"The Fall" has, unfortunately, intellectual pretensions. And it doesn't have much action. Strangely enough, what action there is is very clumsily handled.

As moviemaking it is stupendous. Yet the only emotion it engenders is excitement -- intermittent excitement, and its art lies in its parts, but not in their sum.

Large in theme and concept, colorful in treatment, The Fall of the Roman Empire is Sam Bronston's greatest coup de cinema. It has large earning potential.

A real breakthrough for an epic -- a splendid example of how, without sticking to the letter of history, you can capture its rich and fascinating spirit.