Do not look for history

Rating: 2/10 (20 October 2016)

This movie is pure fantasy, with very little connection to history.
Yes, there was a Ninth Legion that was stationed in Britain. It disappeared from Roman records, but there is no evidence that it suffered the fate depicted in this move. There is no evidence that the makers of this movie cared about history at all.
The equipment was wrong. The Roman legionary on the march carried his kit suspended by a forked wooden pole over the shoulder, not a spear. He did carry one or two pilum, throwing javelins made of soft metal and a wooden haft, so that when thrown it would deform and not be thrown back by the enemy.
The tactics were wrong. The legionary fought with shield and gladius, a short sword used for stabbing, not slashing. What made the legions so effective was that the soldiers fought in close order, highly disciplined. The barbarians fought as individuals, slashing and flailing, not legionaries... except in this movie.
The premise of the plot is a total flight of fancy. It is chock full of predictable elements seen in countless movies. I highly recommend that you instead watch "Northwest Passage" (1940) for a gripping drama of a military expedition that faces disaster. Then watch "Centurion".
I give the movie a 2 instead of only a 1 because at least technically it is well made.