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The Last Legion [2007]

Director: Doug Lefler
Actors: Colin Firth, Ben Kingsley, Peter Mullan, Kevin Mckidd, John Hannah
Studio: Momentum Pictures
Category: DVD

List Price: ~~Ł15.99~~
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Rating: 3.0 out of 5 stars

37 reviews
Sales Rank: 234

Format: Pal
Rating: Suitable for 12 years and over
Number Of Items: 1
Running Time: 110
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.2
Dimensions (in): 7.4 x 5.4 x 0.5

EAN: 5060116722024
ASIN: B000YDAJHM

Theatrical Release Date: 2007
Release Date: February 18, 2008
Availability: Usually dispatched within 1-2 business days
Condition: Brand New - Swift dispatch from UK mainland

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Customer Reviews: Read 32 more reviews...

4 out of 5 stars

Keep An Open Mind July 15, 2008
A good little movie, if you don't go into it expecting anything. Entertaining and well acted.

3 out of 5 stars

So much wrong - but the myth nearly carries it June 30, 2008
There's so much wrong with this film, its hard to know where to start. The gifted cast have a stunned look of horror at the script they have to work with. The historical accuracy of the story is best summarised as a brief wave at a history book... The landscapes of Cumbria and Northumbria are obviously somewhere in eastern Europe, with dark age citadels represented by late medieval castles.

If you can imagine a road accident between a student version of Lord of the Rings, the cast of HBO's 'Rome' on their day off, and a souped-up episode of the 1970s serial 'Arthur of the Britons', you're probably about there...

BUT

The cast is very strong and give the ludicrous script some transient dignity. The historical moment, when late antiquity began to fade into the mythology of the early Medieval period is fascinating, and the process of Roman citizens morphing into Britons is touched on. The central idea is quite touching, and the raw power of this myth still carries an undiluted spark of magic which can't be snuffed by the stodgiest treatment. Watch with one eye closed and release your inner 13-year old!

1 out of 5 stars

Truly Dire June 27, 2008
I like a good swords and legends flick as much as the next man but this just doesn't work at all.
There's no warmth between the characters and the audience really isn't encouraged to feel anything for them - which kind of ruins eveything. The first rule of drama is that if nobody cares whether the characters live or die - there IS no drama.
Also, it sets the stage for a series of events at the end, a final battle and a resolution to a 'romance' if you can call it that - but the climax of both is squeezed into about 15 minutes of film. There's no hardship, no steadily building story or sense of anticipation, just a lot of talking and some decent action scenes followed by BANG it's over.
I really wouldn't bother with this film.

1 out of 5 stars

Awful June 19, 2008
Though I watched the whole film, it wasn't really out of interest, but more to see if it could pick itself up from how poor it is.
A strong cast would normally promise a strong film, but this really was more like a TV movie and a poor US import type TV movie at that.

Even my wife who normally can't be dragged away from the television when Colin Firth is on, only lasted an hour of the film.

Best avoided unless you want something on in the background whilst reading a good book!

3 out of 5 stars

It,s not cinema....it,s alchemy May 17, 2008
4 out of 4 found this review helpful

Boasting more historical inaccuracies than if it had been made by the production team of My Parents Are Aliens but adapted from a story partly written by noted historical author Valerio Manfredi The Last Legion is the latest film to tie in the King Arthur mythology with the Romans occupying Britannia in the 5th century . It sure goes about it in a convoluted way though.
It's 460A.D.and Rome is on the verge of falling to the Goths whose leader Odoacer( Peter Mullan) looks like Hagar The Horrible .Young Emperor to be Romulus Augustus(Thomas Sangster), rumoured to be blood relative of Caesar( Ehhh!!) is crowned just before the invasion hordes take the city and is thus a prize capture for them. Once this is done Odoacer charges his vicious soldier Wulfila(Kevin Mckidd) to take the lad to a remote virtually impregnable fortress , though he does allow mysterious sage come magician Ambrosinus (Ben Kingsley) to act as the lads companion which on reflection he may have come to regret.
They are then pursued by commander of the Legions Aurelios (Colin Firth) , some of his men , and an Ottoman warrior Mira (Aishwarya Rai) who is there because of her empires allegiance to Rome , but more probably because she is incredibly attractive and gives the film some love interest.
The action eventually moves to Britannia so the renegades can hook up with the ninth legion -the last in the empire. Here a masked villain called Vortgyn( Harry Van Gorkum) enters the fray because he has some connection to Ambrosinus and the whole thing is resolved with a big battle and it's after this that the film finally reveals it's hand and makes the connections to the Arthurian legend.
The Last Legion is directed by Doug Lefler who has worked on " Xena Warrior Princess" so his incompetence at directing action scenes comes as a surprise. He employs an annoying cinematic device of showing actors response to violence , no doubt to get the film a more family friendly rating . Unfortunately this had the side effect of making me swear vociferously every time it happened so it wasn't that child friendly after all. The action is unconvincing and badly edited but somehow it doesn't stop the film from being an enjoyable unchallenging romp. It is not helped in this regard by some truly excruciatingly bad dialogue , for which the writers Jez and Tom Butterworth should be ashamed. and some poor acting .McKidd overdoes the slavering lunatic role , Firth plays Aurelios as Mr Darcy with a big sword and Van Gorkum is one of the weediest villains in movie history . Ben Kingsley adds gravitas , though his accent veers about like a hippo on a skateboard, and James Cosmo, Peter Mullan , Owen Teale , Alexander Siddig all perform fine supporting roles while Thomas Sangster is decent enough. Aishwarya Rai is arguably the best thing in the movie , though I will confess to a certain libidinous bias there.
Taking into account the mis-casting of the principle hero, the god-awful script, lacksidasical direction and the baffling and numerous examples of historical erroneousness The Last Legion should be a complete disaster . But somehow it emerges as a good looking diverting action filled event . It's complete nonsense but it's never dull .Call me as shallow as a puddle of worm pee but I for one would rather watch entertaining nonsense than tedious art. How they managed to turn the constituent parts of The Last Legion into a passable movie is a feat of alchemy worthy of Merlin himself.