Steineded How sad is this?

Acensbart Excellent but underrated film

Beanbioca As Good As It Gets

StyleSk8r At first rather annoying in its heavy emphasis on reenactments, this movie ultimately proves fascinating, simply because the complicated, highly dramatic tale it tells still almost defies belief.

lord woodburry The Eagle is an impressive vista on Roman Briton. It gives fair airing to Roman and Brythonic points of view. Like Gaul, Eagle can be neatly divided into three parts: garrison life, life in the Roman colony and adventure north of the wall.As the curtain opens we meet Marcus Flavius Aquilla (Channing Tatum) a newly minted commander on his way to a frontier outpost where Druids are rousing the restive Celts to action against the occupying Roman Army. Seasoned veterans at the officer's mess are skeptical of the new commander. "He's probably unpacking his rule-book," quips Galba (Paul Ritter).Marcus surprises the officers and men with detecting an attack on the fort early enough to interdict it. There is quite a long wait in the dark of damp northern England during which Galba's stare tells it all. However Lutorious (Denis O'Hare) stands by the commander seemingly with bemused detachment. To the experienced legionnaire's surprise, Marcus was right. The Keltoi attack just as Marcus appears ready to call off the alert. New to the post, he isn't used to all the nocturnal noise that conceals the approach of Celtic warriors. Injured in combat Marcus is sent to his uncle's villa in Southern Britain where Lutorious delivers news of the battle streamer awarded the unit, Marcus' medal and an honorable discharge.Donald Sutherland plays Uncle Aurelius to perfection. As the most experienced actor in the cast he refrains from overpowering the stars Jaime Bell and Channing Tatum. But I think that Sutherland's genius in this film was that he was playing himself: the elderly urbane white liberal, a man of bearing, sophistication, distinction, culture and refinement. Inviting a notable to the dinner table, Uncle Aurelius chides the guests about his vegetarian fare: "fish and eggs; lets not all rush at once." Uncle believes that slaves should serve voluntarily or be left to their own devices. Uncle buys Esca (Jaime Bell) a slave to tend to Marcus but doesn't care if the slave runs away. This Keltoi slave had been rescued by Marcus from a blood thirsty crowd in the arena because Esca had faced death unafraid. Reduced to personal servitude, Esca tells Marcus he hates everything Roman but will serve out of personal obligation, gratitude for being spared.When the fully recovered Marcus decides on the adventure north of the wall to recover the lost Eagle of the 9th Legion Uncle with utter hypocrisy bluntly tells Marcus that one can not trust the word of a slave. "He says what he says and does what he does because he has to." This sets the scene for the third act, the adventure north of the wall.North of the wall there's a roll reversal, Marcus becomes Esca's slave. Yet true to his word, Esca helps Marcus recover the Eagle and defend it from re-capture.The film is exceptional, partially because the lines of the Keltoi are scripted in the once outlawed Gaelic language with subtitles. When the Romans speak, they speak in English.

Python Hyena The Eagle (2011): Dir: Kevin MacDonald / Cast: Channing Tatum, Jamie Bell, Donald Sutherland, Mark Strong, Tahar Rahim: Mediocre medieval film about this sacred eagle idol that must be recovered. Channing Tatum plays the young commander of the Roman garrison who leads the battle against the Celtic tribesmen. He is honorably discharged when injured in battle. His task is to claim the eagle statue for which they are represented as well as learn what became of his father when it went missing. He is joined by a slave whom he saved from certain execution. These idol quest are becoming a joke. Why not just carve out another one and save yourself a lot of agony. Director Kevin MacDonald is backed by fine production and fast pace action battle scenes but the screenplay is a joke. Tatum survives the material and strides onward despite injury but the concluding battle is far predictable. Jamie Bell does well as the slave whom is never quite centred in terms of his intentions and that is what makes him effective. Some of his actions are predictable while others are a guessing game. Donald Sutherland is underused as Tatum's uncle who oversees his recovery. Mark Strong steals his moments as a survivor of Tatum's father's army. He tells of the battle and how fleeing seems only logical. Tahar Rahim has the laughable title of Prince of the Seal People, which sounds about as stupid as calling himself Flipper. The film is well made but way too familiar and corny. It is like going on a quest to find a rare Christmas ornament that will make little difference to the overall holiday. All in all, this film never flies. Score: 3 ½ / 10

s-g-chandler The premise of this film is so similar to Centurion that it is only mentioned in the same breath in release dates. The latter is a breath of fresh air, with memorable performances. Unfortunately the Eagle is not such an example. The lazy acting from Tatum and Bell is shocking. No attempt is made to create a lasting and emotive legacy. The former obviously did no research into this position.Monologues from Channing Tatum are delivered with the emotive capacity if a vacuum cleaner. The fact remains that quick, cheap Hollywood productions care so little for the history of a small isle that they cast out-of-depth LA wannabes in roles far beyiond their capacity.This film is awful in cinematography and plot. Centurion far outreaches it with, i'm guessing, half the budget.Another example of an over-inflated LA screenwriter with no idea what he is doing.I would like to meet the production team so I could let them know what work actually is and how they could actually earn their money!!!

Wuchak Marcus (Channing Tatum), a Roman discharged from the army due to injuries, enlists the aid of a Briton slave, Esca (Jamie Bell), to go into the Pictish wilderness north of Hadrian's Wall to apprehend the gold eagle standard that was lost when the ninth legion went missing twenty years earlier circa 120 AD. Marcus' motivations are to save his family's honor, but will Esca remain a faithful slave or slit Marcus' throat at the first opportunity? Donald Sutherland has a significant side role as Marcus' uncle. "The Eagle" (2011) is reminiscent of films like "Centurion" (2010), "Black Death" (2010) and "Black Robe" (1991). It lacks the greatness of the latter two, but it's almost on par with first one. As a matter of fact, "The Eagle" is the unofficial sequel to that film (more on this below). "Black Death" has deeper, more interesting themes while "Black Robe" is in a league of its own as far as gritty realism goes.Where "The Eagle" shines is the authentic Scottish locations, the beautiful cinematography, and the mysteriousness of going into the unknown, as well as the depictions of the various warrior tribes and the quality score. Unfortunately, the story is only moderately compelling and the relationship between Marcus and Esca isn't that interesting. Furthermore, there are no women, except meaningless side characters in the distance; the other three films noted above, as well as "King Arthur," didn't make this mistake.Also, there is a roll-your-eyes sequence in the last act where some tribesmen (and a boy) on foot are able to keep up with two guys on horses over the course of a couple days. Why sure! Still, if you like any of the other four movies noted above "The Eagle" is a must.Be sure to catch the aforementioned "Centurion" because it chronicles the fate of the ninth legion and Marcus' father two decades before the events of "The Eagle" take place (even though it's just cinematic conjecture, of course). Although "The Eagle" has a way better first act and more gritty realism, "Centurion" is more conventionally entertaining, contains important female characters and has a better final act. The film runs 114 minutes.GRADE: B