Customer Reviews
A story over 450 years old and still amazing. - By: Mr. Terry D. Jarvis, 16 Mar 2008 
Charlton Heston (BenHur,El Cid,)Stars as Master Sculptor Michaleangiloin this classic epic from 1965 Based on Irving stones novel & directed by Carol Reed.I think this movie has been forgotten about & doesnt get the true recognition it truly deserves.
A great performance by Charlton Heston. - By: Uenna, 25 May 2007 This movie is based on Irving Stone's book the Agony & the Ecstasy. Charlton Heston gave an awesome performance as the obstinate painter Michelangelo commissioned by the Pope Julius the 2nd (Rex Harrison) to paint the ceiling of the Sistine chapel.The project became a battle of wills between the two men, fuelled by artistic temperament & differences. This a great story turned into a fascinating movie, played by two iconic stars of our time. It is very inspiring, poignant & emotive. A great entertainment. I recommend.
"It's only painted plaster, Your Holiness." - By: Kona, 02 Mar 2006 This fictionalized account of the painting of the Sistine Chapel ceiling focuses on the battle of wills between the artist, Michelangelo (Charlton Heston), & his patron, Pope Julius II (Rex Harrison). As the story opens, Michelangelo, already an established sculptor, is commissioned by the warrior Pope to decorate his ceiling. Michelangelo doesn't want to do it, preferring to concentrate on the 40 statues intended for Julius' tomb. But the Pope wins that battle, the first of many, for the two men are equally matchedin their stubbornness & pride. Renaissance Rome is finely recreated with great sets & costumes, not to mention the step-by-step painting of the ceiling.
Both Michelangelo & Julius are portrayed as stiff-necked, driven men who use reverse-psychology on each other to get what they want. The dialogue is literate, but each line is delivered like a grand speech. We learn a great deal about Julius as a man & not as much about Michelangelo. These are great performances by Heston & Harrison; they play men with monumental egos & ambitions but infuse them with human faults & foibles. A wonderful documentary over-view of Michelangelo's work that precedes the film would have been better at the end. I enjoyed the film almost as much as Irving Stone's novel, & that's saying a lot.
Heston plays Michael Angelo - By: websurfer, 23 Aug 2005 
This 1965 production of the "Agony & the Ectasy" an expensive production starring Charlton Heston as Michael Angelo & Rex Harrison as Pope Julius II is a very interesting example of the Hollywood movie making formula of the early 1960ths.
Adaptad by Philip Dunne from a novel by Irwing Stone the film
focus on the period of Michael Angelo's life during wich he painted the Sistine Chapel & explores his turbulent relationship with Pope Julius II. Although it may not be exact from an historical point of view constitutes nevertheless a wonderful piece of entertainment directed by veternan brithish director Carol Reed (The Third Man) with a second unit team by Robert D. Webb (Love Me Tender)and a wonderful cinemathography by Leon Shamroy (nominated for an academy award for this film!)
"The Agony & the Ectasy" is the kind of Hollywood epic that exibits superior production values & carismathic actors that will give the audience the felling of experiencing a special event. Essential purchase!
