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Centurion (2009 Film)


Kieronus

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I just caught this film on pay-per-view, and was curious why it wasn't released in U.S. theaters. It was a far cry better than King Arthur and I was pleased a great deal. As said in an above post, it isn't ROME, but it was enjoyable.

 

Next one I am waiting for, is Eagle of the Ninth.

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I just caught this film on pay-per-view, and was curious why it wasn't released in U.S. theaters. It was a far cry better than King Arthur and I was pleased a great deal. As said in an above post, it isn't ROME, but it was enjoyable.

 

Next one I am waiting for, is Eagle of the Ninth.

 

 

It had no publicity here in the UK at all. It came and went (I was in the US at the time so I missed it - arrrrgghhhhh!). I can't understand why, Neil Marshall packs enough clout to have better promo than Centurion had.

 

I've heard that its out in the US on 27th August, though.

 

Cheers

 

Russ

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  • 4 weeks later...

Its a brilliant brilliant movie and the kit is as accurate as it could be. They wanted to use pila but apparently health and safety regulations would allow this. From what I know there were something like 300 extras (re-enactors and stuntmen) involved in big army scenes, they had historical advisers and all the rest it, but there were certain things they couldn't do. Irritatingly, 20 pages of script were cut before shooting started as Marshall was under severe pressure to shorten the running time and he's said more than once that he was gutted about this.

 

Its great as it is, but I wish there could be a super-extended directors cut (but I've already asked and can confirm that what we have on DVD IS the directors cut).

 

One of the great bits is the destruction of the ninth (that's not a spoiler, guys). It shows the battle as fiercely contested with loads of people dying on both sides - something that's quite rare in battle scenes these days...normally you get the slow motion montage of whoever's losing getting it right left and centre. Not so here, its a massive brawl with the Romans giving almost as good as they're getting.

 

Importantly, it doesn't make out that every Pict is a super-ninja and every Roman the equivalent of a Star Wars stormtrooper who can't hit the broad side of a barn.

 

Also, the movie doesn't get into the pulpit at any stage and make allegories about Roman imperialism fighting against a low-tech but plucky and highly motivated native force. Centurion is what it is...a brilliant action movie.

 

A piece of cinema, its probably short of "Gladiator" in terms of (cinematic) quality, but from what I can tell looks and feels more authentic in historical terms.

 

One of the best films of 2010 thus far and certainly deserves an awards nod for the music.

 

Cheers

 

Russ

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Bored with daytime tv today, I decided to surf the On Demand channel on cable. At the last minute I browsed the "New Releases" list and came upon the movie "Centurion". Curious, I went head and ordered it, for $6.99! I thought that was a bit much, but hey it must be good for that price. Normally movies are $3.99 - $4.99.

 

Well,the first part was not bad. The last half hour I nearly turned it off because it was getting way too predictable.And either I'm going deaf or the cable company is at fault, but I had a difficult time hearing some of the dialogue. Plus I was disappointed that they found it necessary to have not one but three "gorgeous, half clad" female characters - for once I'd like to see plain Janes in strong female roles. How did Arianne keep those blond tresses so beautifully permed?? I know - it's the movies. Anyway, it seemed I was watching an HBO series instead of a movie. Agree, the uniforms of the soldiers were great (not that I'm an expert on that). I disagree that it deserves any awards.

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Hmm, I

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Was it the "three gorgeous half-clad female characters"? :lol: That's when the film started to remind me of "Conan, the Barbarian".

 

Cool! "Conan, the Barbarian" is an all-time classic, so I have a feeling I

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Saw this a few weeks ago. The action scenes weren't half bad, although they were extremly gory - plus they looked rather fake while watching it in HD (although i don't think thsi would be a problem on standard definition). Too bad that so many interesting looking characters were introduced and then killed off within minutes.

 

I recommend watching it if you love action films, and I agree with Russ that the Roman armour in the film looks cool.

Edited by DecimusCaesar
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This feminine characters of the last ten years that can fight very well pose some problems that those who made this movie ignored with disastrous consequences.

The villain was a pretty young women, a hero, a freedom fighter and a victim of terrible abuse. The fact that the main character beat and killed her does not really make him heroic, even if he was in self defense (the self defense of an invader BTW).

Then they introduce a roman woman that he soon beats up.

Well done, big man, your greatest achievements are that you hit some women! Yay!

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