02-13-2011, 09:23 PM
Many decades ago, in 7th Grade, Rosemary Sutcliff woke my passion for history with her novel The Eagle of the Ninth. Over the years I became a dedicated student of Roman military history determined to find out how much was fact and fiction in hers and other novels.
I am predisposed to like this genre of movies because they are so rarely made.
The first half of the movie (one hour, 57 minutes including credits) follows the book fairly well, the names of the characters are the same (except the screenplay makes Lutorius the second in command of Marcus Flavius Aquila (the main character) whereas in the book he is the commander of the Dacian cavalry troop. The fort is small for a cohort and this is evident in the frontal shots of it but the defenses and buildings look authentic. The armor of the legionaries is typical of a movie shot in eastern Europe (the fort sequences were filmed in Hungary) and looks like leather versions of segmented armor, one would expect a cohort of Gallic auxiliaries to have oval shields and mail armor but the movie (and book) claim the cohort as belonging to the Legio II Augusta so that might be overlooked. The movie and book both make the mistake of making the cohort commander the Pilus Prior Centurion when of course an auxiliary cohort should be commanded by a Prefect. The battle scenes are satisfying, as usual the unwritten Roman movie battle scene requirement of FIRE being used as fulfilled (even Spartacus had burning logs). I was massively disappointed in the Britons using Roman chariots instead of British chariots. I was looking forward to seeing a small mass of open fronted, leather mesh floored British chariots.
The second half of the movie changes from the book considerably. Marcus does not assume the guise of an eye physcian and Esca, his slave, becomes a prince of the Brigantes (rather than a warrior of the tribe). The flashback scenes of the demise of the IX Hispania are disappointing due to the small numbers in the scenes (the descriptions in the book, though short, are much more descriptive. In the movie the Seal People become a separate tribe rather than a clan of the Epidaii tribe in the book. The culture invented for the sea people did not ring true with me, it felt more like an American Indian culture.
The climax of the movie had been spoiled somewhat by the commercials on TV prior to release. It was obvious from them that there would be more of the IX Hispania's lost legionaries coming to Marcus and Esca's assistance than the one (Guern) of the book, and the final battle also a change from the book.
I expected the movie to be better than Centurion and I have to say it is not. I am overjoyed that the treasures novel of my youth has come to life on the big screen but am let down with the result. On a scale of 1 - 5 with 5 being best it is a 2 (bear in mind I'm predisposed to like any movie of this genre). It is not a movie I would go to see again but probably deserves a look at least once be the people who participate in this forum. No doubt I'll buy the DVD but only because of its association with the book.
I sat through the long end credits to try and identify the historical or Roman military adviser for the movie, I as not surprised to see that NO ONE is listed. No doubt anyone of us would have been invaluable to lending more authenticity to it (my dream job would is historical adviser to the History Channel or Military Channel).
I recommend it for Rosemary Sutcliff fans, others could probably wait for the DVD or their local library to obtain a copy when it comes out.
I am predisposed to like this genre of movies because they are so rarely made.
The first half of the movie (one hour, 57 minutes including credits) follows the book fairly well, the names of the characters are the same (except the screenplay makes Lutorius the second in command of Marcus Flavius Aquila (the main character) whereas in the book he is the commander of the Dacian cavalry troop. The fort is small for a cohort and this is evident in the frontal shots of it but the defenses and buildings look authentic. The armor of the legionaries is typical of a movie shot in eastern Europe (the fort sequences were filmed in Hungary) and looks like leather versions of segmented armor, one would expect a cohort of Gallic auxiliaries to have oval shields and mail armor but the movie (and book) claim the cohort as belonging to the Legio II Augusta so that might be overlooked. The movie and book both make the mistake of making the cohort commander the Pilus Prior Centurion when of course an auxiliary cohort should be commanded by a Prefect. The battle scenes are satisfying, as usual the unwritten Roman movie battle scene requirement of FIRE being used as fulfilled (even Spartacus had burning logs). I was massively disappointed in the Britons using Roman chariots instead of British chariots. I was looking forward to seeing a small mass of open fronted, leather mesh floored British chariots.
The second half of the movie changes from the book considerably. Marcus does not assume the guise of an eye physcian and Esca, his slave, becomes a prince of the Brigantes (rather than a warrior of the tribe). The flashback scenes of the demise of the IX Hispania are disappointing due to the small numbers in the scenes (the descriptions in the book, though short, are much more descriptive. In the movie the Seal People become a separate tribe rather than a clan of the Epidaii tribe in the book. The culture invented for the sea people did not ring true with me, it felt more like an American Indian culture.
The climax of the movie had been spoiled somewhat by the commercials on TV prior to release. It was obvious from them that there would be more of the IX Hispania's lost legionaries coming to Marcus and Esca's assistance than the one (Guern) of the book, and the final battle also a change from the book.
I expected the movie to be better than Centurion and I have to say it is not. I am overjoyed that the treasures novel of my youth has come to life on the big screen but am let down with the result. On a scale of 1 - 5 with 5 being best it is a 2 (bear in mind I'm predisposed to like any movie of this genre). It is not a movie I would go to see again but probably deserves a look at least once be the people who participate in this forum. No doubt I'll buy the DVD but only because of its association with the book.
I sat through the long end credits to try and identify the historical or Roman military adviser for the movie, I as not surprised to see that NO ONE is listed. No doubt anyone of us would have been invaluable to lending more authenticity to it (my dream job would is historical adviser to the History Channel or Military Channel).
I recommend it for Rosemary Sutcliff fans, others could probably wait for the DVD or their local library to obtain a copy when it comes out.
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