Ironclad

Plot synopsis:
A prologue describes how the barons of England, aided by the Knights Templar, fought against tyrannical King John in a war that lasted more than three years. It ended with the King signing the Magna Carta, a document granting rights to all English freemen.
King John regrets succumbing to the pressure of the barons to sign the Magna Carta. Soon after, he hires an army of pagan Danish mercenaries under the leadership of a warlord, Captain Tiberius, to restore John's absolute authority over the kingdom, under the presumption that the Pope has agreed to keep Christian missionaries out of their lands in Denmark.
The Abbot Marcus leads three Templar knights (who have taken vows of silence) on a pilgrimage to Canterbury and they take shelter from the rain at Darnay Castle. One of the knights, Thomas Marshall, is assured by the abbot that Marshall's release from the Templar Order will be sought at Canterbury. By morning, King John arrives at the castle with his army and mercenaries. Baron Darnay signed the Magna Carta and in retribution John orders him hanged. The Abbot attempts to intervene and the King orders that the abbot's tongue be cut off. Marshall and the two other knights fight the Danes, during which Marshall escapes the castle on horseback carrying the abbot; the two knights left behind are slain. The abbot dies before night of his wound, and Marshall breaks his vow of silence to swear that his sacrifice will not be in vain.
Once he has reached Canterbury, Marshall meets with Archbishop Langton, the author of the Magna Carta, and Baron William d'Aubigny, a former soldier turned wool merchant. Langton reveals that the Pope has sided with King John and that he himself is to be excommunicated for writing the Magna Carta. The three men agree that John must be stopped, and that the place to do so is Rochester Castle, the seat of Baron Cornhill and a strategic stronghold that controls southern England and allows access to London and the rest of the country.
Aubigny persuades three of his men to join him, including his squire, Guy, and a petty criminal named Jedediah, but a fourth turns down the baron's call to arms. A party of seven finally leaves for Rochester where, on arriving, they discover several Danish mercenaries have already claimed the castle; the fourth man had betrayed them to the king. Aubigny's party fights and kills the Danes, and then claim Rochester Castle in the name of the rebellion, much to the displeasure of Cornhill. When John's army finally arrives and lays siege to Rochester, the garrison holds fast and manages to beat the initial Danish assault. In the aftermath, Aubigny offers his men leave if they wish; none accept.
A second assault sees the Danes' siege tower destroyed by a trebuchet crafted by the defenders from within the castle. John's forces then attempt to starve out the defenders. The Archbishop is informed that Prince Louis is biding his time in France and negotiating with John, and sets off in haste to expedite affairs. As the season turns to winter, the hunger of the castle's occupants continue; Marshall leaves the castle under cover of night and then returns ahead of his pursuers with food stolen from the Danish camp. The castle morale is bolstered by Marshall's act and he gives in to the advances of Cornhill's young wife Isabel, breaking his Templar vows.
The Danish leader, Tiberius, threatened by John to take the castle or risk the King reneging on their bargain, adopts a different approach in his next attack and manages to sneak a small force of men over the walls before dawn to open the castle gates from within. Guy discovers the infiltrators and sounds the alarm, but it is too late. Tiberius leads the charge into the castle grounds while his Danes slaughter the garrison. During the chaos, d'Aubigny is wounded and left behind in the chaos of the retreat. Marshall recovers in time to don his knight's battle armour and charge the Danes on his war-horse, buying time for the survivors to pull back to the keep.
Aubigny is dragged before the King and forced to watch as the hands of two prisoners are chopped off. After a defiant verbal exchange with John, he is subjected to the same fate and then hurled by the castle trebuchet into a keep wall. Cornhill tries to surrender but is stopped; he goes instead upstairs to his bedroom and hangs himself. John's engineers have been preparing a mine under the keep's foundation, and they have a herd of pigs brought and put in the mine which is then stoked, set afire and the animal fat used to damage the keep's foundation, causing it to collapse; as the keep's walls come down, the final assault begins.
