The Last Legion
Directed by Doug Lefler

By Scott A. Gray

This could be a cautionary tale about signing on to make a movie with an unproven film director. Doug Lefler has a solid cast to work with in Colin Firth, Ben Kingsly and beautiful Bollywood star Aishwarya Rai, and the story has potential, tracing the last descendent of Julius Caesar, Romulus Augustus, during the fall of the Roman empire and his link to Excalibur and the birth of the “sword in the stone” legend. Young Romulus is forced to flee to Britain after his kingdom is overthrown and parents butchered in search of a last legion of supporters to uphold the court of Caesar. Joining the young king is his mysterious teacher (Ben Kingsly), who sometimes goes by the name of Merlin, an army officer sworn to protect him (Colin Firth) and a warrior named Mira, who just kind of shows up and kicks a lot of ass. Unfortunately for the cast, Lefler only has experience directing television, and damn does it show. Visually the film looks like a made for TV movie from ten years ago, complete with sloppy editing to avoid all consequences of violence in order to maintain that PG rating. This effectively neuters any thrills or tension in the plentiful action sequences, leaving the tenuous plot and wooden acting to carry the film. The whole project is marred by a lack of direction and chemistry between the leads. Aishwarya Rai and Firth have zero spark, making their romance utterly laughable, and Kingsly does his best to stay afloat in the sea of amateurism Lefler’s constructed. A wasted cast and opportunity to tell a potentially fascinating tale, The Last Legion is suitable for kids too young to handle the gore of more mature medieval fantasy fare. But at least it’s better than the embarrassing Eragon or Dungeons & Dragons. The standard special features include deleted scenes, fight scene choreography, storyboard to film comparisons, a “making of” and director’s commentary. (Alliance Atlantis)

3:10 To Yuma - Dir. by James Mangold
Whether you see it as a return to form for the western as a serious medium for moral exploration or simply as a damn fine example of the genre, there’s no denying the fierce quality of the filmmaking. James Mangold (Walk the Line) has gone to admirable lengths to craft a reverent retelling of ...Read More
24 Season Six
An Affair to Remember: 50th Anniversary Edition - Dir. by Leo McCarey
Balls of Fury - Dir. by Robert Ben Garant
Battlestar Galactica: Razor - Dir. by Felix Alcala
Big Love: The Complete Second Season
Blade Runner Five-Disc Ultimate Collector’s Edition - Dir. by Ridley Scott
Boogeyman 2 - Dir. by Jeff Betancourt
Braveheart: Special Collector’s Edition - Dir. by Mel Gibson
Chappelle’s Show: The Series Collection
Cherry Crush - Dir. by Nicholas DiBella
Cherry Crush - Dir. by Nicholas DiBella
Death Sentence - Dir. by James Wan
Dragon Wars: D-War - Dir. by Hyung-rae Shim
Drums Along The Mohawk - Dir. by John Ford
Eagle vs Shark - Dir. by Taika Cohen
Earth Vs The Flying Saucers - Dir. by Fred F. Sears
Eastern Promises - Dir. by David Cronenberg
Erik the Viking: The Director’s Son’s Cut - Dir. by Terry Jones
Family Guy: Blue Harvest - Dir. by Dominic Polcino
First Snow - Dir. by Mark Fergus
Fox Horror Classics - Dir. by John Brahm
Full House: Season 8
Futurama: Bender's Big Score - Dir. by Dwayne Carey-Hill
Golden Door - Dir. by Emanuele Crialese
Groundhog Day: 15th Anniversary Edition - Dir. by Harold Ramis
Directed by Rob Zombie - Halloween: Unrated Director’s Cut
Harry Potter and The Order Of The Phoenix - Dir. by David Yates
Hollow Man: Director’s Cut - Dir. by Paul Verhoeven
Home of the Brave - Dir. by Irwin Winkler
Hot Fuzz 3-Disc Collector’s Edition - Dir. by Edgar Wright
Hustle: The Complete Fourth Season
I Know Who Killed Me - Dir. by Chris Sivertson
In the Land of Women - Dir. by Jonathan Kasdan
Inside the Actor’s Studio: Johnny Depp
Interview - Dir. by Steve Buscemi
It Came from Beneath the Sea - Dir. by Robert Gordon
Jackass 2.5 - Dir. by Jeff Tremaine
Lady Chatterley - Dir. by Pascale Ferran
Libero - Dir. by Kim Rossi Stuart
Life of Brian: The Immaculate Edition - Dir. by Terry Jones
Live Free or Die Hard - Dir. by Len Wiseman
Lost: The Complete Third Season
Lovejoy Series 2
Manufacturing Consent: Noam Chomsky and the Media - Dir. by Mark Achbar and Peter Wintonick
Mr. Bean's Holiday - Dir. by Steve Bendelack
Mr. Woodcock - Dir. by Craig Gillespie
Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End - Dir. by Gore Verbinski
Resident Evil: Extinction - Dir. by Russel Mulcahy
Rocket Science - Dir. by Jeffrey Blitz
Rocky: The Complete Saga
Rush Hour 3 - Dir. by Brett Ratner
Saturday Night Live The Complete Second Season
Shark Season 1
She’s Gotta Have It - Dir. by Spike Lee
Shoot ‘Em Up - Dir. by Michael Davis
Stardust - Dir. by Matthew Vaughn
Suburban Girl - Dir. by Marc Klein
Sunshine - Dir. by Danny Boyle
Superbad - Dir. by Greg Mottola
Swamp Thing: Complete First and Second Seasons
Sweet Mud - Dir. by Dror Shaul
The Adventures of Young Indiana Jones Volume One
The Best of The Colbert Report
The Bourne Ultimatum - Dir. by Paul Greengrass
The Brothers Solomon - Dir. by Bob Odenkirk
The Bubble - Dir. by Eytan Fox
The Cemetery Club - Dir. by Tali Shemesh
The Gay Deceivers - Dir. by Bruce Kessler
The Girl Next Door - Dir. by Gregory M. Wilson
The Heartbreak Kid - Dir. by Bobby and Peter Farrelly
The John Frankenheimer Collection
The Killing Kind - Dir. by Curtis Harrington
The Law of the Weakest - Dir. by Lucas Belvaux
The Nanny Diaries - Dir. by Shari Springer Berman and Robert Pulcini
The Simpsons Movie - Dir. by David Silverman
The Wire The Complete Fourth Season
Titanic: Tenth Anniversary Edition - Dir. by James Cameron
Torchwood: The Complete First Season
Vitus - Dir. by Fredi M. Murer
When Harry Met Sally… Collector’s Edition - Dir. by Rob Reiner
Wonder Woman: The Complete Collection
Crazy Heart, in which Jeff Bridges adds another career achievement notch on his belt as a down-to-his-last-drink country singer, might be more difficult to watch for musicians than for average moviegoers.

