The Last Legion

Historically (at least cinematically) one could always depend on the Italians to deliver with a Sword and Sandal epic that was usually at least interesting. Throw the Yankees into the mix in a co-production and the positive usually gets diminished and the negative wildly emphasized. The Last Legion is no exception. It’s a ham-fisted effort that plays like a loosely scripted Renaissance Faire with way too much money tossed into the costumes and set, and not a whole lot of thought put into the logic or dialogue. As the Goths overrun the city and Rome falls, the boy emperor is spirited away by the Roman guard on a not-so-epic adventure that leads to him becoming the revisionist King Arthur. Unfortunately, Monty Python tainted this whole avenue so that one can never take it seriously, no matter how grim the actors look. All Sturm und not enough Drang.