The last defenders are killed except Guy, Isabel and Marshall, the latter knocked unconscious by falling rubble. Guy goes out to die fighting where he encounters Tiberius and is almost killed, until a recovered Marshall intervenes. Tiberius challenges Marshall to single combat, and Marshall triumphs after a long and savage duel. Horns are heard in the distance as the combined English rebel and French army arrives at last, and John and the remaining Danes disperse in panic. Marshall meets Prince Louis and Archbishop Langton at the castle gates; the latter tells him that he is now free of the Templar Order. Acknowledging England's new king with a nod, Marshall rides off with Isabel, while Guy tells his dead baron that "We held".
The epilogue describes King John's death during his retreat and the reconstruction of Rochester Castle, and how it, like the Magna Carta, still stands today.

Tags: violence, action, cruelty, sadist

Review:
Once again, the "Michael Bay Effect" has ruined a film that would have otherwise looked excellent, and wasted the work of an obviously talented action choreographer.Despite its flaws, fans of mud'n'blood, hack'n'slash mini-epics will find plenty to like in 'Ironclad'.
Real history does not generally run smoothly nor is it engaging enough to fit conveniently into a 2 hour movie, so I refuse to nick-pick a screen writer for adding a little poetic license into a script or for the costume designer who doesn't have the time or resources to get the actors "just right".With this in mind, I found the story enjoyable and it ran more or less historically and at a good pace, I was certainly never given enough pause to consider boredom.
The fight scenes were very good and I agree with other criticisms on the reviews about the shaking camera making it extremely hard to concentrate on what was happening.There was plenty of blood, limbs and sliced heads to appeal to the gore fest/action fans but it seemed to accurately reflect the face of medieval warfare with its close and gruesome nature.The cast were a list of well known and respected actors, all of whom put in a good display with what they were given with Paul Giamatti's rant about the divinity of Kings being especially engaging.Overall its not a classic nor will it win awards, but for a couple of hours action based escapism it is certainly worth the effort of watching and is far superior to a number of bigger budget Hollywood contemporaries..
As John lays bloody waste to the South of England, a small band of rebels led by William d'Aubigny (Cox), plot to defend the Southern stronghold of Rochester Castle in the hope they can delay John long enough for the French army to arrive from the sea to depose him.The history, as is often the case in movies of this ilk, is sketchy and exaggerated, we are in true cinematic granted licence here as Rochester Castle is defended by less then 20 men and a couple of gals (in truth there was a considerable army defending Rochester).
The movie is basically about a Templar and a small group of soldiers who are attempting to hold Rochester Castle, the key to southern England, against the siege of John's superior army and Danish mercenaries.
(One English king and whining Danes who run at the first sight of blood among their ranks.Bad guys need castle so badly because it's on the strategic spot on the English map and if King who regrets signing Magna Carta wants to rule autocratically once again, he must take it at all costs.Here you will need all your suspend of disbelief to not raise the questions such as: why the rebels have sent only 7 men with questionable reputation to hold such an important spot...Overall, like I said in the beginning of this review, the movie is watchable.
This hack and slash classy English historical movie set in the year 1215, tells the mostly true story of the vile King John,played with wonderful abandon by the great actor Paul Giamatti with a perfect English accent,who for reasons to many for this review lays siege to Rochester Castle in Kent.The castle looks the real deal, but it was built for the film in the beautiful countryside of Wales.The budget was small in USA terms,£20 million, but the film looks fantastic and belies it's low budget.The main theme music by Paul Brady is beautiful.The cast is the cream of British actors, the likes of James Purefoy,Brian Cox,Derek Jacobi,Charles Dance and Jason Fleming.Mackenzie Crook and new young actor Aneurin Barnard shine in supporting roles along with female lead Kate Mara.It is a very gory movie with proper stunt work rather than reliance on CGI.Here in UK it got a 15 cert.If you like this sort of film, think a smaller version of El Cid, then your in for a treat.For reasons i don't understand this cracking good film sat on a shelf for over a year to get a release.In my view, a must see..
