Franklin Schaffner was the king of the intimate epic. A dominating central performance from George C Scott, and Jerry Goldsmith's marvellous score make this a must-see"