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TV show review: CONTINUUM season 4
PHOTOGRAPHY

CENTURION

DVD Review by David Blackwell

 

DETAILS:  97 minutes, deleted scenes, outtakes, multiple featurettes and interviews, audio commentary, production design and photo galleries

VIDEO:  2.35:1 (Anamorphic Widescreen)

AUDIO:  English 5.1, English 2.0

Subtitles: Spanish

 

STUDIO:  Magnolia Home Entertainment/ Magnet Releasing/ Six Shooter Film Series/ Pathe! Films/ UK Film Council/ Celador Films/ Warner Bros. Pictures

RELEASE DATE:  11-2-2010

CENTURION is the story of a group of Roman soldiers who are behind enemy lines as they try to get back to safety after the Ninth legion is wiped on in an ambush by the Picts in Scotland.  The seven Romans are being hunted by the Picts in an action chase picture.

 

Director Neil Marshall loves his action and he has a respect for any type of 1980s action film.   He dives into the historical adventure arena this time where his previous effort, DOOMSDAY, was a homage to Mad Max and the 1980s films of John Carpenter.  CENTURION started when Marshall was intrigued by the myth behind the mysterious disappearance of the Ninth Legion.    He has created an epic chase film with plenty of stunts, a sweeping score, and cinematography that shows off the beautiful landscapes of Scotland.  The actors portray the characters as real human beings where both sides aren't good or bad.  They all have their reasons for doing what they do.  Olga Kurylenko is great in a very speechless role as the warrior tracker Etain.   I would watch CENTURION again for the above reasons.

 

SPECIAL FEATURES:

Audio commentary with Writer/ Director Neil Marshall, Sam McCurdy (Director of Photography), Simon Bowles (ProductionDesigner), and Paul Hyett (Special Make-Up Effects Designer)

 

Six deleted scenes (with optional commentary by writer/ director Neil Marshall) which were cut for pacing or didn’t fit the film Marshall was making.

Outtakes from a few scenes

 

BLOOD, FIRE & FURY: BEHIND THE SCENES OF CENTURION-

THE LOST LEGION-   the origins of the film and why Neil Marshall wanted to do a film on the myth of what happened to the Ninth Roman Legion

GETTING DOWN & DIRTY-   shooting on location in remote areas of Scotland and building sets (Roman fort and the Pict village

GUTS & GORE-   the make-up effects of CENTURION

FIREBALLS, STUNTS & MAYHEM-   a look at the Fireballs created for the battle scene and the various stunt work for the fight (and action) scenes

 

Interviews with Neil Marshall, Producer Robert Jones, and actors Michael Fassbender (Quintis Dias), Dominic West (General Virilus), Olga Kurylenko (Etain), & Noel Clarke (Macros).  I think Olga comes across better in the interview footage for BLOOD, FIRE & FURY where she does come across with a few ums and such.   Still she is fantastic as Etain.   The interview footage has the cast and crew answers various questions which are also answered to some degrees in the main making-of fetaurette and the audio commentary.

Behind the Scenes footage from the two battles in the film showing what is going on during takes and between them.  The Production Galleries show the Production Design and stills from the film.   HDNet: A LOOK AT CENTURION is promo fluff on CENTURION.   The trailer for CENTURION isn’t included on the disc- only trailers for other Magnolia Home Entertainment releases that are out or going to be out soon.


FINAL ANALYSIS:  CENTURION is a relentless action chase film from a director who loves his action films done in a 1980s epic style.

 

This DVD review is ©11-3-2010 David Blackwell and cannot be reprinted without permission.  Send all comments to lord_pragmagtic@hotmail.com