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17 May 2012

Decent Theory of a historical event.

This review is from: Centurion (DVD) Considering that the Story of the 9th Legion is really Unknown apart from the point of disappearance, this was a very entertaning yarn of the possibilities. I enjoy these movies as pure entertainment.

17 May 2012

Superpower invades country encountering guerrilla warfare

Centurion is Neil Marshall's take on the legend of the disappearance of the 9th Legion in Scotland in AD 117.Known for horror movies-Dog Soldiers,The Descent-he gives us a gritty,realistic,action epic of gore-fest proportions(ferocious battle scenes,bloody carnage, axed heads).We feel the cold weather sharper than a wolve's tooth.We are in the mud,rain and bogginess of Scotland,with an army stationed far from home,fighting a war politicians deem to be a lost cause,against tribes who mount guerrilla attacks then disappear into the shadows.The core of the film is centurion Quintus Dias(Fassbender) who is being chased at the start of the film who gives the voiceover narrative. After his garrison is attacked, and Dias captured,governor Agricola sends the 9th Legion north to crush the Pictish rebellion.Accompanied by a Brigantian tracker,Etain(Kurylenko),the legion marches north of Roman territory and finds Dias,shortly before being ambushed by Picts.Most of the legionaries are killed and their general Flavius(West),is captured.Etain has betrayed them.She wants revenge.Her backstory is her father murdered,her mother and herself raped by the Romans and her tongue cut out.Marshall explores the legend not historical fact,driven as we are by our sense of the underdog,we are intrigued by the way Scotland put a barrier to Rome's expansionist ambitions.We get little sense of the Pictish sense of injustice:they become demonised,we root for the surviving remnants of the 9th under the leadership of Dias, the movie largely becomes a thriller chase of the Romans by Etain's Picts back to the garrison. There are eye-gougings and amputations and a skimpy romantic sub-plot, all but concealed behind the desaturated geysers of blood.Dias becomes the only survivor as Agricola orders the Romans to keep the failure of the 9th secret.I liked the acting of West and Fassbinder,and the naturalistic photography but the story got a bit lost and petered out unsatisfactorily. I preferred The Eagle's version,where the Romans are given American accents."A War without honour,without end."

Tim Evans 15 May 2012

Filmed in cold, steely greys and blues, it's at its best during the numerous action setpieces, particularly close-quarter, hand-to-hand combat where the butchery of axes, knives and spears is shown in all its gory glory.

Neil Welch 14 May 2012

Full of joy and good cheer - not really

If you like your films to be dirty, cold, bleached out, full ofviolence and misery, then you're going to have a ball with this one.It's the fag end of the Roman occupation of Britain, and a small groupof Romans is trying to escape from the irate Picts on the wrong side ofHadrian's Wall. The problem is that the mute tracker Etain (OlgaKurylenko) isn't working for the Romans after all.That's it really - one long chase across some of the bleakestlandscapes ever put on film, with intermittent slaughter. The script isfunctional and occasionally witty. The performances are mostly OK,insofar as you can tell underneath the layers of furs and grime.The action sequences tend to suffer from both hand-held camera syndromeand quick cutting syndrome - it isn't always easy to follow what'sgoing on.I do wish Imogen Poots would change her surname, she sounds like acharacter out of Monty Python.But, of its sort, it is entertaining enough.

Ethan Alter 13 May 2012

Neil Marshall reaffirms his status as a contemporary "King of the B's" with another straight-up genre flick that's low on budget but high on fun.

Gary Thompson 13 May 2012

The movie's distinguishing feature is its grim fatalism, rare for a pure action movie.

