The Eagle

Plot synopsis:
The Year is A.D. 140, and it has been 20 years since Rome's legendary Ninth Legion marched north into Caledonia (modern Scotland) to gain control over all of Britain. The Legion was completely defeated, to Rome's embarrassment, and the Legion's prized standard, a golden eagle, captured. Marcus Flavius Aquila (Channing Tatum) is the son of the Legion's General, and is determined to exonerate his father and the family name. Choosing Britain for his first active station, he must prove himself to his men when local Barbarian tribes, led by an angry Druid, attack the fort at night.Marcus senses the attack and wakes his men in time. They fight the intruders and win the battle, but the next day the Druid returns with prisoners of war - an expedition Marcus had sent out to find a grain convoy. The leader of the expedition is beheaded before their eyes.Unwilling to bear the guilt of his men's death, Marcus leads the best of his men out of the fort. Using their shields and proven Roman infantry battle tactics, they push back the Celts and defend the prisoners. They have started moving back to the fort when the Druid summons his chariots, which race forward with scythes on the wheels and hack down the retreating men. Marcus grabs a spear, steadies his aim, and launches it toward the Druid. The spear kills the driver, causing the chariot to topple onto Marcus.With his leg badly injured, Marcus is sent to his Uncle (Donald Sutherland)'s house to recover. His captain informs him that Rome has learned of his actions: Marcus has been given an honourable mention for leading his men in a courageous fight to defend the fort, but due to his injury, he has been given an honourable discharge from the Army.Marcus is distraught. He watches a gladiatorial contest with his Uncle, in which a young and practically defenceless slave (Jamie Bell) is pitted against a seasoned gladiator. The boy refuses to fight, throwing down his weapons and standing stoically in wait for death. Marcus is moved by his courage, and when the gladiator seeks his audience's approval for the boy's death, he rallies the crowd to save him. His Uncle buys the slave, whose name is Esca, for Marcus, to help him in his recovery.Soon, a Senator arrives at his Uncle's villa, and conversation returns to the fate of the Ninth Legion; there have been rumours of sightings of the Eagle in the far north. Since Marcus has reasonably recovered from his wounds, he seeks permission to cross Hadrian's Wall into Caledonia and seek to retrieve the Eagle. At first his request is dismissed as the talk of a madman with a death wish, but he is eventually given his wish.Marcus takes Esca with him on his quest, offering to grant him his freedom in return for his help as a guide and translator, and choosing to trust the pledge of service that Esca made in spite of his deep hatred for the Romans.Marcus and Esca cross the Wall to hunt for the Eagle. As they continue north, Esca politely asks anyone they meet if they might have happened to see 5000 Roman soldiers walking by 20 years ago.They get attacked at intervals by small groups of warriors, but are able to defend themselves quite well.A little later, Marcus thinks Esca is not asking the right questions. He threatens a villager, who tells him about a man who can help them. They soon find the man - a deserter, a Roman legionnaire who had run when the fighting was fiercest and has been living among the Celtic tribes, now married with children. He shows them the place where the Ninth Legion fell and points them on their way to the Seal People in the far north, but refuses to go with them.This fresh reminder of the bloody history between their people makes it difficult for Marcus and Esca to see past their differences, and their partnership is about to disintegrate into violence when they find themselves confronted with a group of Seal warriors. Esca takes control and tells the Chief's son that Marcus is his Roman slave. They are taken to the Seal village on the northern tip of Scotland, and Esca (as the Brigante Chief's son) is accepted as one of them.That night, the young Seal warriors prepare for a rite of passage and all the men get drunk. The Chief dons the tribal outfit and brings The Eagle out from a cave. As if in a trance, Marcus walks straight to it and is knocked unconscious.With all the men heavily asleep and worse for wear, Esca shakes Marcus awake, and together they enter the cave to retrieve the Eagle. Marcus is pleased to have his friend back. Inside they are startled by the Chief and his bodyguards, but they prove no match for Marcus and Esca. Before he dies, the Chief tells Marcus that he saw the Roman Commander-in-Chief beg for mercy like a coward before he killed him. Esca doesn't translate what was said.They pack their horses, but the Chief's youngest son, a mere child, catches them, asking