I don't know what people are talking about here ...This was a great movie, lots of action, and over the top blood and gore.Sure, some of the acting was a bit off, and it was all mud and blood but that's what the mid-evil times was , mud and dirt and lots of crap.The lead actor was excellent for being a lost soul and the wife of the keep keeper was beautiful and what you'd expect from being locked up alone with and old man.Over all I really liked it.
Bloody version based on historical events with overwhelming battles and great production values with James Purefoy as the fictional Templar knight Thomas Marshall , leader of a motley crew of tough , battle-hardened warriors/underdogs who try to defend a castle besieged by the army of the blood-crazed King John .
As a small group of Knights (Brian Cox , Jason Flemyng , Jamie Foreman , Mackenzie Crook) commanded by Marshal (James Purefoy) fight to defend Rochester Castle against the nasty King John .
Barring his way stood the mighty Rochester castle whose owner was the Baron Cornhill (Derek Jacobi married to Kate Mara) , a place that would turn the symbol of the rebel's momentous fight for honor and freedom .The movie has great action sequences well staged with stylish and vitality , thrills , a little bit of romance and is pretty entertaining .
In production a sequel also directed by Jonathan English (Minotaur) and Steven McDool who penned the story which will center on one of the few survivors of the Great Siege of Rochester Castle who is now fighting to protect his family's estate from fierce Celtic raiders .The picture deals with historical facts about John Lackland who was king of England from 1199 to 1216.
Take a rather large bit of liberty with English medieval history, throw in some rather garbled declamations about the Magna Carta (yes, it led to more democracy, but no, it had nothing to do with liberating peasants, just giving the aristocracy more powers of their own versus the king's power) and take a huge bunch of medieval war-story battle clichés, and you have "Ironclad." You see, wicked King John (Paul Giamatti, not attempting an English accent), after having been forced to sign the document, then completely ignores its contents and instead goes after the noble signers and kills them one by one.
In order to stop King John from continuing his tyrannous ways, they decide to take and hold the castle at Rochester, from whence the entire South of England can be held; to do so, they must take the current occupant, Lord Cornhill (the magnificent Derek Jacobi), and his young rebellious wife Isabel (Kate Mara) hostage.
The others include the historical leader of the defense, Baron William d'Aubigny (Brian Cox), a squire (Aneurin Barnard), and various characters played by Jason Flemyng, Jamie Foreman, Rhys Parry Jones, amongst others.I won't tell you what happens in the film, but in real life King John takes the castle and the nobles were either imprisoned or exiled.
Unfortunately, not enough is done with the women.Although not as good as "King Arthur," "Tristan + Isolde" and "Black Death," my three favorite medieval movies, "Ironclad" plays better IMHO than (the overrated) "Braveheart." I'd put it on par with 2010's "Robin Hood," "Rob Roy" and "First Knight." The film runs 121 minutes and was shot entirely on location in Wales, UK.GRADE: Borderline B or B+.
I haven't read all of the reviews, but I am baffled that those I did read didn't mention the biggest and most glaring problem with this movie: the laughably extreme shaky-cam action scenes.I gave it a 2 out of 10 because of the good production values and a good recreation of how those times looked like, but the action is pretty much unwatchable and the writing is just bad, but I wouldn't have minded that if I would have gotten good action scenes.It is just an disorientating flurry of shaking images and quick cuts and often I couldn't even tell what was happening.
Even small action scenes without gore effects, like a short fist fight between two of the "heroes" are filmed as if the DP would have had an epileptic seizure and as if the stunt men would have been so shitty that the editor decided to hide what they were doing as much as possible.I'd like to ask the other reviewers: Who cares about the historical inaccuracies when I can't even see the movie I'm watching?