13 May 2012

Good filming, bad story

I love fantasy movies, and usually don't even need a good story, but this film is just undeveloped and empty. Beautifully empty, though. The locations have great variety: mountains, rivers, forests. The costumes are detailed and look authentic on both sides. The fighting is ok: nice weapons and armor, but filmed with too many quick camera cuts. The characters are attractive: the hunter looks mysterious and the Roman leader looks leader-ish. But again there is an emptiness: there is little personality displayed at all. The story is at times not just empty, it is absurd. An entire legion follows one Pictish woman? 7 wounded and tired men on foot evade a skilled tracking party on horseback in their native land? The trackers get within range of a throwing axe and lose them? The tracker sees no signs inside or outside the hut that the Romans were with the witch? The hunted decide to fight what looks like an evenly matched hunting party only after running hundreds of miles, starving, and losing half their men? Thax the Roman just appears one night after so many miles and gets such a chilly reception as if anyone could know killing the Pict child would start the hunt, and then draws his sword on another Roman within site of Hadrian's Wall? Just bizarre.

torgulsmith 12 May 2012

arm wrestling with the troops.

Not such good training for tactical decision making in the field.No scouts, apparently. March down a road, with high banks on eitherside. Miss the Picts waiting to drop the trees. Then, freeze in thekill zone. Don't just go around the trees. Don't even move up theslope. Just wait for the flaming balls.Again with the flaming balls. Find me an historical account of flamingballs, or logs, etc. Also, explain the logistics ofmaking/transporting? the balls, lighting them instantly so entirely inflame, without alerting the intended targets.Ever shot a bow at a moving target? More miss than hit. Ever shot alive creature with an arrow? they don't just drop. Read some historicalaccounts of knights stuck full of arrows, still fighting. Or speak toanyone who has ever taken a deer. Ever thrown an axe? Very dependent ondistance, if it is going to stick.Why the elaborate ambush, anyway. No evidence of the usual nightlyfortifications, just pitch your tents, take of the armor and have acookout. Just sayin.

davidfurlotte 09 May 2012

Historical? I think not.

I have seen a number of people on here writing reviews and REBUTTALS topeople who have correctly stated some of the more inane historicalinaccuracies evident in this movie. The most notable who rebutted wassomeone who mentioned the Battle of the Teutoberger Wald to explain thereality of the battle scene between the Picts and the Romans in aScottish Forest.Okay, let's begin with some of the more ridiculous aspects of thisfilm. Firstly, the Ninth Legion, Legio IX Hispana did NOT disappear insome Scottish Forest in 117 A.D. Historical documents andArchaeological finds have proved that elements of this legion werestationed in Germania many years after they supposedly "vanished."Which means that they vanished because they left Britannia and moved toGermania.What pains me about this film is the Director and writer claims to bethe son of a History Professor yet for some strange reason he decidedto take great care in outfitting the legionaries (yes, legionaries,legionnaires are French, not Roman) with Lorica Segmentata, Pteruges,Rectangular Scutums et al, but decided to have them carrying leafbladed spears instead of the Pilum which Roman Heavy Infantry wererenowned for.Now, coming back to the Battle of the Teutoberger Wald for a moment, anentire roman legion, numbering anywhere between 4,800 to 5,500 men isambushed and annihilated in less than a half hour? The ambush thatArminius launched against Varus in Germania resulted in battle overfour long days to completely destroy those three legions and guesswhat, that 14 mile long single column NEVER existed. The Romanstravelled along a PATH that allowed them to travel anywhere from 4 to 8men WIDE at all times. There were many reasons those three legions weredestroyed. Firstly, over the course of those four days they werefighting in thunderstorms constantly, secondly, Varus trusted Arminiusso much and considered Germania to be a tame land that he did not sendout scouts while on the march and finally, Arminius sent men along toLEAD Varus to a well-prepared area of AMBUSH. To the person thatsuggested someone might open some of the writings of Tacitus and otherhistorians, I suggest strongly YOU might want to do likewise because IHAVE read them and also read them in the original Latin.But, I digress.It seems that the writers for "Centurion" missed the boat when it cameto Roman Battle tactics. Firstly, if Romans were faced with somethinglike rolling fireballs, they were more than skillfully trained tosimply move OUT of the way, same as what they did in battles againstCarthaginian elephants after Canae. They also might have used theirscutums to form a wall and basically angle back so the thing rolled upand over them. Roman legionaries were drilled to be able to handle suchtactics because such things are mentioned in the diaries of JuliusCaesar.Many of the defending Romans on the path were shown throwing away theirshield in panic and trying to parry like some kind of regular swordsmanagainst the Picts. Roman legionaries would never, ever, throw away aperfectly good shield so they could defend against an unshieldedopponent, nor would they break formation in order to go at it like somegladiator in the arena. The strength of the Roman soldier was as a unitof fighting men, not singular combat and their centurion would bedemanding they get back in formation as best they could. To see anexample of this, watch ROME, Season 1, Episode 1 for a good example ofhow Romans fought.However, with all of the historical inaccuracy in the movie, it was anentertaining tale and yes, the main protagonist did remind me way toomuch of Xena, the warrior princess, however, she, along with the blondewitch were simply used in the story to provide some enjoyable eye candyfor the us of the masculine gender although both ladies portrayed theirparts very well, I thought.All, in all, I suggest that you get a copy of this movie on DVD andenjoy it for the entertaining story that it provides. But, one caveat,it is very gory and to be blunt, CORRECTLY so, Swords and spears andaxes are not weapons of humane destruction.

