Ironclad (2011)

In thirteenth century England, a Knights Templar and few of the Barons men, fight to defend Rochester Castle against the tyrannical King John.

Director:

Jonathan English

Writers:

Jonathan English (story & screenplay), Stephen McDool (first screenplay)

Stars:

Paul Giamatti, Jason Flemyng, Brian Cox

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
James Purefoy	...	Thomas Marshal
Brian Cox	...	Baron William d'Aubigny
Kate Mara	...	Lady Isabel
Derek Jacobi	...	Baron Reginald de Cornhill
Paul Giamatti	...	King John
Charles Dance	...	Archbishop Langton
Jason Flemyng	...	Gil Becket
Jamie Foreman	...	Jedediah Coteral
Mackenzie Crook	...	Daniel Marks
Rhys Parry Jones	...	Joseph Wulfstan
Aneurin Barnard	...	Guy the Squire
Vladimir Kulich	...	Captain Tiberius
David Melville	...	Baron Darnay
Annabelle Apsion	...	Maddy
Steffan Rhodri	...	Cooper

Storyline

It is the year 1215 and the rebel barons of England have forced their despised King John to put his royal seal to the Magna Carta, a noble, seminal document that upheld the rights of free men. Yet within months of pledging himself to the great charter, the King reneged on his word and assembled a mercenary army on the south coast of England with the intention of bringing the barons and the country back under his tyrannical rule. Barring his way stood the mighty Rochester castle, a place that would become the symbol of the rebel's momentous struggle for justice and freedom.

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Plot Keywords:

knight | castle | king | england | templar | 

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Taglines:

Heavy metal goes medieval

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Genres:

Action | Adventure | Drama | History | Romance | War

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for strong graphic brutal battle sequences, and brief nudity

Details

Official Sites:

Official Facebook Official site [Japan]

Country:

UK Switzerland USA Germany

Language:

English Hungarian Latin Danish

Release Date:

26 July 2011 (USA)

Also Known As:

Templar

Filming Locations:

Tree Tower Manor, Wales, UK

Box Office

Budget:

$25,000,000 (estimated)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Mythic International Entertainment, ContentFilm International, Film & Entertainment VIP Medienfonds 4 GmbH & Co. KG (I)

Technical Specs

Runtime:

121 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Paul Giamatti filmed his role in seven days.

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Goofs

During the historic 1215 siege of Rochester Castle, the Kings forces initially gained access by mining the south east tower in the curtain wall. This method was then repeated on the south east tower of the keep. The film fails to show the Keep is completely surrounded by the curtain wall as well as the first tower's collapse. The castle today still shows evidence of the two collapsed towers, as they were later rebuilt as semi-circular, compared with the original square towers.

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Quotes

Captain Tiberius: How's your faith now, Templar?
Marshall: Why don't you come a little closer
[raises sword]
Marshall: and I'll show you.

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Crazy Credits

As the last end credits roll, there is the following language: No animals were harmed in the filming of this picture. "Especially Newts. "

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Connections

Featured in Projector: Ironclad (2011)

User Reviews

437th Review: Blood and Valour (But mostly blood)

Definitely shot in a Ridley Scott fashion this is an effective medieval pot-boiler with some moral vision and lots and lots of gruesome full-on combat scenes - without a doubt some of the more bone-crunching, blood squelching fights of recent memory.

Is a great movie? No. It never quite delivers on its promise, and though extremely competent it just can't quite produce that true magic that better films can. It is, however, a highly competent and interesting historical drama. I have some quibbles with costuming etc; but that kind of goes with the territory.

All in all, this is a full-on medieval siege account of the Siege of Rochester -it is well made is most respects and if medieval battles are your thing then you'll be into it.