I Would Be Proud To Stand By This ‘Centurion’
My love for writers/directors Robert Rodriguez and Christopher Nolan is not a secret around here, but one man that often gets overlooked, because of his UK presence in my opinion, is Neil Marshall. He put out a pair of my favorite films in the past five years, Descent and Doomsday. Now I did not mean to make it seem like these are my two most favorite films of the past five years, but rather I would like to come across by expressing the fact that they are in an elite class of what I would consider to be my most desirable and most watched movies made since 2005. I can’t even count on two hands how many times I watched the both of these. Descent was quite the fresh take on the horror genre in my opinion, while Doomsday was just a blissful orgy/cornucopia of all my favorite movie genres blended into one, and it did not hurt that the beautiful Rhona Mitra was the leading lady either.
Well I don’t know how I let this one slip my radar, but while reading one of my favorite daily websites, I came across an interview with Neil Marshall. Now I knew he was working on this Centurion project, but due to not being tuned into UK movie news, I had no idea the film was completed and already being showed theatrically around the globe. But wait! We live in the US of A. What about us? Well thankfully during my reading I learned that several cable networks have this available via Video on Demand (VOD). So one of the first things I did when I got home was to flip on my Time Warner service and make sure this one was there. Sure enough, Centurion showed up as an Early Screener, 48-hour rental, for $9.99. Not being an advocate of their VOD service, I seriously debated watching this. I could hold out and wait for the hopeful glorious Blu-ray release or I can watch a subpar non-surround sound HD broadcast in the privacy of my own home. It was a tough decision to make. Surprisingly, I chose the later, despite being a cheap a$$. I mean after all, it is a Neil Marshall film!
The feature was originally penned under the working title of Ninth Legion. And that’s exactly what the movie is about…the Ninth Legion. Marshall had no interest in making this film historically accurate, at least none that I know of. But that also could be contributed to the fact that no one truly knows what happened to the 4,000 Roman soldiers who marched into Scotland and mysteriously disappeared. Instead, Marshall took the legend and made an action thriller out of it. Did he succeed? I think so, but I would honestly have to say that this movie would be ranked third by me when comparing it to my other two Marshall favorites I mentioned before. However, I will still be anxiously awaiting a return visit to Centurion should it ever be released on Blu-ray in the US. For the time being, I’m just glad I was able to catch this.
The film tells the tale of Centurion Quintus Dias (Michael Fassbender) and how he is rescued by the Ninth Legion, marching under the command of Titus Flavius Virilus (Dominic West). The Titus was commissioned to wipe out the Picts once and for all and to kill their king, Gorlacon (Ulrich Thomsen). The Ninth Legion was escorted by a treacherous tracker named Etain (the beautiful Olga Kurylenko). Now despite her beauty, she’s one person you ought to be afraid of. There’s nowhere you can ever possibly hide from her and when she finds you, she’s guaranteed to kill you. You can take that to the bank (just like Dan Gilbert says). Well long story short, the mighty Ninth Legion is massacred in a surprise attack they never saw coming. Seven survivors are all that’s left standing, post ambush, and their objective now is to rescue their captured commander. Yep, that’s right. You read it right. Seven survivors are going to take on a whole army of Picts. I know what you are thinking. Good luck! And even if they rescue their fallen general, will they be able to make it home safely? What does your gut feeling tell you? I will tell you this much. This Centurion soldier has heart and I would be proud to stand on the battlefield with him. Olga fans won’t be disappointed here either. Although she wears a lot of clothes that hide her perfectly shaped body, she does have an abundance amount of screen time.
In my honest opinion, it’s kind of evident that Neil Marshall played this one safe. He did not stray outside the parameters of a conventional screenplay like he did with Doomsday. Believe it or not, he even found room to squeeze a B-love story into the film amidst all the testosterone filled action and gore. Sadly, when the love interest was introduced late in the picture, I already then knew how this story would end. Suffice to say, I was dead on accurate with my assumption. However, with that being said, Neil Marshall fans, like myself, NEED to give this one a watch. Everyone else, check out the trailer I provided below and see what you think of it first. Its short runtime of 98 minutes goes by quick thanks to the fast paced action plot. I’m not sure this will ever come to the cinemas in the US, so until its eventual home video release, check your cable provider’s VOD lineup or use the Amazon link below to start enjoying Centurion right now!
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Watch it on VOD today!
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I’ve got the UK import blu-ray coming.
Sweet! Is it region free do u know?
I do not know.
C’mon dude! You are the one in the know…my import man!
When you’re region-free you don’t pay attention to those things.
I guess I would just like my Blu-rays to play on one than more player in my home and not have to deal with navigating through foreign menus. Any chance for a release date here in the US?
Foreign menus? If you’re importing from an English speaking country like the UK it’s all in English. The same can be said if you have an HD DVD player and Blu ray player; you’re still navigating from player to player, etc…
No word, but it is getting a limited theatrical release here, and will most likely be released on blu-ray in the fall or winter via Magnolia. Hopefully.