09 May 2012

OK if you like lots of blood and guts

Some good action scenes beautiful cinematography, good sound track. Kind of a 300 wannabe movie though with the digitally painted blood and over the top gruesome battle scenes. And don't forget to be in line with current politcal correctness diversity even though it is not historically correct by throwing in a black dude, assyrian and all the different British accents for the Romans?? This film is very predictable and the flaws abound and are downright too absurd to get invested in what happens to the characters. Instead of finishing off a soldier the Pict says "let him bleed", warriors on horses galloping after Romans have long chases where they can't catch up, the list goes on but most unconvincing were the hottie Skinny Pict warrior babes. While I am not knocking female warriors and don't doubt they did indeed exist and were just as fierce as the men, these skinny little babes beating up muscled up dudes in hand to hand combat twice their size...I don't think so.

Marshall Fine 05 May 2012

Though there's not a lot of night action, you'd think the whole thing had been shot during an eclipse. Apparently the visual shorthand for 1st-millennium England is murkiness.

chernia-739-55522 05 May 2012

The real fate of the IX Legio

The real fate of the 9-th is not known, however, although it was indeedpresent in Britain just before Hadrian wall was built there, it is nowbelieved by most scholars that it was later transferred to the east ofthe empire, which was a much more important part to the romans thanBritain. The fact is that names of several high officers of the Ninthwho cannot have served earlier than the alleged destruction of theninth in Britain, are noted in later references, is clear indicationthat the legion was not destroyed but transferred. It may have beendestroyed some 15 years later, during the Jewish revolt of Simon benKosiba (132-136) in which several others Roman legions were wipe-outtoo, the revolt in which almost half of an entire roman army wasinvolved and eventually, was crushed by General Julius Severusfrom…Britain, has also put to the end the name Judea, replacing it bySyria Palaestina, which two thousand years later, claimed by the newarrivals: the Palestinians, as their ancient homeland.

03 May 2012

Rome against the Picts

This review is from: Centurion (DVD) Overall, this is an entertaining movie set during the first half of second century ad, when Emperor Adrian ruled Rome. While that's all what you will get about history here, the script and pace are pretty good, with lots of battle scenes and blood all over the place. Similar to most American epics, the movie end of this British production is a little crappie. In addition, I missed more Gaelic traditional music on the soundtrack. Still, worth getting a copy. I would say that it is intriguing that Scot Picts are the bad guys here, but they also have been depicted as good guys by the time Roman ruling in Britain came to an end (mid to late Fifth century). Thus, I would recommend trying The Last Legion or King Arthur as well. Scenery and photography are pretty good in this movie. DVD comes with some ok extras, including Spanish subtitles.

