The Eagle does many things right, especially in the first third of the film. The sets and costumes are high-quality, and the film is beautifully shot in Hungary and the Scottish highlands. Eschewing computer-generated effects, The Eagle does a good job of depicting the brutality of ancient warfare, though the editing during the battle scenes is a bit choppy. The film also illustrates the strategic and technological advantages that helped the Romans win so many battles, as well as the obsessive, almost religious militarism that enabled the Empire’s spread and drives Marcus’ quest.
Source: Jonathan Kim: ReThink Review: The Eagle — Slavery Before Dishonor?
Month: February 2011
Rosemary Sutcliff, children’s writer and historical novelist of The Minstrel Kind
Readers of Rosemary Sutcliff have to expect to be spellbound in the tradition of storytelling that’s much older than reading and writing, when before the days of written records bards and minstrels were entrusted with the memory of a tribe. Rosemary Sutcliff is in this tradition; she says of herself that she’s ‘of the minstrel kind’. Read More »
The Eagle movie is best liked, least disliked film release of the week
So how is the film of Rosemary Sutcliff’s The Eagle of the Ninth doing on its release in the US? Before we look at the money data, here is an interesting thing! If you look at the ratings to films given by readers of www.boxofficemojo.com, more people give the Eagle an A or B than any other of the new releases; and fewer lowest grade Fs! So fewer people are going to The Eagle than the other films, but more like it a good deal and fewer hate it than any other movie! What may this mean? Of course it depends on sample size, it is a self selecting set of voters, there are ‘lies, damned lies, and statistics’, but I choose to be encouraged! I imagine marketing gurus have algorithims they use to predict future sales from a combination of early takings and how much people like the film , and over time they may be more interested in the number of visitors and what they pay than their satisfaction, but I suspect there is a correlation … and I would be intrigued to know what the forecasts are.
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Орел девятого легиона | Russian Twitter on The Eagle of the Ninth film
Орел девятого легиона. I have found some Russian Tweets about The Eagle film which they call, like the book, The Eagle of the Ninth Legion! Thus for example this qualified welcome!
Орел девятого легиона – не совсем классический, но довольно интересный фильм про римскую империю. Честь, доблесть, судьба и все такое.
translated is
Eagle of the Ninth Legion – not quite a classic, but quite an interesting film about the Roman Empire. Honor, courage, destiny and all that.
Russian Reviews for film The Eagle Орел Девятого легиона
On Thursday, a day before it opened in the US, The Eagle was released in Russia. (In the last three days there have been more referrals from the Russian language version of Wikipedia than the American/English one). Does anyone who reads this read Russian or know Russian friends who may have seen the film? Using Google to translate has its limitations, and takes much toing and froing, but for example one review ended:
Однако Кевин МакДональд, прежде не работавший в таком сложном жанре, может быть доволен своей работой.
which Google translates as
However, Kevin McDonald, had never worked in such a difficult genre, can be satisfied with his work.
I am as intrigued to know the film is being received and written about there as in the US. And they (like the French and German) keep the title of the book as the title of the film! I do wish the Americans had done, then it would be properly entitled here!
ROSEMARY SUTCLIFF (1920-92) 