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| The Last Legion [2007] | ![The Last Legion [2007]](http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51dBQcdFK-L._SL160_.jpg)
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Avg. Customer Rating:  (based on 31 reviews)
Sales Rank: 803
Category: DVD
Actors: Colin Firth, Ben Kingsley, Peter Mullan, Kevin Mckidd, John Hannah
Director: Doug Lefler
Publisher: Momentum Pictures
Studio: Momentum Pictures
Manufacturer: Momentum Pictures
Label: Momentum Pictures
Format: Pal
Rating: Suitable for 12 years and over
Media: DVD
Running Time: 110 minutes
Number Of Items: 1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.2
Dimensions (in): 7.4 x 5.4 x 0.5
EAN: 5060116722024
ASIN: B000YDAJHM
Release Date: February 18, 2008
Theatrical Release Date: 2007
Availability: Usually dispatched within 1-2 business days
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| Customer Reviews: Read 26 more reviews...
 Unconvincing blend of history and legend. May 10, 2008
This movie begins in the realm of history and ends up in the realm of myth. Romulus Augustulus was the last emperor of the western Roman empire which had pretty much vanished under the onslaught of the barbarian invasions by the time he was installed in office, a pawn and a puppet controlled by a Gothic warlord. This young kid , a total nonentity, had the misfortune to be named after both the revered founder of Rome and after the first and most illustrious of its emperors, Augustulus meaning little Augustus. In 476 AD the warlord Odovacer sent the western imperial regalia to the eastern emperor in Constantinople implying that it was now redundant and gave young Romulus a nice pension and an estate near the Bay of Naples where, as far as we know, he spent the remainder of his life in peace.This movie initially follows the facts more or less but as soon as we get to southern Italy it lurches into the realm of myth and Romulus gets spirited away to Britannia where he and his companions become key figures in the foundation of the King Arthur legends. An unconvincing marriage of ideas in my opinion but not to the Italian guy who wrote the novel on which the movie is based.
This movie has its minor absurdities, the first of which to strike you will no doubt be Ben Kingsley's dodgy Welsh accent (at least I think it's Welsh.) No doubt the idea was to identify Ben as a Celt from dear Old Blighty but you'd think an actor of his clout might have persuaded the director that it was a bum idea. Then we have the curvacious Amazonian warrior who hails (I believe she said) from Kerala in India - shades here of Xena Warrior Princess and Bollywood. And then there's the epic trudge from Capri to Britannia across a Europe that was swarming with Barbarians and yet they appear not to encounter a single soul. I could go on.
On the plus side the movie zaps along at a fair old pace, there's always plenty of action of the sword and sandal variety although the cast of thousands never quite materialises even when computer generated effects could surely have added a few more. There's a solid cast of mainly British thesps but they're not well served by the material and frankly I thought Sir Ben was a tad embarassing (but, boy, wasn't he terrific and terrifing in Sexy Beast?)
The movie held my attention and it never bored me (a few evenings before I'd watched There Will be Blood and was yawning before the end.) But I suspect the younger you are the more likely you are to enjoy it and to overlook the absudities and unconvincing elements. Recommended, therefore, but not with the greatest enthusuasm. One to rent maybe?
 Terrible May 3, 2008
I love historical novels and films. Its ok if they skirt round the facts to make a good story sometimes. As long as the over all history is not effected largely. There have been many attempts to make a decent Arthurian film over the years. The previous ones, like this one, have all been terrible, with the exception of Disneys "Sword in the Stone".
This film is the worst I have ever seen, both as an adaptation of the arthurian legend and generally as a film. I will concede children might enjoy it, but then you would be teaching them all kinds of sillyness by allowing them to watch it.
There are problems with the casting (Colin Firth???), with the script, with the acting and over all with the cheese scooped in by the ton at the end. A lot of this may have to do with the source material (Veleri Massimo Manfredi's novel, which I forgot I had read it was so bad). When is someone going to make films out of a decent Arthurian source, which has good characters, is historically researched and has a brilliant story?? Bernard cornwells trilogy is crying out to be made into films and if well directed they could be ten times this effort.
I cannot stress how bad this film is and can only hope that the reviewers that have given it over two stars are blind, mad or idiots.
ouch! April 19, 2008
1 out of 2 found this review helpful
It's probably the "last" legion because all the others fell on their swords rather than appear in this turkey. Sorry, Colin, what a stinker.
 Last Legion April 18, 2008
2 out of 2 found this review helpful
I think this is a great 'fantasy' film. I say this as some are nit picking about the lack of historical fact. If it followed facts there would be no film at all, thats the whole point of the film, a good yarn!
And a damn good one at that. Gladiator is another example, not much fact but a great film. As for realism, Romulas, Vortkin, the Goths, the Eastern Empire, Hadrians Wall, all there for some realism. And a great stirring sound track.
So many problems..... April 16, 2008
3 out of 3 found this review helpful
I'd read some good reviews about this film so i figured i'd hire.
I would never recomend this film to anybody.
I found it difficult to work out who the target audience was for this film. It seemed a bit complicated for youngsters but they went all out for an epic which it really wasn't.
The script was useless and cheesy and you got your typical range of characters all played by the completely wrong people making it poorly acted. The accents of some of the barbarians made me laugh, the main bad guy sounding more like a cheesy russian than anything else. The pre-battle speech given was a joke.
They did a panning shot of the 'heroes' walking snowy peaks like they were trying to copy LOTR but failed in that too. This is mainly due to the fact of bad make up, i wasn't at all convinced that they had climbed that mountain looking so clean like they've just had a relaxing bath.
The budget must have been blown on the cast as the effects in the film were terrible.
Oh yeah I forgot to mention the storyline- weak, slow and repetitive.
I was really bored watching this film:
Bad cast, bad acting, Poor script, a cheesy affair, rubbish make-up and probably the worst fight scenes i've seen in a long time (I know it's a 12 but even a little bit of blood would have made it an inch more realistic)
Another British film done really badly.
It's got nothing on 'King Arthur' even with it's strong link to it.
Do yourself a favour and don't watch this film.
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