gridoon2011 02 May 2012

Visceral (anti-)war epic

All guts, no glory: that seems to be the message of Neil Marshall's"Centurion". Although the splattery battle scenes are its main sellingpoint, it is also one of the most uncompromisingly anti-war films Ihave ever seen. It doesn't just say that war is futile; it says thatwas is death. You are asked to leave your humanity behind and become akilling machine, and then you most likely end up dead anyway, one moreanonymous "number" for the history books. There are no "good" or "bad"sides, either; the story is mostly told from the perspective of theRomans, of course, but both they and the Picts are trapped in anendless cycle of violence (the parallels with contemporary wars are soobvious that they don't even need to be stated). The battle scenes arenot entirely free of the trendy quick-cutting/blurry-editing syndrome,however Marshall is to be commended for avoiding CGI and usingold-school, practical effects instead. The big battle where the NinthLegion gets nearly annihilated is a bit too chaotic (yes, I realizethat a real battle during that era would be pretty much exactly likethat), but the "last stand" fight at the abandoned fort near the end isgenuinely exciting - it has a definite "Do or Die" feel to it. Addpoints for some eye-filling panoramic shots of hills, valleys, forestsand rivers; subtract points for the sometimes too-contemporary dialogue("Your mother must have had a great sense of humor" - "She was af*****g comedian!"). Although the frenetic pacing (especially in thefirst half) doesn't allow for much character development (beyond a few"bonding" scenes), Michael Fassbender gives a very strong performanceas the lead. Olga Kurylenko is fixating (with "Centurion", "Quantum ofSolace" and her still-unreleased female assassin film "Kirot", she isbecoming quite the dedicated action actress; her skill with the spearin particular in this movie is very impressive); Ulrich Thomsen ispowerful as the leader of the Picts; Imogen Poots is extremely lovelyas perhaps the only ray of hope in this world; Dominic West, despitehis second billing, has very little to do. **1/2 out of 4.

02 May 2012

Impressive considering the budget was just $10 million

When I first discovered director Neil Marshall, I was an instant fan. In the horror genre, he did some solid work with the satisfying werewolf tale "Dog Soldiers" and the sublimely staged "The Descent" (which I know has its detractors, but for me was one of the most entertaining films of its year). The "Mad Max" retread "Doomsday" was an inevitable disappointment--but didn't dispel the notion that, at least, Marshall had a visual flair. I was intrigued to see him wander into "Gladiator" type territory with "Centurion" because the man can stage one heck of a battle. While the film, which is certainly better than "Doomsday," has a lot going for it--sadly, it ends up missing the mark. My guy reaction as I turned to my friend at the end was "Man, I wanted to like that much more than I did!"I was genuinely and actively rooting for "Centurion" to be more wholly satisfying--so I guess that's a positive comment in and of itself. First off, the film looks absolutely incredible. The sweeping countryside and mountainous terrain as the camera pans across is breathtaking. The battle sequences are alive and bloody--not as dreary as some recent higher profile epics. The film sounds fantastic with a pulsing orchestration that fits the film beautifully. But the film's greatest asset is its star Michael Fassbender. A sensation in the art house favorite "Hunger," Fassbender claims leading man status with ease. His grounded physicality and intelligence shine through--at times, you think that he's smarter than the material he's been dealt.The film covers the period of A.D. 117 when Roman troops were engaged in a struggle and trying to advance upon the the Picts in the Scottish highlands. The Picts employed guerilla tactics to hold the Romans off for 20 years. I won't, but could, debate historical accuracy in the film, but it is clearly meant to be an adventure yarn and not a historical treatise. However, the film seems to want us to identify with the Romans and brand the Picts as the villains when all they wanted to do was defend their land from being conquered. Not so bad in my book. My main issues with the film is that sometimes the screenplay can be conveniently silly. Several times the Picts don't finish off the stragglers after the epic battle by choice ("oh, just let him bleed"). Their guerilla camp is invaded by not one, but about 6, Romans soldiers in a rescue attempt--not very alert for guerillas! And a tracker who could trail soldiers for hundreds of wilderness miles couldn't find them in a one room cabin! These are but a few examples that had me scratching my head. I won't even discuss the unnecessary twist ending or the tacked-on romance, I'll just say that "Centurion" ended up losing some of my good will. I'd probably still recommend the film as light entertainment, especially if you put your brain on hold, but I wanted it to be great! But look for Fassbender elsewhere--he's going to be big (I hope)! KGHarris 08/10

Ian Buckwalter 01 May 2012

Marshall's film has a good helping of subtle smarts, but he is more concerned through most of the running time with carnage and bloody thrills.

