The Last Legion (2007)

Director:

Doug Lefler

Writers (WGA):

Jez Butterworth (screenplay) &
Tom Butterworth (screenplay) ...

Release Date:

17 August 2007 (USA)

Genre:

Action | Adventure | Fantasy | War

Tagline:

Before King Arthur, there was Excalibur.

Plot:

As the Roman empire crumbles, young Romulus Augustus flees the city and embarks on a perilous voyage to Britain to track down a legion of supporters.

Plot Keywords:

Soldier | Capri | Sword | Roman Empire | Emperor

Awards:

2 nominations

Cast

Colin Firth	...	Aurelius
Ben Kingsley	...	Ambrosinus / Merlin
Aishwarya Rai	...	Mira
Peter Mullan	...	Odoacer
Kevin McKidd	...	Wulfila
John Hannah	...	Nestor
Iain Glen	...	Orestes
Thomas Sangster	...	Romulus Augustus
Rupert Friend	...	Demetrius
Nonso Anozie	...	Batiatus
Owen Teale	...	Vatrenus
Alexander Siddig	...	Theodorus Andronikos
Robert Pugh	...	Kustennin
James Cosmo	...	Hrothgar
Harry Van Gorkum	...	Vortgyn

Also Known As:

L'ultima legione (Italy)
La dernière légion (France)

MPAA:

Rated PG-13 for sequences of intense action violence.

Runtime:

102 min

Country:

UK | Italy | France | Tunisia

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

DTS | Dolby Digital | SDDS

Certification:

USA:PG-13 | Netherlands:12 | Germany:12 | Portugal:M/12 | Singapore:PG | UK:12A | France:Unrated | Ireland:12A | Malaysia:U | Finland:K-13 | New Zealand:M | Argentina:13

Filming Locations:

Cerveny Castle, Pezinok, Slovakia

Company:

Dino De Laurentiis Company

Trivia:

Ferdinand Kingsley, son of actor Ben Kingsley, played Sir Ben Kingsley's character in flashbacks as a young man in Britannia (at 13:27).

Goofs:

Revealing mistakes: When Wulfila's finger is about to be sliced off, the knife put up against it is placed blunt/dull side towards the finger, thus making it impossible to slice off the finger.

Quotes:

Young Arthur: Merlin, it's just a legend, just a story.
Ambrosinus: Arthur, Arthur, Arthur... have I ever lied to you?
Young Arthur: Every day.

Movie Connections:

References Love Actually (2003)

Disappointment

I just got done watching this movie. And I must say, if you really want to see this movie, save yourself an hour and a half, and just watch the trailer. The trailer is really as good as this movie gets. I'm sorry, I had high hopes for this movie too. I'm a big fan of medieval and roman films, but this one really just falls short on everything. I would say thats its worthy of being a sci-fi channel original movie, but I don't don't want to insult the sci-fi channel (Seriously, they have tons of aliens and monster, don't tick them off. You will get eaten.)

This movie falls short on pretty much every account. Casting was awful. I'm a fan of Sangster, he was great in Love Actually, but he's not yet strong enough to be a leading man. Firth, with his quirky charm, should stick to romantic comedy. He's much better at fumbling through a confession of love than being an epic hero. The plot, dialog, acting and directing were all horrible. I kept sitting there thinking how it could have been done better, only to come to the realization the best thing to do would be to throw out everything and start over from the plot outline. The sets cheap and generic. They would have done better dusting off set pieces from Ben Hur(1959). Costumes were pulled from every generic Barbarian/Roman stock wardrobe or Halloween store. Perhaps one of the most distracting things was the music. I think the composer is sleeping with one or more of his trumpet players because thats all we heard. Trumpets playing as they hide, Trumpets sounding during the battle, Trumpets here, Trumpets there. Couldn't get enough of them.

At best this movie is a rental to watch at home. When you're alone. In a windowless room. Don't invite your friends over, they will make fun of you. I'm sorry if this sounds cruel, but, like the parent of a child failing kindergarten, I'm simply trying to express my disappointment for a film that could have been so much better. Its just sad.