to go with them. Esca convinces him with a gift to stay behind and keep quiet, and the two are off.In the morning the Chief's eldest son sees the gift Esca left behind with the young boy, and soon the cat is out the bag. A war party is summoned, and they race after the Roman and his slave.The Seal People are tough, and with better knowledge of the terrain are gaining on Marcus and Esca. Soon their horses give in, and Marcus's leg is giving him gip. Marcus stays behind with the eagle near a submerged stream, hidden by rocks, while Esca goes for help.Esca returns with the legionnaires who deserted the army 20 years ago; he is just in time, as the Seal People have found their location. The Chief's Eldest kills the young boy in front of the Romans, which proves to be the wrong move, as this makes little Esca mad.A final battle begins. The Romans are doing well, but the Chief's Eldest is a formidable fighting machine and dispatches the old legionnaires with ease. But soon he meets Marcus, and the experienced Roman gets the better of his enemy. Without their captain, the remaining members of the Seal war party give up and retreat. Somewhere in all this, Marcus learns that his father died a hero - the deserters had stayed with the ranks until the very end, but were ashamed to admit it before.Marcus, Esca, and the remaining few soldiers burn the bodies on a funeral pyre.Marcus and Esca say their goodbyes, return to Roman Britain and present the Eagle to the Senator. Esca is now a free man and Marcus knows that his family name has been vindicated.Alternative ending:While burning the body of the Legionnaire, Marcus also sticks the Eagle onto the pyre in homage to all those, on both sides, that lost their lives.The movie ends with the two friends walking back towards the Wall.

Tags: revenge, historical, violence, historical fiction

Review:
Jamie Bell is rather fantastic as the slave who has every reason to hate Rome except for his growing respect for his Roman master; he's unpredictable and tortured and terribly interesting to watch.It's not a perfect movie--sometimes I wasn't sure that it knew what message it was trying to convey--but generally I liked it.
But I am not totally sure the Roman Senate had a "branch" in Britain.The two leads (Channing Tatum and Jamie Bell) were perfectly suited to their roles, kind of like Hercules and his sidekick from 60s historical adventure films.
It is perhaps his destiny that he go forth into Caledonia to maybe solve the mystery and restore honour to the family name?Better angry than dead.A film of two different, but equally enjoyable, halves, The Eagle is a delightful throw back to the swords and shields movies of old.
A turn of events then sees Marcus come by way of Bell's slave, incidents are defined and we then move into the second half of the picture.Life, life, LIFE!Here is where the film becomes a character piece as two men from different walks of life, enemies with anger and determination gnawing away at their souls, traverse the magnificent Scottish Highlands (Dod Mantle's photography is breath taking at times) to solve the mystery of The Ninth.
As for whether this was based on a true story or not, I will leave that to the real journalists.The Eagle is set in Roman occupied Britain in 140AD 20 years after the mysterious disappearance of the whole Ninth Legion in the glens and mountains of Scotland.
It follows a Roman centurion, Marcus Aquila (Channing Tatum) and early on we are introduced to the fact that Marucs's father was standard bearer of the eagle for the Ninth Legion and that, when they along with the eagle, disappeared in the Scottish highlands disrepute was brought to the family of Aquila.
Longing to be close to where his father disappeared and to restore his family honour, Marcus hot off the training camp for Roman centurions has requested that his first post be at the edge of the known world near Hadrian's wall, far from the choice any sane man would pick.Eventually we are introduced to Esca (Jamie Bell) who is indebted to Marcus after having had his life saved by him and becomes his slave as penance.
The gore is not excessive and allows for the actual fighting to take centre stage rather than how red they can turn the battlefield which I liked.The Scottish tribes play their part as a conceivable enemy during the film and speak in the native Gaelic tongue which is a nice touch that is less seen now as directors tend to swap to English after a brief dialogue to make it easier on the audience.
It was also nice to see that the tribes that crossed paths with our main protagonists each had a different personality and feel about them rather than all being clumped together as Celts and getting portrayed as one generic group.This movie although set in Roman times is less about the history and bureaucracy of Rome and more about the journey that two men take.
