(Flash Review)I knew this wouldn't be stellar by any means but it wasn't as kitschy funny as I thought. I think this was made for Japan so it was dubbed for them but then dubbed yet again for America is my best guess; they appear to be American actors too. Odd. Anyway, Goliath is just shy of Arnold's muscle size at his peak. He battles some corny dragon and a three headed wolf-dog creature. All within a battle for the Roman throne currently occupied by an evil ruler who tries to take out Goliath. Don't bother, no giggles to be found.

In the 1960's as a child I and dozens of theater goers were watching this interesting Movie called " Goliath and the Dragon " when a small fire in the building sent everyone racing out in a panic. Although, I got the price of admission back, (15 cents) I never did get to finish the film. Due to the fact, I was very young, I was most impressed with the parts of the movie I did get to see. It is years later and I finally got to see the entire movie completely. I am surprised to sit through the entire film without yawning. The scenes which intrigued and captivated me as a child, were laughable as an adult. However, I am impressed with the story of how Goliath or Hercules was able to mesmerize young impressible audiences with such a small budget and hokey special effects. Still, as a grown-up I would quickly recommend this film to young members of the audience as they have not lost their imagination or have forgotten what it means to be inspired by flickering images. During the Sword and Sandal era, these movies are the very inspiration we received when it was needed most. How else could Gods, Goddesses, Monsters, Centars and heroic deeds have impressed us so much? Recommended! *****

For a guy who was a villain in the Bible, Goliath in Goliath And The Dragon pursues a biblical strategy in defeating the evil king, played by Broderick Crawford. His just desserts were positively biblical themselves.Goliath as played by Mark Forest is a one muscular dude who is consecrated to the pagan Gods and he performs a number of tasks for them that are keeping him from home and hearth. While he's gone Broderick Crawford has usurped the throne in his home town, but the people aren't thrilled with their new monarch. What to do, but marry the daughter of the guy he killed to get the throne to legitimize himself. But she loves Goliath's little brother and that gets the big guy all kinds of mad. Still his obligations to the various pagan deities keep interfering and he decides to revolt against them as well.There are all kinds of little ins and outs of peplum politics in Goliath And The Dragon and Goliath has to face a three headed Cerberus dog, a big flying bat, a centaur, an elephant as preliminaries before he gets to the main event with the dragon. After that in the siege against Crawford's city Goliath goes underground and knocks down the support pillars to the walls of his city. Joshua wouldn't have needed trumpets had Goliath been working for the Israelites. The walls come down and Crawford becomes history.Broderick Crawford definitely knew this film was not anything approaching All The King's Men and he overacts outrageously to get through the film. He had just finished his five year run on Highway Patrol and I can't believe this was the best his agent could do for him.

For a sword and sandal movie, Goliath and the Dragon has about the most convoluted and ridiculously hard to follow plot that I can remember. It was kind of like watching two or more different movies at the same time where the pieces just never seem to fit into a cohesive whole. Based on what I did get out of it, King Eurystheus (Broderick Crawford) has it out for Goliath. He kidnaps Goliath's brother Illus and, when that doesn't work, he kidnaps Goliath's wife. King Eurystheus also has the hots for a babe about a third his age who just happens to be in love with Illus. To win her over, King Eurystheus takes the reasoned approach of having her imprisoned as well. In the meantime, Goliath is off doing battle with a three-headed dog, a giant flying bat creature, a wife-snatching centaur, and a dragon that can't seem to decide whether it's a stop-motion creature or a big, goofy looking puppet. In the end, Goliath literally brings down the walls of King Eurystheus' fortress and, with the help of an army from Thebes, saves the day.Overall, Goliath and the Dragon is a real mixed bag – hence my very average 5/10 rating. There's a lot about the movie I enjoyed. The beyond cheesy fight scenes with the various creatures I mentioned is an obvious place to start. These scenes are just plain old fun. I also enjoyed the scenes of prisoners being crushed by a trained elephant. You don't see stuff like that everyday. Watching Goliath tackle the elephant was a hoot. But when Goliath and the Dragon is bad, it's real bad. Some of the acting is painful. Mark Forest, the requisite body in this sword and sandal epic, is about as wooden as you'll find in one of these movies. He moves in a very unnatural manner that looked odd to me for lack of a better word. And what's Broderick Crawford doing in this movie? He's so out of place I often felt embarrassed for him. Another big negative for me is how deathly dull much of the movie is. When Goliath's not fighting some creature, the movie can be terribly sleep inducing. Too many unnecessarily confusing plot points, too many characters I didn't know or care about, and too many scenes with nothing going on – not the sign of a what I'd call a good movie. Like I said, Goliath and the Dragon is a real mixed bag.