The Last Legion
![Watch film The Last Legion — The Last Legion (2007) ORIGINAL TRAILER [HD 1080p]](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/p-01n4dptzg/sddefault.jpg)
Short description
Set in the fifth century as the Western Roman Empire is collapsing, The Last Legion follows Romulus Augustus, a boy crowned as the empire's ruler just as invading forces seize Rome. He is captured and imprisoned, but escapes with the help of his mentor Ambrosinus, the soldier Aurelius and a warrior named Mira. With the city lost, the group travels toward Britain in search of the Ninth Legion, the one remaining force still loyal to Rome, only to find the region under the control of a ruthless lord. The film draws on Valerio Massimo Manfredi's novel of the same name.
Doug Lefler directed, following his earlier DragonHeart: A New Beginning; the screenplay is by Jez Butterworth and Tom Butterworth. Colin Firth plays Aurelius, with Ben Kingsley as Ambrosinus, Aishwarya Rai Bachchan as Mira, Peter Mullan as Odoacer, Kevin McKidd as Wulfila and John Hannah as Nestor. It was produced by Raffaella De Laurentiis, Tarak Ben Ammar and Martha De Laurentiis.
Released in 2007, the film had a budget of 67 million dollars and took about 25 million dollars worldwide, a wide gap between its cost and its returns. Audiences have been lukewarm: it holds 5.4 out of 10 on IMDb from roughly 36,800 votes and 5.6 out of 10 on TMDB from around 871 votes. A critics' rating of 4.1 out of 10 from 55 reviews sits below both audience scores.
What's left behind the scenes
- Several frames were removed from the American version of the film in order to achieve the desired PG-13 rating.
- The film is based on the novel of the same name by Italian historian and writer Valerio Massimo Manfredi, which was published in 2002. It was translated into a number of other languages, including English and Russian, with a total print run of over 6 million copies.
- Director Doug Lefler was suggested as a candidate by producer Raffaella De Laurentiis, who had previously worked with him on "Dragonheart: A New Beginning (2000)."
- Caesar's throne was constructed in such a way that the feet of the 15-year-old Thomas Sangster did not touch the floor. This was done to amplify the impression of a small child overwhelmed by the events unfolding around him.
- More than four hours of filmed material did not make it into the final version of the film, including a heroic crossing of the Alps and a crossing of the English Channel.
- The idea for this plot first emerged at Dino De Laurentiis' production company, which invited Valerio Manfredi as a historical consultant. He became very interested in the project, and when work on it stalled, he chose to partially use the idea himself and write a historical novel. The novel gained great popularity in Europe, which helped to secure the necessary funding for the film, after which the writer himself returned to his role as a consultant and helped adapt the screenplay.
- In various scenes closer to the end of the film, all members of Thomas Sangster's family appear in cameo roles – his mother Anastasia (the woman who embraces Castennus, commander of the Ninth Legion, and Igraine's mother), father Mark (the blacksmith who delivers a speech about his vision of Romulus's life amongst them), and younger sister Ava (a Celtic girl in the scene where Ambrosinus explains the origin of Caesar's sword).
Auditions in India
Casting calls in USA
Castingi w Polsce
Кастинги в Україні