It has great action sequences, some fine heroic traits like bravery and courage, and great performances by Channing Tatum (surprisingly), Jamie Bell, Donald Sutherland and other good supporting players.
The bleak atmosphere, gritty but fantastic production and costume design, beautiful cinematography (by "Slumdog Millionaire's" Anthony Dod Mantle, no doubt), and amazing music by Ovarsson (this is his first score which I actually liked) all combine together with Macdonald and cast and crew to deliver a solid, somewhat spectacular action adventure that is old- fashioned and devoid of the usual clichés (there's no generic romantic subplot, thank God!) that seem to plague this film genre lately.Made in the hands of another, lesser director, this film will probably end up looking like "The Last Legion" or "Centurion", probably overblown and over-stylized.
I suppose when they coined the term "hunk," no one expected it to apply so literally to the thick and broad-shouldered 30-year-old.Tatum plays Marcus Flavius-Flave Aquila (okay, just Flavius), Roman centurion and son of a disgraced commander who disappeared along with the entire Ninth Legion and Rome's beloved eagle standard in the north of Britain in 120 AD.
For Tatum, this trip into dangerous territory beyond Hadrian's Wall, as it turns out, is also a test of leading man meddle.Heading up the real American heroes of "G.I. Joe" doesn't exactly count for star capability, and while "The Eagle" barely holds a candle to the Roman epic of all Roman epics that is "Gladiator," it certainly can be seen as a more serious step and one in which the target audience has no interest in ogling him -- just watching him kill rebellious "Seal Men," (precursors to Scots).Tatum's grades are definitely passing, but he earns more sympathy than attention.
I suppose given director's Kevin Macdonald's success with yet another historically based drama The Last King of Scotland that he decides to take another crack at it, albeit this time with a little bit more swords and sandals violence.In recent years we've already seen a number of such films with the likes of Neil Marshall's Centurion and The Last Legion starring Colin Firth and Aishwarya Rai, but this one had a little narrative boost with its historical reference involving the mysterious disappearance of the Ninth Legion weaved into the narrative and forming the back story of its protagonist Marcus Flavius Aquila (Channing Tatum), who had asked for the Britain post in order to seek the lost honour of his father, leader of the Ninth who had reputedly surrendered cowardly to the enemy.For starters, Channing Tatum isn't really your character actor, but looked totally in place with brawn over brains leading his men into battle and convincing peers that his family name isn't as tainted as it should be.
To lead a team into hostile territory will be suicide, but Marcus seeks out that sole opportunity to reclaim his father's name, and coming in tow is the slave Esca (Jamie Bell) with whom he forms a love-hate relationship.It's a standard action adventure where you put together two misfits who are as serious as can be in seeking out the objective of their quest, containing all the usual formation of a strong friendship cliché made more difficult when the master-slave role got reversed when they're held captive.
In Roman-ruled Britain, during Antoninus Pius empire , who was emperor of Rome at the time this film is set , AD 140 ; his reign is considered one of the calmest in Rome's history , there a young Roman soldier endeavors to honor his father's memory by finding his lost legion's golden emblem .
The picture deals with the destiny of a soldier Marcus Flavius Aquila (Channing Tatum) , the honour of a slave , Esca , (Jamie Bell) and the fate of an empire ; concerning historical facts about confrontation between Romans and Northern barbarians .
Bloody version based on historical events about Roman conquests with overwhelming battles and great production values starred by Channing Tatum as the fictional Roman officer and Jamie Bell as slave , both of them are two battle-hardened warriors who try to defend themselves against a bunch of bloody barbarians led by a brutal enemy .
As a massive film fan I was a little apprehensive of watching this movie because the lead actor was Channing Tatum and he hasn't done a lot of good films, but in this on he was brilliant he has never done anything better than this.
I think he done this well because he really connected with his character Marcus Aquila, who was a young Roman soldier to do and retrieve the eagle that is father lost north of Hadrian's wall (Scotland).
