Gordon Mitchell is back as Atlas / Maciste. This time he's out to battle a Cyclops - a rarely seen creature in the film. It's mainly about him, Queen Capys, and all the other people he's dealing with in Sadok, the Land of the Cyclops.The film is awful, boring and below average. The ending battle with the one-eyed creature is fine but short.My copy of the film is severely faded - it looks almost solid brown (similar to some of the old films of the 1920s), barely any color at all which didn't help matters. But that is fine because I doubt if I ever try watching this one again... I'd be surprised to find myself trying to.1/10

I watched the American print of this movie, where inexplicably the title was changed to ATLAS IN THE LAND OF THE CYCLOPS - despite the fact that the hero's name is clearly Maciste in the film, and Atlas doesn't come into it! Also, somewhat amusingly, the credits list Mitchell Gordon as the main star instead of Gordon Mitchell. Those crazy Americans! These oddities aside, whatever the title, MACISTE IN THE LAND OF THE CYCLOPS is a example of the peplum genre at its monster-slaying, boulder-throwing finest! Packed with incredible feats of strength and action throughout, plus a mythical creature for Maciste to battle at the end, this would be a brilliant film if it wasn't for a few pacing problems in the second half, where nearly nothing happens for around half an hour. As it stands, it's still a very good and highly recommended film which all fantasy lovers should seek out.The rugged and dependable peplum stalwart Gordon Mitchell (The Giant of Metropolis) leads the way as strongman Maciste here, and he looks like he's having a great time. Mitchell is given lots of material to work with and is hardly ever given time to stand still - he's just too busy righting wrongs or fighting evil! This gives the film a frenetic pacing which makes it more than watchable and also makes the time fly by. The supporting cast of Italian actors and actresses are fairly undistinguished, although it's interesting to see fellow American black bodybuilder Paul Wynter as another strongman, this time on the opposite side (and yes, they do fight). One exception is the actor playing the baby in the film - it's none other than Fabio, apparently a quite respected male model these days. What a way to start a career! Director Antonio Leonviola (just credited as "Leonviola" in the American release) is no Mario Bava, or even Riccardo Freda, but all scenes are well-shot and competently handled. The skillful editing also hides the low budget of the film, thus by splicing frames of a model ship quickly with images of people supposedly inside a ship (although you never actually see them above deck from a distance) you get a realistic effect. The plot is simple but packed with incident, as is the way with the best of the genre like MACISTE AGAINST THE VAMPIRE.As an aside, the Cyclops himself is pretty good, thanks to a neat makeup job which gives him the solitary eye and some snappy editing which makes him look three times the size of the not-inconsiderable Mitchell. At the end of the film, they have a titanic battle, Maciste blinds him with a sword (ouch) before pulling off his final trick, causing a cave-in. Ta-da! Everybody is saved, the evil have been punished and Maciste lives to fight another day. The end. One other thing: we learn that apparently the name "Maciste" means "made of rock", an apt description if ever I heard one for Mitchell's granite-hewn, super-human muscleman. As you may have already guessed, I give this film the thumbs-up!

Since the cyclops only appears in the last six or seven minutes (!) ,the title is a misnomer;this giant gives the most successful performance of a poor cast ;the actors ,from muscle man to wicked queen are so dismal you can have a good laugh!Vaguely based on Greek mythology :Circea's revenge on Ulysses' descendants;the queen will not be allowed to live in peace till the last heir is exterminated ;so she's got some excuses even though she shows some sadism .Macist fights against her to put back the true king on the throne and to save the true queen whose husband was slaughtered by the evil sovereign's soldiers.There are ten-year-old pupils who write better essays than this screenplay.

Brave and kind he-man Maciste (a winningly sincere portrayal by the brawny and cheerful Gordon Mitchell) must save both Queen Penope (fetching Vira Silenti) and her infant son from the evil clutches of the ruthless and wicked Queen Capys (a perfectly nasty turn by ravishing brunette stunner Chelo Alonso). Director Antonio Leonviola relates the eventful story at a steady pace, maintains a serious tone throughout, and stages the thrilling action scenes with a reasonable amount of vigor (stirring highlights include Maciste wrestling a lion, a fierce rough'n'tumble fight with one of Capys' hulking goons, and the tense and gripping climactic battle between Maciste and an impressively grotesque and monstrous 18-foot-tall cyclops). The cast all give admirably earnest performances, with especially nice contributions from Giotto Tempestini as helpful shepherd Aronio and Massimo Righi as the noble Efros. Carlo Innocenzi's robust, rousing score does the trick. Riccardo Pallottini's expansive widescreen cinematography offers several striking shots of the lovely verdant countryside. The campy dialogue adds plenty of extra unintentional humor to the mix while the bevy of lovely ladies supply lots of yummy eye candy (Alonso in particular is an absolute smoking hot fox!). A fun romp.