Pompeii

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Pompeii

PG-13

2014

1h 45m

Adventure

Action

History

Drama

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Tomatometer

Popcornmeter

27%

Tomatometer

165 Reviews

34%

Popcornmeter

25,000+ Ratings

In 79 A.D., Pompeii, a bustling port city, stands in the shadow of Mount Vesuvius. Milo (Kit Harington), a former slave, is a gladiator who has caught the eye of Cassia (Emily Browning), a wealthy merchant's daughter. However, their difference in social status is not the only obstacle to their love; Cassia has been promised to Corvus (Kiefer Sutherland), a corrupt Roman senator. When the eruption of Mount Vesuvius rains lava and ash down on the city, Milo races to save her before it's too late.

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Critics Consensus

This big-budget sword-and-sandal adventure lacks the energy and storytelling heft to amount to more than a guilty pleasure.

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Kate Muir

The Times (UK)

06/02/2015

2/5

Pompeii 3D is a swords-and-sandals disaster epic that contains all the B-movie tropes you might hope for... The only element missing is a decent script.

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Chris Stuckmann

ChrisStuckmann.com

04/23/2015

D-

Hammy performances, poor editing, straight-to-DVD special effects, and bland direction.

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Larushka Ivan-Zadeh

metro.co.uk

05/13/2014

3/5

It's entertainingly silly stuff with an 'oh, no - they wouldn't?' finale of the ooziest toasted cheese.

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Joshua Polanski

Midwest Film Journal

03/03/2025

One of the greatest cinematic achievements of the 21st century.

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Keith Garlington

Keith & the Movies

08/24/2022

2/5

Its blunders are aplenty and it’s impossible to take anything the film does seriously.

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Brian Eggert

Deep Focus Review

08/18/2022

0.5/4

Why, when an estimated 16,000 lives were lost when Vesuvius erupted in 79 AD, does Pompeii tell a story about the least interesting of them?

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Nick Z

@RT80989655 May 19

This movie was an amazing representation on Pompeii. MT. Vesuvius was perfect and on point! It did drag a little for the first hour or so, but within that hour it was filled with great plot, and further representation of Rome.

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Mary S

@RT31692299 May 18

A fair representation of a colosseum, but everything else was paste-up. Cloying sentiment. Unrealistic representation of a tsunami and exploding gas that killed people. Comes close to a cartoon.

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David H.

@rivrocks May 7

Jessica Lucas shines as always. Decent action. Decent effects. Generic plot. No soul. Jessica Lucas, though.

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Blake- N

@PBSAniDom May 4

Pompeii feels like a step down from what it could have been, especially after its theatrical release in 2014. It has the scale and the setting to be memorable, but the film never fully lives up to that potential. The story moves in familiar directions, the characters are not as engaging as they should be, and the emotional impact is weaker than expected. There are moments where the film looks impressive and shows flashes of ambition, but style alone is not enough to carry it. For me, it ends up feeling underdeveloped and a bit forgettable compared with stronger historical action dramas. It is not without entertainment value, but it never rises above being just average. Overall, I found it disappointing and a clear step down from what the premise promised. I rate it a 4/10.

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Buddy W

@BuddyW Feb 8

SPOILERS: Stupid stupid stupid movie that makes you spend a VERY long time hoping for the main couple to fight for each other and fall in love and find their way back to each other only have them both die. And for more complete believability, as they die my molten lava they just hold each other and kiss - because they certainly wouldn't be screaming in agony. Stupid. Beyond that there are just a lot of improbabilities (the hero always gets out of a deadly situation at the last possible moment) which one can get behind in a busy action movie, but again that middle finger the ending gives to the audience ruins anything positive that came before it. Stupid.

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Big D

@Drazker Feb 1

Jon snow! Kit Harrington! Whatever your name is, you've done it again. 4/5

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Paul W.S. Anderson

Director

Kit Harington

Milo

Carrie-Anne Moss

Aurelia

Emily Browning

Cassia

Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje

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Synopsis

In 79 A.D., Pompeii, a bustling port city, stands in the shadow of Mount Vesuvius. Milo (Kit Harington), a former slave, is a gladiator who has caught the eye of Cassia (Emily Browning), a wealthy merchant's daughter. However, their difference in social status is not the only obstacle to their love; Cassia has been promised to Corvus (Kiefer Sutherland), a corrupt Roman senator. When the eruption of Mount Vesuvius rains lava and ash down on the city, Milo races to save her before it's too late.

Director: Paul W.S. Anderson
Producer: Jeremy Bolt, Paul W.S. Anderson, Robert Kulzer, Don Carmody
Screenwriter: Janet Scott Batchler, Lee Batchler, Michael Robert Johnson
Distributor: Sony Pictures Entertainment
Production Co: Constantin Film, Impact Pictures
Rating: PG-13 (Disaster-Related Action|Brief Sexual Content|Intense Battle Sequences)
Genre: Adventure, Action, History, Drama
Original Language: English
Release Date (Theaters): Feb 21, 2014, Wide
Release Date (Streaming): May 13, 2014
Box Office (Gross USA): $23.2M
Runtime: 1h 45m
Sound Mix: Datasat, SDDS, Dolby Digital