The Last Legion (2007)

17% of critics liked it
(54 reviews)
39% of users liked it
(93,252 ratings)

Co-adapted by Tom Butterworth and Jez Butterworth from Valerio Massimo Manfredi's best-selling historical adventure novel, Doug Lefler's period epic The Last Legion unfurls in 470 A.D., just prior to the fall of the colossal Roman Empire. As the most recent in a long line of caesars, a young Roman… More Co-adapted by Tom Butterworth and Jez Butterworth from Valerio Massimo Manfredi's best-selling historical adventure novel, Doug Lefler's period epic The Last Legion unfurls in 470 A.D., just prior to the fall of the colossal Roman Empire. As the most recent in a long line of caesars, a young Roman child, Romulus (Thomas Sangster), is poised to inherit the throne -- until Germanic forces invade, lay siege to the city, and brutally murder his parents. At the last second, with his life hanging by a thread, Romulus receives the protection of military commander Aurelius (Colin Firth), who assembles a cadre of rebels, including Romulus, the boy's magician instructor, Ambrosinus (Sir Ben Kingsley), and the Indian female warrior Mira (Aishwarya Rai). After Romulus discovers an enchanted sword once claimed by Julius Caesar, the troupe heads out to the province of Britannia and Hadrian's Wall. There, the men will regroup with the Ninth Legion and plan one final triumphant stand against the barbarian invaders of Rome. ~ Nathan Southern, Rovi

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Rating, Runtime: PG-13, 1 hr. 41 min.
Directed By: Doug Lefler
Written By: Jez Butterworth, Tom Butterworth
Genres: Drama, Action & Adventure, Classics

In Theaters: Aug 17, 2007 Wide
On DVD: Dec 18, 2007
Studio: The Weinstein Company

Critic Reviews

Mark Bourne, Film.com
There are, after all, aimed at young audiences plenty of movies more mean-spirited, indiscriminate and obnoxious than The Last Legion. But at the same time there are plenty that are, alas, less frustrating.
Lisa Schwarzbaum, Entertainment Weekly
Every once in a while, though, Firth's eyebrow hints, Can you believe I'm wearing this dorky leather breastplate?
Jack Mathews, New York Daily News
I have too much respect for Kingsley and Firth to believe they did this for anything other than the money, and to their credit, they give their best efforts.
John Anderson, Newsday
Despite the occasional gleam of wit, very little is to be taken seriously -- not the story, not the acting and certainly not the history.
Wesley Morris, Boston Globe
The movie rarely feels fresh. Even an absurd cage-match like 300 cared enough to be both rousing and handsome. There's no fun to be had here.
Neil Genzlinger, New York Times
This sword-and-sandal spectacle from those epic-loving De Laurentiises might have made a good children’s film.
Cynthia Fuchs, Common Sense Media
Mr. Darcy trades Austen for Excalibur. Only OK.
Urban Cinefile Critics, Urban Cinefile
As the Roman Empire crumbles, undemanding escapist entertainment with wonderful production design and a cast.
Wendy Ide, Times [UK]
No twist is too farfetched for this Dino De Laurentiis epic.
Derek Malcolm, This is London
A good cast wallow about in a story you can't believe for a moment.
Tim Robey, Daily Telegraph
Colin Firth is not an actor who projects sparkling joie de vivre at the best of times, and The Last Legion, a cod-Roman reimagining of Arthurian myth, is very much not the best of times.
Robert Hanks, Independent
Tosh, but disarmingly sincere.
Peter Bradshaw, Guardian [UK]
A hunk of old Brie, left all day in the glove compartment in a car on a hot summer's day, could not smell more ripe than this absurd sword'n'sandal Roman movie.
Karl French, Financial Times
Silly and camp.
Daniel Etherington, Film4
A novel hybrid of swords, sandals, horned helmets and furs, this really is a load of old rubbish, but there's some fun to be had, especially for boys who like to have mock sword fights with wooden sticks.
Anna Smith, BBC
Paper-thin characters, stilted conversations and abrupt editing mean this is hard to get involved with, and its link with Arthurian legend feels contrived and clichéd.
Jonathan Crocker, Time Out
Crudely mangling Arthurian legend into Roman history, this creaky swords 'n' sandals romper trundles forward like a hurriedly upholstered TV movie.
Tim Evans, Sky Movies
The action sequences are handled well enough but the CGI isn't up to snuff in a tale that barely merits the retelling.
Anna Smith, Empire Magazine
This attempt at reimagining the Arthurian legend fails to raise the pulse due to some leaden dialogue and unconvincing performances.
Marc Savlov, Austin Chronicle
A wannabe sword-and-sandals saga.

