[8] An international co-production between the United States, Germany and Canada,[5] it is a fictional tale inspired by the eruption of Mount Vesuvius in 79 AD that destroyed Pompeii, a city of the Roman Empire.

The film stars Kit Harington, Carrie-Anne Moss, Emily Browning, Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje, Jessica Lucas, with Jared Harris and Kiefer Sutherland.

In northern Britannia, 62 AD, Roman soldiers led by General Quintus Attius Corvus wipe out a tribe of Celtic horsemen.

Cassia becomes enamored of Milo after witnessing him perform a mercy kill of a critically-injured horse; she reveres this as an act of kindness.

In Pompeii, Milo develops a rivalry with Atticus, a champion gladiator who, by Roman law, will be given his freedom after he earns one more victory.

In the Amphitheatre of Pompeii, to punish Milo, Corvus orders him killed in the first battle, and trainer Bellator convinces Graecus to execute Atticus as well.

Meanwhile, Corvus forces Cassia to agree to marry him by threatening to have her family killed for supposed treason against Emperor Titus.

Their battle is interrupted when Mount Vesuvius erupts, creating tremors that cause the arena to collapse, sending Milo and Proculus crashing to the dungeons.

Milo opens up the gates, allowing his fellow gladiators a chance to attack; Proculus escapes, while Bellator is killed.

Milo kisses Cassia as the surge engulfs them; as the dust settles their petrified bodies are shown in an eternal embrace.

Constantin Film and Don Carmody Productions formerly selected Cinespace as a shooting locale for Resident Evil: Retribution and The Mortal Instruments: City of Bones.

[17] Leading man Kit Harington underwent a gruelling training regimen for the film in order to bulk up for the role.

FilmDistrict bought the distribution rights in the US, and because of Sony's relationship with the filmmakers, they chose to release the film with TriStar Pictures.

The site's critics consensus reads: "This big-budget sword-and-sandal adventure lacks the energy and storytelling heft to amount to more than a guilty pleasure.

The directorial direction of Paul W. S. Anderson, while occasionally considered derivative of the storytelling methods of other blockbuster films such as Gladiator (2000) and Titanic (1997), nevertheless received some praise.

[25] Some critics were rather favorable, as shown by Vulture's review, which summarized the film asnot a particularly original story, but it gallops along at a nice clip, with the good guys appropriately gallant and breathless and the bad guys appropriately smug and snarly ... And whether it's elaborate gladiatorial battles or a chariot chase through a burning city, Anderson directs with precision, rhythm, and ruthlessness – he has an eye and an ear for violence, for the visceral impact of a kill.

[29]Harington later joked about the film's reception on Saturday Night Live, remarking that the movie was "more of a disaster than the event it was based on.

"[30] Pompeii was generally praised, albeit with some hesitation, for its recreation of historic setpieces, portrayal of accounts of recorded events and geological realism, though aspects of the eruption of the volcano were considered enhanced or heightened for dramatic spectacle.

[32] The film relies for its reconstruction of historical events on two letters from Pliny the Younger to the Roman historian Tacitus.

It opens with the quotation from Pliny:You could hear the shrieks of women, the wailing of infants, and the shouting of men; some were calling their parents, others their children or their wives, trying to recognize them by their voices.

[32] Rosaly Lopes, a volcanologist at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California, supported Anderson's work, stating that the film "realistically captured the earthquakes that preceded the eruption, the explosions and the pyroclastic flows of hot ash and gas that buried the city and its residents.

[32] Sarah Yeomans, an archaeologist at USC, has praised the attention to detail in the film's depiction of Pompeii, noting, for example, the raised paving stones in the streets, the political graffiti on the buildings, and the amphitheatre where gladiatorial combat takes place.

His portrayal of some aspects of the eruption, in particular the inclusion of fireballs raining from the sky, were included for dramatic effect rather than historical accuracy.

[32] He also received minor criticism from Yeomans for his portrayal of women, who would not have been seen alone in town, involved in political affairs, nor wearing the revealing clothes they wore in the film.