I loved that film, it was so much better than over rated Gladiator ( a horrible film that was meant to be psychological, deep and that ended up being plain stupid, nonsensical, pathetic and pretentious, like who is going to believe that an emperor is going to fight a gladiator in an arena) At least The Eagle sticks to pure entertainment , has a solid story that sticks to the journey of a hero, it has no tacky CGI, has great fighting scenes, Jamie Bell acting is superb and Channing Tatum is not as is best but does an OK job, The production design is solid, it's historically plausible and it's stylish enough to confer an edge, an atmosphere to the drama, It's also fun because of the deeply homo erotic relationship between Tatum and Bell, like Bell being his slave and washing him, being completely submissive to him except for a few sexy fighting scenes til the end where they hold hands, it's quite reminiscent of Spartacus and other vintage peplum, it's also refreshing because of all the tiring love stories implanted in most Hollywood blockbuster that are never relevant to the story and just an accessory to bring female spectators into the auditorium ( hey it's a war film but there's a love story, come on most girls are not retarded) Certainly not a masterpiece but a well crafted action movie.
Its Starring Channing Tatum, Jamie Bell, Donald Sutherland, Mark Strong, Tahar Rahim, Denis O'Hare & Douglas Hensball.#FACT: Jeremy Brock adapted the screenplay from an historical novel called The Eagle of the Ninth (1954)SLIDER'S REVIEW:From the trailer (and title) I knew what I was going to get with this film.
Well, Channing Tatum and Jamie Bell do the honors, albeit without the dry humor, as Roman centurion Marcus Aquila and his slave, Esca, respectively.
A Roman officer voluntarily posted to super-savage Britain sets out to rescue his father's honor by retrieving a lost legion's standard (i.e. The Eagle).Breathtaking cinematography combined with solid acting makes this movie a cut above the normal sword and sandal affair.
Like Gaul, Eagle can be neatly divided into three parts: garrison life, life in the Roman colony and adventure north of the wall.As the curtain opens we meet Marcus Flavius Aquilla (Channing Tatum) a newly minted commander on his way to a frontier outpost where Druids are rousing the restive Celts to action against the occupying Roman Army.
I remember reading the source book "The Eagle of the Ninth" a few years ago and really enjoying it, fanciful historical fiction that it was, so I was pleasantly surprised to see it made into a movie and a good one at that.Eschewing the flash and show of your more typical sword and sandal epic, this movie is a gritty affair, short on dialogue, big on strong silences, filmed in natural light and in a variety of normally grey, wet weather conditions.
Given that it's set in my native Scotland and directed by a Scot, Kevin McDonald, I can safely say he got that part right.The story itself is straightforward enough, concerning a young Roman Marcus Aquilas (Channing Tatum) and his struggle to restore his family honour after his centurion dad led the talismanic Roman Eagle, as well as all his men, into an expedition into the savage North of Britain, never to return.
Heroically discharged from front-line duty, Marcus is paired up with a young Celtic slave and decides to attempt to retrace his father's footsteps and recover the Eagle, at the same time solving the mystery of the disappearance of the Ninth Legion.With an atmospheric soundtrack based on Celtic themes, sympathetically realistic landscape photography and committed physical acting by the leads in particular, this was an enjoyable if sometimes dour feature, centring on themes of heroism, loyalty and honour.
The American accents grate as they always do in features like this, but Tatum and Jamie Bell convince as initially distrusting allies and while I could have perhaps done with a few more action set-pieces, plus the climactic battle between the remnants of the Ninth and the pursuing natives could have been made more of, this was an entertaining and watchable film with the director cleverly making up for the implausibility of the plot with a down to earth approach which helped to establish some necessary credibility along the way..
However, it was not like that, because The Eagle pretends to be a pseudo-historical sequel which analyzes the mystery 20 years later, and focuses the epic narrative to a pair of individuals who run the same dangerous location looking for redemption.Director Kevin Macdonald's filmography includes some brilliant movies (One Day in September, Touching the Void and The Last King of Scotland), and even though The Eagle is not nearly as good as those films, I think it represents a good addition to his filmography.
