The Last Legion (2007)

User Rating:

5.4/10   

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 | Roman Empire | Roman Legion | 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:

The statue of Gaius Julius Caesar (at 37:00) was not the primary statue used in Tunisia; rather, it was a special effects statue with a large gaping hole in its back and which was intended to be rigged to blow up. When production moved from Tunisia to Slovakia the primary statue was lost.

Goofs:

Factual errors: The sword the legendary king Arthur pulled from the stone was not Excalibur, he pulled a sword from the stone in the legend but that one later broke in battle, so he had a new blade forged: Excalibur. It would not make sense to most viewers however, if it wasn't Excalibur in the stone.

Quotes:

Aurelius: My friends, we've all seen many mornings like this one. Together we've watched the sun rise, and not known if that day would be our last. Some comrades I've seen, scarcely out of boyhood, trembling before their first battle.
Demetrius: It was a cold morning, Commander.
Aurelius: That it was, Demetrius. And you men of the Ninth Legion, all of us, together we have fought all our lives for the Empire our ancestors created, and together we have watched that Empire crumble to dust. And with its fall we have lost two friends. I can tell you that in the darkest moments...
[...]

Movie Connections:

References Love Actually (2003)

If you only have 2 hours to live SEE THIS MOVIE!!!

Because it'll feel like at least ten hours. Wow, I read the reviews before seeing this movie/ thing. People hated it. People liked it. I decided those who hated it were bitter, angry people who should lighten up and enjoy life. To those people, I apologize for thinking that. You were right. This movie seems to crawl from place to place without vision or energy. It's an epic stitched together with dull talks from actors who will take their paycheck and hope they can bounce back after this.

It does feel small budget. It also feels like the editor was told to put this together so families could watch it and then just decided not to try anymore. So not only does it drag, but the fight scenes are more like pushing and shoving scenes. But there was a technique employed that was clever. In it, we see someone throw something (an axe for example), we cut to another actor's reaction ("That's bad. I'm awake, right?"), then see the weapon lodged in a person's body. I think they did this three times, a great example of how well this was conceived.

If you don't understand what makes some movies bad and others good, check this out. It really will help you appreciate the good stuff.