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After foiling an assassination attempt, enslaved soldier turned gladiator Rezius (Richard Harrison) is recruited by the sinister regent Rabirius (Leo Anchoriz) to wipe out a band of brigands that threaten his province. The brigand chieftain is revealed to be Sira (Isabelle Corey), sister of the province's boy king, whom Rabirius plans to murder before he can reach ruling age. Rezius returns home to overthrow Rabirius, but soon finds himself back in the arena, now fighting not only for his freedom, but also for that of his gladiator comrades, and the entire province as well. This handsomely mounted Italian/Spanish costume epic suffers from the usual dubbing doldrums, and writer/director/producer Momplet's strengths clearly lie more with staging fight scenes than dramatic ones. But The Invincible Gladiator succeeds as pure old-fashioned popcorn entertainment, thanks to its well-choreographed action scenes (the match between a gladiator and a pack of savage midgets is some kind of first), as well as the rugged presence of Harrison, whose toned but not overdeveloped physique is a believably human alternative to the usual beefcake that populate Italian peplum. American-born Harrison had supporting roles in several Hollywood productions, including Kronos (1957) and South Pacific (1958) before The Invincible Gladiator made him a star. He subsequently appeared in several other sword-and-sandal films, many directed by Gladiator's co-author/producer Alberto De Martino, before moving on to a lengthy career in European westerns and spy films.