Centurion

[David R]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k6eJf4tukWw

So, what do you think, old chap?

Regards,
David R

[Edsan]

I think it will be a piece of garbage. It looks like the prequel to that King Arthur movie with Clive Owen.

I'll still probably go see it, I'm a sucker for guys dressed as romans fighting fur-clad axe-carrying savages.

If I lower my expectations enough I might even be able to enjoy it. I could list everything about the trailer that made me roll my eyes, but I don't feel like writing it all down at this late hour.

[RPGPundit]

I don't expect it to be very good at all. For some reason its so hard for Roman-historical films to be any good.

RPGPundit

[Ian Absentia]

Skinny women are apparently really, really strong.

!i!

[Kyle Aaron]

I think it looks AWESOME.

[Edsan]

I agree with you Kyle. It does indeed look awesome. Romans in parade always kick ass visually; and the the blonde eastern european chick playing the celtic action-woman of the hour is something I'd tap.

Now, whether the eye-candy comes accompanied by a filling story, remains to be seen.

[arminius]

It does look awful. I'll further postulate that any movie whose title is a single-word non-proper-noun description of what the movie is "about" is likely to be crap, more likely than usual in fact.

It isn't really that hard for Roman historical films to be good, IMO, it's just that these days Hollywood has decided simply to repackage the audience's preconceptions and sell them back to them.

On top of all that, this movie obviously has decided to show the Romans as "good guys", which they weren't. (I'm not saying anyone else was any better, but the trailer makes them out to be action heroes vs. an evil enemy, and the Picts don't even deserve to be used as stand-ins for the Taliban, much less as Independence Day-style aliens.)

Good Roman movies include, though by no means are limited to:

Spartacus (Kirk Douglas)
I, Claudius
Salome's Last Dance (It's a good movie! Not exactly history.)
Jesus Christ Superstar (A rock musical and decent history.)
The Life of Brian
Masada (TV miniseries)

[RPGPundit]

The Romans were the good guys, the Picts were barely human (not just the romans, but ABSOLUTELY EVERYONE around them hate the Picts). That part of it is accurate (if that indeed turns out to be the case).

RPGPundit

[Cranewings]

Why would anyone dislike that movie? It looks just like Brave Heart or Patriot or Gladiator, or any of that other shit. It isn't a documentary on roman life. It is an action movie with roman era costumes.

The setting is just a background for fighting, running, and fucking. I think it looks bad ass.

[JongWK]

Olga Kurylenko is in it? I approve.

[Doom]

The 'King Arthur' movie was a 90 minute concatenation of WTF-itude.

At least this one seems to be a bit more grounded in a historical event...probably just a mindless hackfest, but sometimes these movies do better than they should (cf Pathfinder).

[Kyle Aaron]

As a gamer, the worth of a movie is often determined by whether or not it looks like an rpg session.

"The whole legion is wiped out by savages, only you survive to try to make your way back home," is an excellent premise for a campaign.

[Casey777]

Looks like they expanded the opening battle with the Germans in Gladiator to a full movie and put it on 11 (MOAR FIREBALLS) in a blender with Last Legion and King Arthur. On a lower budget without Ridley Scott. But still with the @#$@#$ camerawork. No Byzantine sekrit agent Xenas from India though.

Huh, thought that was going to be about the legion that died in Germany (isn't there a movie in the works on that?). Looks like the legion depicted in this movie likely ceased to exist in Judea or Parthia. :confused: That'd be a change of pace, esp. Parthians.

There's also another film on this legend coming out this year, based on a historical novel from the 50s.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Eagle_of_the_Ninth_%28film%29

I'm all for bad Roman films but can't they at least try something else with 100s of years of history and legend to pick from? Punic Wars, Pontic Wars, Year of the Four Emperors, Constantine blah blah- :rant: At least Romans don't wear bad leather outfits all the time anymore.

[David R]

"The whole legion is wiped out by savages, only you survive to try to make your way back home," is an excellent premise for a campaign.

You forgot about the "chased by hot chicks" part.

Regards,
David R

[Casey777]

"The whole legion is wiped out by savages, only you survive to try to make your way back home," is an excellent premise for a campaign.

Hells it was the whole premise for Twilight 2000 and that game line lasted for years and three editions only ended by GDW's demise and is back in print, PDF and now a new edition.