So I was surprised how this movie made me actually care for and even like everyone fighting to protect the keep.That said, I am afraid the poor camera man was suffering from Epilepsy since every action scene involves camera shaking around and not staying at a character for more than 0.5 seconds.
Even though historically inaccurate, I found this movie appealing, due to its gloomy atmosphere, raw characters and great fighting performances.Filmed with low budget, the story focuses on a specific event, therein lacking certain depth and dynamics.
I especially liked how James Purefoy expressed the dark of his character.The fighting scenes are realistic, brutal and very convincing, and it is a real drawback that the chaotic camera movement spoiled that which is best in this movie.If you like raw medieval action, violence and gore, then this is the movie for you..
A group of seven men, led by a Knight Templar (James Purefoy) go to Rochester Castle to defend it against King John who his hellbent on retaking lands that he lost after signing the Magna Carta.
Ironclad is the story of a group of Knights Templars who try to defend Rochester Castle from the forces of King John after he decided to ignore the terms of the Magna Carta that he has only just signed.Although Ironclad isn't totally historically correct , it is still an entertaining enough film and despite it being two hours long i found it an easy watch.This is not a film for the squeamish as it features lots and lots of fighting scenes that include decapitation and lopping off limbs and there are also some scenes involving King John that might well make you wince .Paul Giamatti is as mad as a box of frogs and is perfect as King John and the rest of the cast do a fair enough job but what i really like about this film is that it really does show you why these castles were built and how difficult it was to penetrate them.
Don't waste your time.I can give 2 points for the set dressers for not making everyone pretty and shiny.I am required to write 10 lines in order to make a review but it's nearly impossible.The script is bad.The acting is not very good.It appears to have been written by a torture fetishist.The story arc is clichéd.The scene where King John tell how mean his Daddy was to him is laughable and meant to make us feel sorry for him and understand his violence.
OK, it's not a Rom Com, not a comic book, and it's not doing issues or social realism, but I enjoyed this loosely-historical actioner, and if you like the genre, I think you won't be disappointed.Set in England in 1215 during the Baron's War against King John, the film has a strong narrative line founded on the siege of the strategically-important Rochester castle in Kent.
Seizing Rochester Castle before the King (Paul Giamatti) can occupy it, the bulk of the story tracks the grim cat-and-mouse game, interspersed by brutal hand to hand fighting, characteristic of medieval siege warfare.The film delivers suitably gory and violent combat, mostly very effectively.
It makes up for that by at least taking a moment to consider how exhausted and disgusted these fighting men are by what they do.In the film's quieter moments, Marshal is depicted as a Templar with a conscience, who has returned from crusade spiritually scarred by the contradiction of being a soldier for God. His mentoring of d'Albany's young Squire Guy (Aneurin Barnard) and his temptation by Lady of the castle Isabel (Kate Mara) form the emotional heart of the story.
It can be hard for actors to pull this off without caricature, but he inhabits the screen like an old-fashioned leading man, and you can only lament that there aren't enough British films or roles for this kind of actor.It's also refreshing to see Charles Dance and Brian Cox playing "good guys" for a change, and the always compelling Paul Giamatti (doing a creditable English accent) has some stand out moments and a gloriously enraged barnstorming speech as a man born, but not fit, to be King.All in all, this is good, well-crafted old-fashioned story-telling.
He mounts a mercenary army and attempts to take the stronghold of Rochester castle, gaining the power of Baron De Cornhill (Derek Jakobi) and his feisty young bride (Kate Mara makes a stunning medieval princess.) Standing in his way are a ragtag band of swords for hire who believe in an England free from this tyrant, led by strong jawed Thomas Marshal (the very underrated James Purefoy who needs to be in lead roles more often).