Read all 20 critic reviews

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Featured Audience Ratings

Phil H

Hmmm a cross breed here with a mix of historical fact ,or what we know, blended with your typical over the top action sillyness much like 'Prince of Thieves'. There are some nice touches here from the cityscape's and landscapes rendered in cgi to the attempt at telling… More
Hmmm a cross breed here with a mix of historical fact ,or what we know, blended with your typical over the top action sillyness much like 'Prince of Thieves'. There are some nice touches here from the cityscape's and landscapes rendered in cgi to the attempt at telling the real tale behind King Arthur, Merlin, Excalibur and the events around that time involving Romans, Celts and barbarians. On one hand it does a nice job, the cast helps, in places yet doesn't in others haha Firth is reduced to a cliched action hero with invincibility on his side much like the 'hero team' *yawn* and his team are the usual predictable lot with the token sexy female warrior hehe the same for the baddies too really, your average growling bearded hulks. The plot is twisty and has many people dotting in n out which doesn't help with the constant mindless fighting going on between everybody and anybody, and the fighting is your usual one man army killing groups of baddies single handed type affair *groan* To be honest it's all rather silly apart from one or too reasonable performances, Sangster and Kingsley mainly, with the realistic historic backdrop attempt that reminds me allot of the old BBC series 'Robin Hood' with Michael Praed. Could of been great if it had been serious.
paul s

An interesting premiss, but too many inconsistencies and a mixing of some nice sets intertwinned with some horrible cgi. What starts out passably reasonable turns silly once the "seige" on Capri begins - the baddie Goths running around a south mediterrenean island wearing… More
An interesting premiss, but too many inconsistencies and a mixing of some nice sets intertwinned with some horrible cgi. What starts out passably reasonable turns silly once the "seige" on Capri begins - the baddie Goths running around a south mediterrenean island wearing furs and viking helmets - hilarious!!! Some of the fight scenes are nicely done, but as there are so many of them it just seems redundant (even Colin Firth kind of shrugs as yet another group of extras comes after him). There's a few nice touches once the group gets to Brittania (Ben Kingsley gathering the young folk around to tell the tale of the forging of the sword) - but even the climatic battle scene gets silly with young Romulus running around like he has a force field around him. There is the potential for a truly good baddie in the man in the gold mask, but then his demise in a battle with Kingsley is way too abrupt and short on drama (not to mention that when Kingsley calls out from the top of the ridge that he has vanquished the tyrant, everyone in the pitch of battle seems to hear him clearly - uh, don't think so! The final surprise twist is done fairly well, but I can't help thinking of the film Excaliber which dealt with the Arthurian legend about a gazillion times better.
Lewis C

The Last Legion just didn't click with me. It lacked the crucial sense of "epic-ness" that movies of this ilk need. The cast was unexciting, the story flew by without making an impression, it was just not fun to watch. The whole King Arthur connection seemed to be just… More
The Last Legion just didn't click with me. It lacked the crucial sense of "epic-ness" that movies of this ilk need. The cast was unexciting, the story flew by without making an impression, it was just not fun to watch. The whole King Arthur connection seemed to be just tacked on in order to bring in more viewers. There was just enough history in the story to let the viewer know how horribly inaccurate it all was. Couldn't they at least have gotten a decent number of extras for the boring battle scenes?
Arash X

I think the main reason I watched this was Colin Firth well I think I made a mistake so did he, And Aishwarya Rai is annoying like always & her character in this movie is annoying too, One star for the sake of its final sequence well I mean the way I interpreted it for myself
Dean M

Awesome epic battle in the untold beginning of the King Arthur legend about a 12-year-old boy, who is the last emperor, is protected by a general, wizard and warrior. Ben Kingsley makes a wonderful performance as the wizard and Indian beautiful actress Aishwarya Rai is incredible as… More
Awesome epic battle in the untold beginning of the King Arthur legend about a 12-year-old boy, who is the last emperor, is protected by a general, wizard and warrior. Ben Kingsley makes a wonderful performance as the wizard and Indian beautiful actress Aishwarya Rai is incredible as the sexy warrior in her fight sequences at the first time I ever watched.
Bruce B

One of The Best Sword And Stone Movies Out there. Everything was Excellent. I can Smell a Sequal, Sword in the STone or King Arthur. A great addition tyo any collection.
Manu G

