Walt Disney it ain’t.  Full of gigantic balls of flaming rock, graphic body slices, and enough flailing blood and gore to satisfy any beastly gorehound, Neil Marshall’s Centurion might be the best representation of man-made violence ever replicated on film.  This film rocks impaling and shots to the head with an axe and sword like no other warrior film – even Snyder’s 300 looks like a kiddie parade next to this epic battle-and-chase film.  Mostly ignored and dismissed by critics in its initial summer release, Centurion is not a disappointment for those liking a lot more blood and gristle in their diet of films.

Unable to defeat and stop the terrorist antics of the Picts of Northern Britain, the Roman Empire decides to make one final bloody push to clear them out for good.  Equipped with a mute, “she-wolf” named Etain (Olga Kurylenko), one final legion of soldiers, led by General Virilus (Dominic West), finds themselves divided, ambushed, chased and, one-by-one, picked off by the “devils” that plague the North.  Once a captive of the Picts, Quintus (Michael Fassbender) must fight to keep his small troop of remaining soldiers - including Bothos (David Morrissey) and Thax (JJ Feild) - alive in the icy depths of an unknown territory, especially when General Virilus is captured and tortured by their double-crossing female guide and hounded by her proficient hunters.  The hunters are now the hunted and they must outrun their opponents in order to stay alive and complete their mission.

While its story might concern itself with the territory of the ever-extended Roman empire of 117 AD, the graphicness with which Centurion presents itself feels more contemporary than one might expect.  Trust me, it’s a good thing because the film – while including some severe scenes of war and torture - does avoid social commentary.  The torture scenes are excruciatingly real and do wonders to portray just what might have gone on when faced with an enemy as dangerous as the Picts, but don’t overstay their welcome.  It’s a good balance of adventure and violence; we never mistake this for the current world at war.

When vengeance is revealed to be the true guiding force behind the lance-through-the-mouth antics of the Picts, the danger the Romans face is amplified tenfold and the tension is clearly transmitted to the audience.  The men must beg for their deaths or fight, fight, and keep moving.  And they do.  Marshall’s camera is heavy on the aerial footage – which is hauntingly desaturated in color and blindingly snow-paled and cold.  You can practically see the frost in some of the fields the survivors traverse in their flight from the Picts.

Throat-slashing abounds.  Head-cutting a must.  This is the territory of Marshall’s film.  He loves his violence.  Even The Descent – an early film of his – was graphic in its use of blood and gore and Centurion is no different.  It isn’t mystical, nor does it pretend to be in a different world than the one we know.  It is quite simply a brutally raw film with some downright animalistic snarls and guttural snaps from its B-movie jaw.  At an easy 90 minutes, its pacing is one of the film’s little gifts.  This isn’t Braveheart.  It’s much more visceral and precise than that.  If you like the bloody war and siege films of yesteryear, then Centurion is your cup of delightful witches brew.

Component Grades Movie Blu-ray Disc Blu-ray Experience

Blu-ray Details:

Available on Blu-ray - November 2, 2010
Screen Formats: 2.39:1
Subtitles: English SDH, Spanish
Audio: English: DTS-HD Master Audio 7.1
Discs: 50GB Blu-ray Disc; Single disc (1 BD); Digital copy (as download); BD-Live

Presented in a strong 1080p transfer, Marshall’s film – a film that shares a balance between some strong blue, green, gray and brown hues – is an effective clarity of detail.  It’s splendid in atmosphere and grain, keeping a natural beauty to some of its vista on-the-mount locations.  The English DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 track is as brutal as the film’s violence; bass-heavy and thundering with its use of spatial dynamics.  Overall, a very welcome home theatre experience.

Supplements:

Commentary:

• There is an excellent audio commentary provided by director Neil Marshall, production designer Simon Bowles, special makeup effects designer Paul Hyett, and cinematographer Sam McCurdy.  They speak in turn, filling the feature-length commentary with information pertaining to the film’s production and the struggles they faced in keeping the film on track with its historical facts concerning the fate of Rome’s Ninth Legion.

Special Features:

There are a healthy amount of featurettes concerning the film’s production; its look; its effects; and its filming.  One of the things you quickly realize is that the film was intended to be MUCH longer.  I hope I never live to see the extended version of this film as 90 minutes is long enough to tell the B-movie story that is its heart.

• The Making of Centurion: The Lost Legion (5 min)
• The Making of Centurion: Guts & Gore (6 min)
• The Making of Centurion: Getting Down and Dirty (7 min)
• The Making of Centurion: Fireballs, Stunts and Mayhem (11 min)

Deleted Scenes (with optional commentary from Marshall):

• Agricola's Headquarters (3 min)
• The Sentries (1 min)
• Call to Arms (3 min)
• Gorlacon's Son (1 min)
• Roman Encampment (1 min)
• Mountain Shelter (2 min)

Outtakes (7 min)

Production Design Gallery (3 min)

Photo Gallery (2 min)

Trailer

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