Rating summary

Movie		3.5
Video		4.0
Audio		4.5
Extras		3.0
Overall		3.5

The Last Legion Blu-ray Movie Review

The Once and Future Emperor.

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman April 26, 2011

Maybe it’s the fact that The Last Legion came with the imprimatur of Dino de Laurentiis, a producer not exactly known for his understatement, especially when it comes to putative epics. While there are certainly nits to pick with this patently odd concatenation of history and legend, what accounts for the really vicious reviews The Last Legion suffered upon its theatrical release, something which has continued unabated on various internet sites (including Blu-ray.com, of course)? Could it be at least party attributable to the fact that audiences came to The Last Legion expecting it to be something which it manifestly isn’t? This is certainly not an “epic” in the traditional sense of the word, though the film is handsomely shot and features a cast of hundreds, if not thousands, traipsing about in sumptuous costumes on lavish sets. And it really isn’t even an out and out fantasy like de Laurentiis’ Dragonheart films, the second of which was directed by The Last Legion’s helmsman Doug Lefler. It’s perhaps The Last Legion’s resolute, and yes, potentially troublesome, refusal to bow to various genre tropes that may lead some people to throw up their hands in dismay and just dismiss the whole thing. That, and the fact that Colin Firth as a brusque Roman General seems outright odd, especially after his elegant if tortured turn as King Edward in his Oscar winning The King’s Speech. But look past some of these niggling doubts and the fact is The Last Legion, for all its faults, is really rather a charming little film. It recasts the story of actual historical figure Romulus Augustus, a 12 year old boy who assumed the Emperorship of Rome just as the Goths destroyed the Empire (talk about bad timing), mixing it with a number of fantasy elements that melds it rather nicely (without spoiling too much) into the Arthurian legends that cropped up considerably later than this film’s fifth century setting, but whose title character, at least according to Geoffrey of Monmouth, was an historical personage living around the same time as The Last Legion’s timeframe.

Little is known about the real life Romulus Augustus, and that leaves the door wide open for The Last Legion to invent a heady tale of adventure and intrigue as the newly crowned 12 year old Emperor (played by Thomas (Brodie)-Sangster, who co-starred with Firth in Nanny McPhee) finds himself captured by the Goths and then thrust into a series of escapades involving the long lost magical sword which once belonged to Romulus’ long ago ancestor Julius Caesar. Along for the ride are a ragtag bunch of (to say the least) disparate characters, including Firth’s General Aurelius, Ben Kingsley as a sort of Obi-Wan Kenobe magical mentor to Romulus named Ambrosinus, and just for good measure the absolutely ravishing Bollywood star Aishwarya Rai as a butt-kicking Indian warrior woman named Mira (think Xena trained in the Indian art of Kalarippayattu). As this brief (and incomplete) recounting of the cast of characters should immediately tell the discerning viewer, this is not historical filmmaking, something which seemed to have thrown several critics for a loop when the film first hit multiplexes back in 2007.

Part of the problem with The Last Legion is that it really doesn’t seem to know what exactly it wants to be. Is it a rip-roaring adventure yarn, told from the vantage point of a young boy? That’s what director Lefler seems to indicate in his commentary and one of the featurettes included on the Blu-ray, but the film has a rather odd combination of tones as it moves admittedly quite briskly through its story. At one moment, it’s virtually melodramatic, as young Romulus watches his parents getting slaughtered by the invading Goths. At the next moment, it’s flat out comedic, as the various Roman soldiers watch Mira dispatch a horde of marauding Goths, all as the hulking males pretty much sit around twiddling their thumbs. These two extremes could have worked better with more of a connective tissue linking them. Instead the film inartfully lurches from sequence to sequence at times, with little or no segue helping the viewer along.

As unsettling as it is to see Firth in this kind of muscular heroic role, I personally think he was unfairly criticized for his performance in The Last Legion. Aurelius is a staid and stolid General with little access to his emotions, and that in and of itself does not offer an actor that many opportunities to “act,” at least in a grandstanding way. Firth is understated and quite effective here if you can past your preconceptions based on the other roles with which the actor is more associated. Ben Kingsley is actually quite a bit of fun as Ambrosinus, though he can’t quite make up his mind what accent he’s using. There’s more than a tip of the Jedi mind trick in Ambrosinus’ character, but the payoff is strong. What the film could have used here is more emphasis on whether or not Ambrosinus’ sleights of hand are “real” or just the tricks of an ancient trade. The film evidently changed so much from its source novel that the closing credits had to say "Based in part on a novel by Valerio Massimo Manfredi," and one has to wonder if perhaps some of this information was in the original version and really should have made it into the film version, especially since Manfredi himself is on record as stating hours of footage was shot but never utilized in the final cut of the film (the deleted scenes included on this Blu-ray certainly don't amount to hours).

