Masada poster

Masada( 1981)

TV-MADramaAction & Adventure
70%
User
Score

Overview

Masada is an American historical drama television miniseries that aired on ABC in April 1981. Advertised by the network as an 'ABC Novel for Television', the screenplay by Joel Oliansky is based on Ernest Gann's 1971 novel The Antagonists. The series is 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.

  1. Joel Oliansky

    Creator

Series Cast

  1. cast image

    Peter O'Toole

    General Cornelius Flavius Silva

  2. cast image

    Peter Strauss

    Eleazar ben Yair

  3. cast image

    Barbara Carrera

    Sheva

  4. cast image

    Alan Feinstein

    Aaron

  5. cast image

    Giulia Pagano

    Miriam

  6. cast image

    Anthony Quayle

    Rubrius Gallus

  7. cast image

    Paul L. Smith

    Gideon

  8. cast image

    David Warner

    Senator Pomponius Falco

  9. cast image

    Clive Francis

    Attius, Head Tribune

  10. cast image

    David Opatoshu

    Shimon

  11. cast image

    Richard Pierson

    Ephraim

  12. cast image

    Joseph Wiseman

    Jerahmeel, Head Essene

  13. cast image

    David A. Block

    Reuben

  14. cast image

    Vernon Dobtcheff

    Chief Priest

  15. cast image

    David Mauro

    Epos

  16. cast image

    Alexander Peleg

    Zidon

  17. cast image

    Joey Sagal

    Seth

  18. cast image

    Michael Shillo

    Ezra

Current Season

Miniseries

1981 | 4 Episodes

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.

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Review 1Discussion

A review by CinemaSerf

7
Written by CinemaSerf on Sun Mar 27 2022
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 ...

Media

Videos 1Backdrops 7Posters 6

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Facts

Status

Ended

Status

network logo
Type

Miniseries

Original Language

English

Keywords

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