Pros:Interesting situation in which few goodies resist lots of baddies utilising the available resources in a strategic situation;Realism in the action scenes with versatility of weapons and tactics;Believable behind-the-scenes politics and general context supporting the action.Cons:Rather unrealistic odds being successfully faced by the goodies, while the baddies seem to collectively lack any imagination and tactical skill other than a couple of attempts that incrementally increase the siege pressure;Tedious unoriginal romantic tension between horny princess and peudo-pious templar knight;Tantalising half-done development of the other main characters.Neutrals, depending on your taste:A lot of graphic gore, mutilation, cruelty; all well done but in your face.Loose connections with historical facts and philosophical underpinnings, which you might find good enough if you're looking for a reasonable backstory or completely unacceptable if you're watching this instead of the historical channel.Presents favourable the salvatory value of horses against the destructive value of pigs, which you might find unfair if you prefer pigs, though you might be consoled that in this movie they are eaten less..
Assembling 100 (the film mentions a dozen) men at arms including many Templar Knights led by Lord Marshal (James Purefoy) under the command of William D'Augibny/Baron Albany (Brian Cox), they take and hold Rochester Castle.
It is hard to make out what is going on, but judging from the flying gore, it isn't pretty.Paul Giamatti, miscast as King John, must take Rochester Castle before he can complete his revenge on the barons who forced him to sign the Magna Carta.
Where this movie takes place is shortly after the signing of the Magna Carta, and King John (Paul Giamatti) decides to take back England under his sovereign rule by the support of the Pope, and the help of a thousand Danish mercenaries.Baron Albany (Brian Cox) and Marshal (James Purefoy) decides to take up the fight against the king and gathers up a ragtag group of men to hold Rochester Castle against him for as long as it takes the French to reinforce them.
I do feel often that this movie is not telling me enough, despite its two hour running time, because there are often mention of other events, past and present, that makes you wonder why they are never developed or mentioned again.Like with the Danish Mercanaries, which is mentioned that are fighting for King John so that he can convince the Pope to leave them alone and pull back Christan soldiers of their lands.Denmark has been a Christian country a long time before this event, so it does make me wonder where these people really comes from and what their troubles are.What's also never really explained is the relations of the Barons followers, who seems to have previous handle with him, but is never told in what fashion they have been in his aid before.
One baron collects together four oddball Old Comrades, his naive young squire, and a Templar Knight with a 5 ½-foot two-hand sword (yes, just like Braveheart, never mind that those won't exist for 100 years at least) who has lost his faith on Crusade; and the seven of them ride off to hold Rochester against John's army.When they get there, they find that the elderly castellan, in spite of there being a civil war on, has only got six soldiers to man it (and a hot young wife, naturally).And (because "Flemish mercenaries" and "John's French vassals" doesn't sound evil enough) John's army consists of pagan Danes (never mind that in 1215 Denmark had been Christian for centuries) who prepare themselves for battle by painting themselves blue (yes, just like Braveheart again; never mind that Danes never did that).Historically, John ordered forty pigs slaughtered and their fat rendered down to create a blaze in the undermine that collapsed one of the towers of the castle.
He is an actor I usually like: here he is demonstrating the I Shout A Lot With An English Accent School of Acting.Brian Cox is Quirky Baron With Anachronistic Turn Of Phrase Who Utters Pithy Defiance While Having Limbs Hacked Off.Derek Jacobi plays Dignified Aged Castle Owner With Trophy Wife Who Resents Being Put In This Position Then Commits Suicide For No Apparent Reason.James Purefoy is Miseryguts But Valiant Knight Templar Who Allows Himself To Be Seduced By Trophy Wife But Then The Film Doesn't Make Anything Of It.Kate Mara plays Trophy Wife Who Remains Incredibly Clean While Everyone Else Is Covered In Filth.
Ironclad is the story of the Rochester Castle siege, set during medieval times as King John is forced to sign the Magna Carta by the barons.
The prospect of seeing a great story like King John's made me want to see this movie, despite Paul Giamatti, which I really cannot understand how is really considered to be a a major name.