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The Eagle (2011) ” … an anti-Gladiator movie?” | The Warden’s Walk | Movie Review

Anthony LawtonLeave a comment

The novel The Eagle of the Ninth, by Rosemary Sutcliff, is one of blogger David Urbach’s favourite authors: “I desperately wanted to see this (film The Eagle). Been waiting for it for years”. David has commented previously here on this Rosemary Sutcliff blog, and writes his own intriguing The Wardens Walk, with reviews of fantasy and sci-fi books, movies, and webcomics. He writes a long, thoughtful analysis of The Eagle. He starts his key thoughts section:

In some ways, The Eagle is sort of an anti-Gladiator movie. The scale is realistic and human rather than epic. The locales are tangibly real instead of glitzy CGI. The heroes do not engage in superstar posturing, do not splatter their enemies’ blood at every opportunity, and do value honor and mercy over revenge. It may not be as thrilling or spectacular as Gladiator, but it’s more internally consistent, and, in its own way, wiser and more heartening.

His recommendation is:

Not a perfect movie, but very good and rather unique. For those who like movies about ancient Rome and period adventure stories, yes. Also, if you saw Gladiator (2000) and thought “Well that’s fun, but I wonder what it all really looked like,” then you should see this movie. The Eagle should appeal to movie-lovers who are frustrated with the way modern action movies prefer to ignore story and character in favor of rushing from bloody killing to bloody killing. It’s an exciting adventure that really does care about the characters and their relationship

And after a detailed analysis, in ‘quick conclusion’ he comments:

…  despite some flaws with ‘Shaky Cam’ and a bare-bones script, The Eagle is an exciting and beautiful-looking adventure, with a strong sense of place and themes that are wiser and more unique than are usually found in period Hollywood movies.

The Eagle movie compared to classic American western- Hammervision Movie Review

Anthony LawtonLeave a comment

For those of you still wrestling with whether to see “The Eagle”, I think it is a fair statement to compare it to such classic early American westerns as “A Man Called Horse” (1970) and “A Man in the Wilderness” (1971). Both starred the late Richard Harris as an American trapper and explorer forced to come to grips with the indigenous people whose land he was invading. In “The Eagle”, Tatum goes through the same metamorphosis as he sees first hand the destruction that Rome has visited on local tribes in the name of glory and conquest.
Source: Movie Review – The Eagle – Hammervision.

The Eagle film of Rosemary Sutcliff’s history novel The Eagle of the Ninth reaches far east and central Europe

Anthony Lawton1 Comment

The Eagle film (movie), based upon Rosemary Sutcliff‘s novel The Eagle of the Ninth, was released on Wednesday (16th February) in The Phillipines, and today (18th February) in Romania. Maybe some people in those countries will stumble on this blog and post at the You Write tab about your views of Rosemary Sutcliff and how well the book is translated to the screen. The film opens in Indonesia on 23rd February and Thailand on 24th. (I have managed to find a Romanian film poster today, 20 February, but not yet any Romanian reviews)

Jonathan Kim ReThink Review | The Eagle Movie Film | Slavery Before Dishonour?

Anthony LawtonLeave a comment

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?

The Eagle movie is best liked, least disliked film release of the week

Anthony Lawton2 Comments

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.Read More »