September 3rd, 2010 | article by Denis Klotz | No Comments »
Tags: Action, Drama, Historical, Michael Fassbender, Neil Marshall, Rome, United Kingdom, War
company: Celedor Films
year: 2010
runtime: 98′
director: Neil Marshall
cast: Michael Fassbender, Olga Kurylenko,
Dominic West, Liam Cunningham,
David Morissey, Imogen Poots
writer: Neil Marshall
cinematography: Sam McCurdy
music: Ilan Eshkeri
Pre-order this film from Amazon.com:
Blu-ray
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It’s the year 117. The Roman conquest of Britain is going rather badly. Rome has been forced to a standstill by the Pictish tribes under their king Gorlacon (Ulrich Thomsen), because her military isn’t able to adapt to the guerrilla fighting techniques of her enemy. In a desperate last attempt at winning the war and saving his position, governor Agricola (Paul Freeman) decides to send the 9th legion under general Virilus (Dominic West) north to find and kill the Pictish king.
The only additional help Agricola gives Virilus is the female, tongue-less tracker Etain (Olga Kurylenko). This turns out to be a costly mistake. Etain leads the legion into a trap, and so its first contact with the enemy remains its last. Most of the men are slaughtered, Virilus captured and only a handful of Romans (like Liam Cunningham and Micky from Doctor Who – yes, we are in the usual “all Romans spoke with various UK accents” territory here) escape with their lives. Quintus Dias (Michael Fassbender), who had just escaped Pictish captivity, decides to lead the survivors into the Pictish camp to free their general.
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September 1st, 2010 | article by Kevin Pyrtle | No Comments »
… can seem a bit stale and long in the tooth, but it’s a picture with real production value that still finds time to impress. The costuming, art direction and set design are all impeccably handled along with the fine effects, making it one of the most satisfying of all the Taiwanese fantasy extravaganzas as far as actual quality is concerned.
August 30th, 2010 | article by Kevin Pyrtle | 3 Comments »
If there’s one thing that I always find myself thinking in the midst of a Korean monster movie experience, it’s that whatever is on screen is certainly not what I was expecting.
August 29th, 2010 | article by Kevin Pyrtle | 1 Comment »
…was always my younger sister’s favorite out of the Gamera films I had access to, and with the beer-goggles of the Frank version removed it’s easy to see why. This is colorful late-60s sci-fi fantasy at its most imaginative, and its ability to enthrall younger audiences is not to be underestimated.
August 29th, 2010 | article by Kevin Pyrtle | No Comments »
continues Gamera vs. Guiron’s trend towards fantastic children’s entertainment and remains the best of Gamera’s brief post-’60s adventures, only to be upstaged by Shusuke Kaneko’s mid-’90s resurrection of the franchise.
August 28th, 2010 | article by Kevin Pyrtle | No Comments »
I’m in some need of confirmation on this, but according to a listing at Amazon, Shusuke Kaneko’s classic 1990′s monster efforts Gamera: Guardian of the Universe and Gamera 2: Attack of Legion will be headed to budget-priced Blu-ray on October 12th. Retail price is a whopping $14.98, with Amazon.com currently allowing pre-orders at a price of just $10.49. Personally, I think this sounds too good to be true, but will be pre-ordering all the same.