The Last Legion looks largely wonderful despite what was probably a small budget, at least for a de Laurentiis production. The CGI is generally quite well handled, though some of the painted settings’ perspectives seem slightly off. This is certainly not mind blowing special effects work, but it provides a suitably larger canvass on which these supposedly “historical” events play out. Lefler has a firm grasp on the directorial reins here, mounting a very nicely visual film that manages to keep the focus squarely on the rather eclectic bunch of characters. It feels like quite a bit of linking material and backstory was left on the cutting room floor, and that could have upped the emotional ante, especially with regard to Aurelius, Mira and Romulus, but what’s here works rather well. The film does devolve into some silliness in the final battle, especially with regard to Ambrosinus and his nemesis, an evil warlord who has taken over Brittania, but on the whole the fight sequences are handled with aplomb, especially the really fun segments featuring Mira in full butt-kicking mode.

Coming into The Last Legion "cold," as it were, with no preconceptions and few expectations, I was pleasantly surprised with the film's admittedly idiosyncratic menu featuring a dash of history, a smattering of fantasy, and just a pinch or two of the Arthurian legend. This is a very watchable film with an intriguing premise, and it's fun, if just slightly disconcerting, to see Firth and Kingsley in such unusual roles. While no one would ever accuse The Last Legion of being an undiscovered masterpiece, in my not so humble estimation it certainly deserves better than its gotten, and families could do a lot worse than to spend ninety or so minutes with Aurelius, Mira, Ambrosinus and young Romulus.

The Last Legion Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

The Last Legion slashes its way onto Blu-ray with an AVC encoded 1080i transfer in 2.33:1, and the results are mostly very nice looking. This film is very colorful, and the robust palette is brilliantly saturated on this BD, with very inviting blues, reds and greens. For the most part the intricate costumes resolve very well despite the interlaced transfer, and in fact just a couple of brief moments of aliasing are about the only artifacts that are bothersome. The image is very nicely sharp, especially in the copious close-ups, and depth of field is also excellent in several of the outdoor locations. While the CGI is not incredibly overwhelming, it suffices to add a bit of dash to some establishing shots and looks decent if not spectacular. This is a well detailed presentation that makes the most of several spectacular locales, filled with vibrant color that should keep most videophiles well entertained.

The Last Legion Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Even better is The Last Legion's very fun and immersive lossless DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 soundtrack. Though this isn't a huge scale epic as some might be led to believe, there are just enough great battle and fight scenes to involve some very robust utilization of LFE and some nicely detailed usage of the surrounds. Fidelity is excellent and the track has a really nicely throbbing low end which helps to make the fight sequences come fully alive. Dialogue is clear and crisp, and Patrick Doyle's underscore, while a bit hyperbolic at times, sounds fantastic, especially his frequent scoring for brass. Sound effects are dispersed very effectively around the soundfield and overall this is a wonderfully invovling and enjoyable track.

The Last Legion Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Feature Commentary with Director Daniel Lefler may reveal more about what Lefler wanted the film to be rather than how it actually turned out, but it's an interesting commentary with quite a bit of production information.
• Making The Last Legion (SD; 20:43) has Lefler talking about trying to tell the story from the viewpoint of Romulus Augustus, only 12 years old when he was crowned Emperor of Rome The featurette has copious behind the scenes footage and interviews with various cast and crew.
• Fight Scene Choreography (SD; 11:41) is simply a bunch of rehearsal footage of the various Mira battles being worked out.
• Deleted Scenes (SD; 17:41) contains mostly small beats here and there. Interestingly the review copy I was provided with had forced English subtitles and even more interestingly, a variety of different aspect ratios scattered throughout these scenes.
• From the Director's Sketchbook (SD; 6:44) offers storyboards playing alongside (actually on top of) the final film version of several scenes.
• Trailer

The Last Legion Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Maybe it's simply a case of having few if any expectations, but The Last Legion appealed to my love of history and fantasy in about equal measure. It's far from a historically accurate film, by its own design, but it manages to weave real life characters into an intriguing premise that has a nice little payoff in the closing moments. While it's outright odd to see Firth and Kingsley in roles like they're playing here, that's actually part of the fun if you're in the right frame of mind. The supporting cast is excellent, and the film looks marvelous most of the time despite what was probably a miniscule budget for something of this grandeur. The Last Legion is no masterpiece, but it's highly enjoyable and comes Recommended.