A violent adventure north of Hadrian's Wall.

Rating: 7/10 (12 November 2011)

A movie set in Scotland on the eve of the decline of the Roman Empire, this is a very violent and bloodthirsty historical drama. The film centres around the centurion Quintas Dias whose camp is attacked by the Picts and is captured and tortured in an attempt to learn of the Roman's plans for the area. He then escapes and is rescued by the reinforcements heading out to put an end to the Pict's revolt. However when the Romans and the Picts meet, the Romans are defeated and Dias is left with the remnants and ordered by his commanding officer to return. Thus the movie enters its main phase where the remnants of the legion are traveling through hostile territory while being pursued by the Picts and it is a race to get behind friendly lines before they are killed.
As mentioned, this is a very violent film, and the scenes of arms being hacked off, and heads being removed can be gut wrenching, but then that is what warfare was like in those days. Gunshot wounds in Hollywood almost seem quite tame when compare to this. Okay, Machete was pretty gruesome, but that is what I expect from a director like Robert Rodriguez, but after watching the first 10 minutes of this film, it made me wonder if this is the direction that Hollywood is heading.
Granted, I did enjoy this movie, though it is not one that I would rush out a purchase, though the violence does make me think about the attitudes of the Christians in Ancient Rome, who refused to go a watch the blood sports in the arenas. Granted, Roman Bloodsports were real and the crowds would cheer on gladiators who ruthlessly slew their opponents, while we watch our Hollywood movies with a sense in knowing that the scenes we watch are fake. However there a some people that I know that simply cannot handle watching violence, even on television.
The other thing is that most of the movies that I have seen about Rome (though not all) deal with Rome in Britain (or in Rome) though there is much more to the Roman Empire than Britain (or Rome, or even the Holy Land). However, that statement is probably a bit broad since there have been tele-movies about Hannibal, and a series about the political machinations during the civil war. But this movie could have easily been set in the deserts of Iraq as well as the mountains of Scotland. I guess it has something to do with our heritage coming from Britain, and that filming in Iraq is not the safest, or easiest, place to do so.