Not fit for history lesson

Rating: 3/10 (3 June 2007)

Generally speaking I dislike gore, superfluous sex (between the sheets) and am not especially fond of special effects. In my opinion it is a big plus, if a movie can do without these. At the other hand I enjoy sword and sable fighting - think of Erroll Flynn or the French musketeer movies. Finally the period of the late 5th century, with the fall of the Western Roman Empire, is highly fascinating.
This movie is not an untold story. It is historically completely inaccurate, something like president Bush being in charge during the Vietnam war, with Franklin Delano Roosevelt being his political opponent. As examples I will only take two points. Odoaker took over power in 475, not in 460. Wulfila died around 383.
Really, I like retelling or even reinventing legends. But I don't like utter nonsense. Clearly 6 years was not enough yet to write a decent script. Even then, if the story was told in an interesting way, the directing was skillful, I might have forgiven. But no. In the beginning ancient Rome was used as a background. It was unrealistic like cheap epic movies from the 50-s. Ben Hur got it much better. And the story? The director hardly takes time to show the emotional struggle of a young boy being the mightiest person in the world. It better could have left out. Now it is just one of the many scenes, which remain hanging in the air.
Odysseus-6 is completely right about the actors, so I will not repeat it. I am sorry, several old sword and sandal Italian B-movies are better than this one. Every director degrading the highly talented and skilled John Hannah to a wooden amateur like this, should be put on a black list. One has to pay full attention, then one can pick a few moments, where the actors get the chance to act - for instance the scene, where Odoaker decides to keep the boy alive. I can imagine a savage barbarian behaving like that. Problem of course is, that the real Odoaker already had spend several years in Rome and was not a barbarian anymore .... He was quite a popular ruler in Italy, after almost 75 years of incompetent Caesars.
I will just wait for someone filming Mary Stewart's Crystal Cave or a book of Rosemary Sutcliffe. These authors show, that historical drama can have roots in hard facts.
Surinamese TV showed the movie at midnight, so alas I cannot ask my 12 years old son, if he was entertained. I was hardly.