NEW Eagle (DVD)

Around the year 100, the Roman Legio IX Hispana supposedly went missing somewhere in Britain. Nobody really knows what happened to them.

But that hasn't stopped writers and moviemakers from speculating about what did happen. "The Eagle" is a solid adaptation of Rosemary Sutcliff's novel "The Eagle of the Ninth" -- a gritty, mud-slicked quest movie set in a time when Rome still ruled the world. Channing Tatum is a little wooden, but he's more than made up for by Jamie Bell's subtle performance.

Centurion Marcus Flavius Aquila (Tatum) is the son of the Ninth Legion's commander, and is determined to regain his family honor. But after he's horribly wounded in battle, he finds himself honorably discharged and facing a life of boredom... until he hears rumors that the Ninth Legion's golden eagle has been seen north of Hadrian's Wall. If he can get the eagle, his family's honor will be restored.

The problem is, no Roman has gone past the wall and lived to tell about it. So Aquila sets out to northern Britain, with his Briton slave Esca (Bell) as his only guide -- and quickly runs into deserters, rogue warriors, and the deadly blue-painted Seal People who helped destroy the Ninth Legion. Can they rely on each other long enough to find the golden eagle... and can they make it back to Roman land alive?

Of the three movies made about the Lost Legion in the last few years, "The Eagle" is probably the grittiest and most realistic -- there are no glorious battles, Hollywoodized Celts or Arthuriana. Instead, director Kevin Macdonald fills the movie with mud, rain, cold pale light, grimy little outposts, frenetic small battles and the spare expanses of Scotland.

And for the most part, the movie succeeds. It's a small, lean movie with a lot of underlying tension, and some hauntingly atmospheric scenes like the Seal People's firelit ceremonies, complete with a horned-god figure and lots of dancing/chanting. Also a nice touch: all the Britons speak Gaelic. It isn't entirely accurate, but is a nice change after countless movies where everybody speaks English. Even better, there are no subtitles, so we're as lost as Aquila whenever they speak.

The one downside: the climactic battle is visually beautiful -- it's savage, bloody and wild. But the conveniently-timed arrival of Aquila's allies is just too "Hollywood."

And Macdonald avoids identifying either the Romans or Britons as "bad guys" -- they both commit atrocities, but they both also have good honorable people as well. Esca and Aquila represent both their peoples in this story, so obviously the movie rests on the shoulders of Tatum and Bell. Tatum is rather wooden at first, but he gets more flexible and emotional as the movie goes on; and Bell gives a pitch-perfect performance as a proud young Briton with an iron-clad code of honor.

Sure, there are a few other actors of note in here -- Donald Sutherland and Mark Strong have brief, well-acted roles, and Tahar Rahim does an excellent job as the blue-skinned Mohawked prince of the Seal People, but the star roles are really what this story depends on.

As for this blu-ray edition, it will apparently contain the original PG-13 version, plus the unrated version. There is also going to be an alternate ending, deleted scenes, directorial commentary, a featurette about the making of the movie, smart phone interaction and something called UHear.

"The Eagle" is a movie that feels very richly authentic, and has just enough mud, blood, rain and heather to make it seem as if you've traveled back in time.

Loosely based on Rosemary Sutcliff's novel The Eagle of the Ninth (The Roman Britain Trilogy), with its sweeping cinematography and the hauntingly atmospheric score by Atli Orvarsson, this movie set in Britain 140 AD starts as a slice-of-life military drama and quickly twists off into epic adventure. Though billed as some sort of soldier/daddy-worship epic, with nary a woman in sight, this movie unravels into an amazing bromance that seems more like a love story between two young men from different walks of life than anything else.