Bad Blake (Bridges), who's on the wrong side of 50, is hauling his truck ... Full Review
The term "videogame music" is often intended as an insult, deriding electronic beatscapes as rudimentary by comparing them to the 8-bit by necessity, bleep-based soundtracks of early Atari and Nintendo games. (See: Castles, Crystal) That Super Mario's theme music remains embedded in the frontal lobes of anyone under the age of 40 proves the critical weakness of the diss ― but it's also hopelessly archaic considering how much videogame music has evolved over the years.... Read More
Explosive and precise, Etaoin Shrdlu knowingly wink at the perception that their post-hardcore math rock musical approach might be a throwback while simultaneously contributing something vibrant to punk rock with Mating Calls. Featuring members of significant bands like Blake, I Can Put my Ar... Full Review
Social Networking
• Be our friend on MySpace
• Be our fan on Facebook
Tweet us on twitter
Viewing the February 2008 Issue: Contents PageNewsClick Hear • Articles --> On the Cover  •  Front Five  •  Points  •  Questionnaire  •  Readers Poll  •  Release Dates  •  Timeline  •  Videogames  •  Web Exclusives • Music Reviews --> Recently Reviewed  •  Aggressive Tendencies  •  Beats & Rhymes  •  Destination Out  •  Frequencies  •  No Future  •  Pop Rocks  •  Wood, Wires & Whiskey  •  Concert Reviews • Motion Reviews --> Recently Reviewed  •  Dvd Reviews  •  Film Reviews  •  Music DVD Reviews  •  Videogame Reviews • Music School --> Label Life  •  Meet & Greet  •  Need to Know  •  Where I play Contests • Contact --> About Us  • Advertising  • Distribution  • Getting Reviewed  • Getting Published  • Letters To The Editor  • Partnerships  • Subscriptions • Exclaim! Radio --> Aggressive Tendencies Radio  • Beats & Rhymes Radio  • Frequencies Radio  • Destination Out Radio  • Groove Radio  • No Future Radio  • Pop Rocks Radio  • Wood, Wires & Whiskey Radio Exclaim! TV • Home & Latest Issue Browse Issues