Horrid acting all the way thru the movie.Looks to be just a vehicle for Tatum to showcase his six pack with little to none acting skills through out.Even Donald Sutherland's acting was bland in this one,he must have needed a paycheck very badly to accept this role.The scene of the fight with the gladiator was god awful.The seal people dancing around was really stupid.In other words do not waste any of your money if you happen to think this is a decent movie.I wouldn't rent it let alone buy it.Hopefully the next movie of Tatums will have a good enough director to actually get some acting out of him.I see no Oscars in his future with his acting..
An ancient roman adventure story must be able to apply blood steel and gore in well balanced and palatable proportions and this movie does just that, most critics might argue that the story has been told before -soldier seeks to restore family honour, against all odds goes deep behind enemy lines and perseveres to achieve the impossible with an incredible amount of luck on his side- But in this case as the story line unfolds your cynicism turns you from an active listener to a wide eyed, expectant and tense viewer, I was swept up by the events as Channing Tatum's adventure reached a tense and nail biting climax, Now the dialogue in Tatum's movies has not always been Oscar worthy he is more of the Arnie kind terminate and be back, but he more than makes up for this by a passionate and dedicated performance that leaves you thinking the credits appeared too soon.You will most def enjoy this movie the action is fun, the scenery is beautiful and the chase at the end was great.
The battle scenes were pretty much the best thing about the movie.Kevin Macdonald's film is about how a Roman centurion and his slave set out on a quest to find the missing eagle statue that was a symbol of the Ninth Legion.The acting is pretty good but nothing to write home about.
This newest film, ably directed by Kevin MacDonald is based primarily on the fictional work of Rosemary Sutcliff and entitled " The Eagle " relates the tale of a young Roman Officer, Marcus Aquilla (Channing Tatum) who requested to be stationed in Briton with the notion of restoring his late father's honor by retrieving the missing standard or Eagle lost on his father's last campaign.
There are really only a few big battle scenes and aside from the finale they appear more in the early sequences.But that isn't to say that the film lacks action or is immature, there a couple of scenes – one in particular springs to mind – that are pretty brutal and harsh going, but remain realistic and true to the story.Tatum is stoic and determined as Marcus Aquila and Jamie Bell is fine as the reluctant slave acting out of honour.
The story begins in 140 AD in Rome where young Marcus Aquila (Channing Tatum), the son of the soldier who allowed the Eagle symbol of Roman victory to be lost in a battle in Britain in 120 AD, becomes a centurion: he asks to be stationed in Britain where he promises his father's departed spirit that he will restore honor to his family by regaining the eagle.
Adapted by Jeremy Brock from Rosemary Sutcliff's historical adventure novel The Eagle of the Ninth and based on the supposed disappearance of the Ninth Spanish Legion in Britain, this British American co production tells the story of a young Roman soldier who goes on a journey to honour his father by finding his lost legion's golden emblem – the eagle.It doesn't really matter whether you are familiar with this piece of history, because the movie is marketed as an action adventure featuring, well, action and adventure.
I want to say first many say don't watch it, it is not the best but hey just enjoy this adventure and especially if you like this part of history too.The story is a dramatic one that although is not great is a good-ish one and I personally believe it overrules any poor acting or directing and makes it better.
Roman Centurion Marcus (Tatum) and Esca (Bell), his slave, go north to Briton thru Hadrian's Wall to recapture The Eagle (standard of the Roman 9th Legion lost in a battle by Marcus' father) and restore his family's honor.There are two things we don't hardly see anymore: a good Western and a good Roman soldier movie.Well, here we have a good Roman soldier movie.
There are lots of battles, beautiful scenery, and excitement.The movie follows Sutcliff's hunt for the 9th Legion Eagle, lost beyond Hadrian's Wall in the the mysterious land of the Picts, ruthless tribes of barbarians in present day Scotland.
There are lots of battles, beautiful scenery, and excitement.The movie follows Sutcliff's hunt for the 9th Legion Eagle, lost beyond Hadrian's Wall in the the mysterious land of the Picts, ruthless tribes of barbarians in present day Scotland.
It therefore seems fitting that Bell's acting is more expressive than Tatum's.Although "The Eagle" is not an epic on the grand scale of some recent films about the Classical world such as "Gladiator" or "Alexander", it is nevertheless a very good action-adventure story with some decent action sequences, especially the early battle when the Celts attack the Roman fortress.