The Eagle

“The destiny of a soldier. The honour of a slave. The fate of an empire.”

6.2

2011

1h 54m

AdventureDrama

Director: Kevin Macdonald

Overview

In 140 AD, twenty years after the unexplained disappearance of the entire Ninth Legion in the mountains of Scotland, young centurion Marcus Aquila arrives from Rome to solve the mystery and restore the reputation of his father, the commander of the Ninth. Accompanied only by his British slave Esca, Marcus sets out across Hadrian's Wall into the uncharted highlands of Caledonia - to confront its savage tribes, make peace with his father's memory, and retrieve the lost legion's golden emblem, the Eagle of the Ninth.

Trailer

Official Trailer Official

Cast

Marcus Aquila

Channing Tatum

Marcus Aquila

Guern

Mark Strong

Guern

Esca

Jamie Bell

Esca

Aquila

Donald Sutherland

Aquila

Lotorius

Denis O'Hare

Lotorius

Seal Prince

Tahar Rahim

Seal Prince

Claudius Marcellus

Dakin Matthews

Claudius Marcellus

Cradoc

Douglas Henshall

Cradoc

Galba

Paul Ritter

Galba

Servius Placidus

Pip Carter

Servius Placidus

Seal Chief / The Horned One

Ned Dennehy

Seal Chief / The Horned One

Cohort Centurion

István Göz

Cohort Centurion

Reviews

CinemaSerf

I will admit that I quite enjoyed this reversioning of Rosemary Sutcliff's book "The Eagle of the Ninth". Channing Tatum takes on the role of "Marcus Aquila" - son of one of the cohort commanders of the famous 9th legion that vanished in the highlands of modern-day Scotland sometime in the 2nd Century AD. Determined to restore the honour of his father, he and his slave "Esca" (Jamie Bell) set off to locate the Eagle - the golden symbol of the Roman people that was carried before the legion. This is quite a fast moving little adventure film with an interesting score from Atli Örvarsson to accompany their travails through hostile territory in search of their trophy. There is a chemistry between the two stars and some beautiful outdoor photography. Tahar Rahim is good as the grittily determined and ruthless prince of the Seal people and Ned Dennehy also stands out, albeit for only few scenes, as his slightly deranged father. Mark Strong also appears a few times too, sporting a completely unnecessary American accent! Passes the time enjoyably.

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