01 May 2012

Roman Legions Gathered Together In Scotland and Grooving with The Picts

This review is from: Centurion (DVD) I will never understand movie critics. Every New York paper trounced this film when it was released grousing about Romans having British accents and attacking it as mindless entertainment. Hey, every epic cannot be Stanley Kubrick's 'SPARTACUS" or Ridley Scott's 'GLADIATOR' but if you're looking for a rousing adventure film, look no further. These critics should have stuck with the countless bathroom humor comedies and inane human dramas populating the theaters as of late and leave the action movie genre to the people who appreciate them. Neil Marshall's latest film 'CENTURION' is a relentless experience from the first frame of film projected to the last and you would have to be a block of wood not to be effected by its intensity. Based on a true story about the ninth Roman Legion which disappeared in Scotland in the realm of the Picts on their campaign of conquest, it shows the survivors struggling against the terrain and the cunning of the ultimate Pict tracker to get back home. You've read the reviews contained within this release space in Amazon.com so I won't go on but I will tell you that the action is electrifying with the standout being Olga Kurylenko (QUANTUM OF SOLACE) in a malevolent performance as Etain, the voiceless Pict tracker who never stops her pursuit of the Roman survivors. The filmmakers pull no punches in the realism of the battle scenes and fight sequences , yes, heads are lopped off when they meet a sharp blade and body harm does occur when confronted with arrows,axes and fire so be prepared for a bloody time. Marshall balances how we feel about both Roman and Pictish sides showing the futility of war and invading territories which should not be invaded, hell, he shows the Romans attacking their own men because they are wearing Pict clothing. Comments on the acting of Michael Fassbinder and Dominic West as being passionless and wooden are as legion as the Romans but I think they are perfect showing the way they probably were, arrogant and honorable to their last breath. Magnolia Home Entertainment has released a crisp transfer with excellent 5.1 Dolby Digital EX which was beautifully separated on my sound system and contains a great audio commentary by the director and crew, deleted scenes which show why they were excised for they would have slowed the film down and five behind the scenes featurettes on the cast, locations, and cinematography. Many may conceive this film as mindless eye candy but Director/Writer Neil Marshall has created and produced an intense, nerve wracking 98 minutes of celluloid and should be comfortable in knowing that 'CENTURION" is a cult classic ready to explode.

JoeB131 30 April 2012

Not a bad film

You do feel it's length at times.The plot is that it's first century Britian, and the Roman advance hasbeen stymied by the Picts. A centurion is captured, escapes, joins upwith an invading Roman Legion, which is promptly slaughtered.There are less than subtle allegories to terrorism and imperialism, notsure if they entirely work here. There are also a bunch of over the topbattle scenes with spurting blood and people surviving impossibleinjuries before we get to the predictable ending.It's not awful. Not great, but not awful, and you kind of like thecharacters and setting.

30 April 2012

Centurion

This review is from: Centurion (DVD) I found this movie quite entertaining and depicts what the Rome Empire was like in it's hayday. I was a little surprised at what they did to the Centurion after his efforts to return to the Fort, but not at the ending. Serves them right for loosing such a dedicated soldier. If you know Roman history, you can agree with what the film is trying to portray. I liked it and I'll watch it again.

29 April 2012

Disappointing - too much violence and too little history

I love history movies, particular about the ancient world, so I wanted to see this movie - alas, it was first of all a war movie that had little dept and instead far, far more gory violence than I care for. While there is a historic background to the story, it really only provides that: a background. The story is shallow and predictable and seems to serve only to justify as much violence as possible. This movie would not appeal to someone who is actually interested in history as the time period serves only as a backdrop - the very same story could have been framed in any other time without needing to go any more indept in the details of the particular historic period. Not recommended for anyone - there is little if anything to learn, not about history, not about emotion, intellect, or spirituality. Instead, once more the viewer is inundated with too many images of violence that are already over abundant in our world today.