Marcus(Channing Tatum) is forced out of his career as a soldier by battle wounds received while defending his first command post in distant Britain. The son of an infamous Roman commander who marched 5000 men into northern Britain and subsequently vanished, Marcus's dream of winning back his family's honor through soldierly deeds is summarily crushed by his discharge from service. Languishing in civilian life in his uncle's villa, Marcus' hatches a plan to win his family's honor back with the help of his Briton slave, Esca (Jamie Bell), by different means. Marcus will find the eagle standard of his father's lost legion by traveling into the hostile unconquered northern lands (Caledonia, or modern day Scotland) and Esca will lead the way. The tension and conflict between The Eagle's two main characters powers the movie along to its surprisingly up-beat conclusion.

It is a rare treat to see a movie that takes place in pre-Christian Britain. The costuming is impeccable and the people are gritty, filthy and refreshingly normal looking: no magic Hollywood showers or supermodel background characters ruin the believability of the time and place this movie hearkens to. As far as visual storytelling goes, I was impressed that so many plot points, shifts in attitude, and changes in relationships were indicated by simple glances, a change in wardrobe or what a character happened to be holding in a scene, without any dialogue whatsoever.

The strengths of this movie lie in its visual story telling, its pacing, and in the acting skills of its secondary characters. Jamie Bell gives an incredibly believable and understated performance as Esca. One of the most heart wrenching moments is the movie (and unquestionably the best acted monologue) is Esca's tale relating the fate of his family. There is no flowery verbage, no dramatic shouting, yet this simple soft-spoken monologue brought tears to my eyes. Tahir Rakhim's portrayal of the Seal Prince (a group of people entirely invented for this movie) was also done with staunch realism and believability. The inclusion of Gaelic dialogue was a pleasant surprise that helped emphasizes the social and cultural differences that existed between the people of the British isle and the Roman invaders at that time. It was with the Roman actors that I felt a bit of a disconnect, finding the mannerisms and verbal ticks of Strong, O'Hare and Sutherland to be a little too modern, though Sutherland's up-beat performance was remarkably refereshing in an otherwise emotionally heavy movie.

I'm very fond of this movie but will admit its most immediate faults. A common historical inaccuracy is perpetrated in the gladiator scene, with the thumbs-up/thumbs-down being reversed. I fear that this may be a mistake the movie industry never rectifies. And while the movie holds together beautifully up until the final battle with the Seal People, around then the dialogue gets clunky and loses some of is brusque magic. Guern's " I just have to tell you real quick yer dad wasn't a coward" speech as well as Marcus's pyre speech made me cringe a little. Both were very heavy-handed and awkwardly performed. Also, a rather large plot hole was torn open with the murder of the Seal Boy. Are we actually to believe that while chasing Marcus and Esca down on foot, the Seal Warriors carried this kid along just to kill him? After the boy is laid down in the water, he is never seen again. Guern receives a hero's send off, and the child Esca befriended is nowhere to be seen. I doubt the boy's murdered needed inclusion at all. If his death was only to induce Esca to fight, well...it was already fairly reasonable to believe that because of their bond, he would have fought with Marcus anyway.

Overall, this movie is visually stunning and emotionally intense without being melodramatic (at least until that end bit), and so I happily recommend The Eagle to history buffs, fangirls and fangirls of history. It may not be perfect, but The Eagle has the rare ability to transport a viewer to another time and place for two hours. Give it your time, and you will certainly be amused.

Love these kinds of movies with my favorites being Braveheart and Spartacus. The story of the 9th Legion is often told in many different ways since the true story is lost to history. Last year was the bloody Centurion which I liked, and before that we has The Last Legion. The Eagle starts off well with a brooding Channing Tatum taking his post in Britain trying to salvage his families' honor after the disappearance of the 9th which was commanded by his father. Not much set up before you get right into the action. Some nice small battle scenes. Then the movie becomes less an epic and more an adventure as Tatum sets out into the wilds of northern Britain to find the Eagle standard of the 9th. The end of the movie wraps up with another small battle. The movie is very good in places like the beautiful locations and period look as well as a strong performance from Channing. Points where it lacks are the failings to live up to the word "Epic", some gaps in logic and believability as well as giving you any surprises. I did enjoy the movie and will purchase it when it is released on Blu.