It was kinda of a good movie. "The Last legion" is a fantasy action-adventure in the vein of "The Sword and the Stone" set against the fall of Rome and its last emperor, 12 year-old Romulus Augustus, the boy who would rule for a day before losing all that he loved:… More
It was kinda of a good movie. "The Last legion" is a fantasy action-adventure in the vein of "The Sword and the Stone" set against the fall of Rome and its last emperor, 12 year-old Romulus Augustus, the boy who would rule for a day before losing all that he loved: his family, his home, and an empire that once stood for truth and honor. Imprisoned on the island-fortress of Capri, Romulus searches for a means of escape. He discovers instead "excaliburnus," the legendary sword of Julius Caesar, and realizes that he must do all in his power to save Rome. Aided by the clever strategies of his teacher, Ambrosinus, and the heroic skills of his loyal legionnaire, Aurelius, Romulus escapes the island. Accompanied by his friends and a mysterious envoy from Constantinople, Romulus travels to Britannia in search of the last Roman Legion ? the fabled Dragon Legion. There, Romulus will fight alongside his friends to make his last stand for Rome and take his first steps to becoming a man and he king who would father a legend.
Mike S

Pretentious and flawed, but decent enough to be worth the watch.
moon r

a senses satisfying bit of fantasy/history, eh, w/ben kingsley having some little fun as a teacher to the future king, colin firth as errol flynn and that king's in-over-his-head protector, and aishwarya rai as the saucy bit w/a knife, a sword, and a assortment of other… More
a senses satisfying bit of fantasy/history, eh, w/ben kingsley having some little fun as a teacher to the future king, colin firth as errol flynn and that king's in-over-his-head protector, and aishwarya rai as the saucy bit w/a knife, a sword, and a assortment of other implements of death to protect widdle self her while she's puttin the lights out of a score of bad guys. didn't they used to make 'em like this in hollywood? not anymore it seems and maybe not as good. bigtime popcorn muncher!
Matthew C

Overall, it's a good premise and provides a decently interesting version of the creation of Excalibur, but if you're expecting Arthur and his Knights to right around the corner any minute, you'll be disappointed. For the most part, the movie pretty well sailed on its… More
Overall, it's a good premise and provides a decently interesting version of the creation of Excalibur, but if you're expecting Arthur and his Knights to right around the corner any minute, you'll be disappointed. For the most part, the movie pretty well sailed on its own, but expect politics to overrule the action, hence why there's so many bad reviews of it. Shame, really.
Jeffrey M

I'm convinced the director didn't know what this movie was supposed to be, I sure didn't. There's a big identity crisis the film undergoes, not sure if it wants to be a light hearted fantasy film, a sword and sandals epic, or a revenge film. Colin Firth, though… More
I'm convinced the director didn't know what this movie was supposed to be, I sure didn't. There's a big identity crisis the film undergoes, not sure if it wants to be a light hearted fantasy film, a sword and sandals epic, or a revenge film. Colin Firth, though strong, felt like he was in a different movie. Kingsley largely phoned in his efforts, though the writing sure didn't do him any favors.
William G

Historical adv. throwback doesn't quite cut it with skimpy budget.
Deb S

Rip off on King Arthur! The kids will love it but definitely it's no Troy, 300 or King Arthur
Edward S

Terrible.
Sarah P

I didn't get past the 10 minute mark. I was immediately uninterested.
Marion R

The main character should have been Firth's character, not the kid. This is sad if this is the best entertainment the industry can offer the family audiences. Another point why does Rai, pick some of the lamest films to debut in. This could have been a decent film, with a decent… More
The main character should have been Firth's character, not the kid. This is sad if this is the best entertainment the industry can offer the family audiences. Another point why does Rai, pick some of the lamest films to debut in. This could have been a decent film, with a decent script, better director and music. Sadly I was very disappointed.
Matthew A

A rather OK movie. I expected a bit more from it, but I suppose it still did well. The movie takes place during the time of fall of Roman Empire, about a young king Romulus and the Excalibur sword. It talks of how the whole Roman empire became pretty much against him and the… More
A rather OK movie. I expected a bit more from it, but I suppose it still did well. The movie takes place during the time of fall of Roman Empire, about a young king Romulus and the Excalibur sword. It talks of how the whole Roman empire became pretty much against him and the remainder of his men, and now they must find a way out. The battles were not bad. They were not as stunning as those in Troy or 300, but enjoyable to some degree. The acting and story were OK too, again none really excel that much but they deliver what they were meant to deliver. I'll advise you to only watch this film if you like movies of this genre, i.e. the epic ones full of ancient or medieval sword fighting battles.
Leo L

Very interesting movie for those who love the Arthur tales of old. I personally enjoyed it.
Sean S

Ok, far from perfect. Still better then King Arthurand more accurate except from the lame tacked on ending. Plus Ms.Rai is awesomely hot.
Chad R

I am glad I went to the early movie and only paid $5.50 for this. I can't believe I went to watch this instead of Jason Bourne.