It is 200 years before the birth of Christ and Rome is the new superpower of the ancient world. She believes she is invincible - but one man is destined to change that. He is a man bound by oath to avenge the wrongs inflicted on his home and, in pursuit of revenge, he will stop at nothing. Hannibal explores the man behind the myth, revealing what drove the 26-year-old to mastermind one of the most audacious military moves in history. With 40,000 soldiers and 37 elephants, he marched 1,500 miles to challenge his enemies on their own soil. It was an act so daring that few people believed it possible. Hannibal combines drama, the latest historical research and state-of-the-art CGI to bring this spectacular story to life. Nice to look at. Hannibal going over the Alps, the battle of Cannae, war elephants, and the major characters of this epic conflict are worthwhile looking at. The enormous dramatic potential of characters like Hannibal and his Roman adversaries, Varro, Fabius and Scipio have not been transferred to a really thrilling film, though. The whole script sticks very close to the ancient Roman historians Livius and Polybios - almost to the letter. Especially the titles introducing characters or events make the film look like a school film sometimes. Nonetheless Hannibal enthusiasts will have a pleasant evening with this movie. Three hundred years before Christ, Carthage rules the Mediterrean but upstart Rome is threatening its dominance. Hannibal (Alexander Siddig) is pushing to fight Rome and leads an army from Spain through the Alps into Italy. Scipio would witness his father's shameful defeat and rescues him. Hannibal gathers disenfranchised northern Italian tribes and gains victory after victory. Roman Senator Fabius Maximus (Ben Cross) favors avoiding a direct battle with Hannibal. However he's ignored and Hannibal massacres the best of Rome in the battle of Cannae in 216 BC. Hannibal misses his chance to sack Rome and Carthage abandons him in Italy. Carthage suffers more and more losses from Scipio's troops until Hannibal is called home as a last resort.<br/><br/>This is a functional educational docudrama. Siddig is a compelling actor. The CG battles are fine. There aren't big numbers of extras for the battle scenes but it's filled in with CG creations. At least, they have some real elephants. This is well-made TV movie that shows the big highlights of an epic life.
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344 weeks ago