Posted on 05/02/2020 3:27:03 PM PDT by Rummyfan
Our star movie columnist, Kathy Shaidle, is off this weekend, so her fill-in guy is obliged to step in. I can't quite believe it's twenty years since this film was released, but nevertheless it is: May 5th 2000. So in honor of its first two decades, and in memory of a ridiculously distinguished cast too prematurely departed (Richard Harris, David Hemmings, Oliver Reed), we salute a film that has the courage of its own ridiculousness and features a splendid turn by Russell Crowe, although his turn as Javert in Les Miz came close, and so did his performance at the Riskie Awards. The historical research by Ridley Scott speaks for itself, so just to set the scene:
Germania, 180 AD. Rome is at war with the, er, Germaniacs, who stand around in the Black Forest grunting like Brits on the piss who've nutted themselves in one pub fight too many. You need a cool head to take on the Roman Army, and the only one the barbarians have belongs to Caesar's emissary, whom they thoughtfully decapitated before sending back. They wave the old noggin around like a treasured footie ball, grunting, "Ug Eugh Blug" or, translated from the original gibberish, "Over 'ere, mate." It's a scene that rings oddly contemporary in the age of Isis, although when I first saw it, a year before 9/11, it gave me the giggles. But then barbarians always seem funny from a distance, don't they? Here they scratch their pelts and grunt some more, seemingly unconcerned by the fact that the Roman legions are lighting up their blazing arrows and fireballs, the smart bombs of the day. The ensuing battle, whose outcome would seem never to be in doubt, is apparently the final bloody act in a twelve-year war.
(Excerpt) Read more at steynonline.com ...
Yes where the German barbarians are chanting the Zulu war chant from the 1964 movie Zulu.
He looked good, back in the day.
LOL!!!
“Gotta love Steyn!”
He is a great wordsmith and entertains us as well!
I love his musical references, too!
So, you think jeans were not worn then? Com’on Man, you
want to go out back and do some push ups?/s
One of many editing misses in movies.
There was a Western movie scene of action in the 1870s that showed contrails in the sky, Ooops!
Makes me laugh just thinking of it!
Re: We have fine actors. The screenwriters, though....
I completely agree.
The English speaking cinema world has enough acting, director, and technical talent to crank out three or four epic movies every year.
But there are NEVER enough epic story tellers.
It's amazing how much abuse a human body can take! But alcohol is toxic, and drinking to excess has consequences. Somebody did a study a few years back, of male drinkers in the former Soviet Union - apparently men who drink 1.5 liters of vodka per week have a one-in-three chance of dying prematurely. Thing is, a lot of folks drink a lot more than that; I knew a geologist, years ago, who drank almost that much every single day (plus a few pints of beer for lunch ;>), and somehow remained functional. Made me laugh when I stumbled across the "Uncyclopedia" article on geologists, which described members of that profession as "the world's first alcohol-based life form"...
;>)
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