Masada

Overview:

Masada is a 1981 American historical drama television miniseries aired on ABC under the tentpole ABC Novel for Television. The screenplay by Joel Oliansky is based on Ernest Gann's 1971 novel The Antagonists. A dramatization of the historical siege of the Masada citadel in Roman Palestine by legions of the Roman Empire in AD 73. A siege that ended when the Roman armies entered the fortress, only to discover the mass suicide by the Jewish defenders when defeat became imminent.

Created by:

Joel Oliansky

Status:

Ended

Language:

English

First air date:

4/5/1981

Last air date:

4/8/1981

Key words:

israel
based on novel or book
miniseries
ancient history
1st century

Seasons

Miniseries

4 Episodes

Cast

Peter O'Toole

~ as ~

General Cornelius Flavius Silva

Peter Strauss

~ as ~

Eleazar ben Yair

Barbara Carrera

~ as ~

Sheva

Alan Feinstein

~ as ~

Aaron

Giulia Pagano

~ as ~

Miriam

Anthony Quayle

~ as ~

Rubrius Gallus

Paul L. Smith

~ as ~

Gideon

David Warner

~ as ~

Senator Pomponius Falco

Clive Francis

~ as ~

Attius, Head Tribune

David Opatoshu

~ as ~

Shimon

View full cast & crew

Reviews (1)

CinemaSerf
Written 3 year(s) ago
7
I remember watching this mini-series on the BBC and throughly enjoying every minute (I was 14!). It marries historical fact, legend and drama creating a cracking action adventure that sees nine hundred Jewish people take refuge in the eponymous and impregnable mountain fortress, fleeing the brutal regime of the Vespasianic legions under the command of Peter O'Toole's ("Silva"). The other principal casting maybe isn't the best - Peter Strauss didn't work for me at all and the seriously wooden Barbara Carrera also stretches the imagination just a tad, but the pace of the story builds well as the besieging Romans face all the desert environment and the Jewish freedom fighters can throw at them. There is an inevitability about it - the engineering prowess of the army soon starts to sound a death knell for the brave souls gathered above, and there are some strikingly brutal examples of just how ruthless the occupying forces could be - a whole new set of uses for catapults, for example. A solid cast including Sir Anthony Quayle, David Warner and Dennis Quilley give the proceedings extra gravitas and O'Toole manages to resist any temptation to ham it up delivering a strong, considered, performance as the reasonably minded general/governor who has long since tired of fighting never ending wars. It takes 6½ hours, give or take recaps etc., which might explain why it is rarely seen nowadays, but it is a taut and compelling grand scale historical epic that is well worth sticking through (and visiting should you ever get the opportunity).