Ironclad

The film opens with the 1215 CE, Magna Carter (MC) “Great Charter of Liberties” (the foundation of the US Constitution) and the remainder is what happens up to and during the siege of Rochester Castle. From what I witnessed the film has much historic grounding and feel some of it was filmed at Rochester Castle 25 Kms to the east of London. If you desire to view and understand medieval warfare, this film will not disappoint, but beware it is brutal.I have never come across Arcentertainment previously, but picture quality in Blu ray is quite good. With this great cast and excellent performances this film is very believable. However, I do not think there were two handed swords (as in the movie El Cid) in 1215-little too early. King John I “Lackland” signage of the MC with the English War of Rebellion (First Baron’s War) may have been the impetus for the French monarchy to end the Knights Templar existence in 1307. Either way they both did not consider the chivalric practice of the Near East “The Sea of Precious Virtues” of 1160s.After you view this movie and witness how the KT fight outnumbered, tell me how they were taken by ordinary soldiers by Philip IV on Friday, 13 October 1307! For the life of me I do not understand where the title of the film comes from. Warning: If you do not appreciate violence, do not watch this film!

And it'll make you flinch, unless you're so hardened to graphic violence and torture that this sort of thing is old hat to you.It's important to know that this movie is based on historical events and takes lots of liberties. Since we have no play-by-play narration of actual medieval events, every movie and book that goes beyond the broad stroke of history to tell a lively story, is in fact, 'based on historical events', so I don't think that's a show-stopper. More, if you have an interest in history, this movie might just get you to do some digging on your own and learn something. All to the good.Purefoy is brilliant as the Templar, both in casting and performance, and Brian Cox adds the right touch of rakish resignation to the end that has to be coming. This movie is absolutely brutal, and that's a virtue in and of itself. Most movies gloss over the results of running-with-scissors (or swords), Ironclad brings it up close and personal. Most movies portray a medieval setting with modern sensibilities, this one gives you a glimpse into what it was more probably like.I see some of the reviewers are hatin' on Kate Mara, and their complaints about her acting ability are fair enough. But if you consider her as what she really is; a pretty, strangely beguiling foil to showcase the conflict within the Templar Knight, she's the perfect fit for the part. She's not meant to be a main character, and she isn't.This is not a movie I recommend to most people. Only my best friends.

"Ironclad" is based around Rochester Castle in 13th Century England, where a battle of wills take place between a few barons of Great Britain and the megalomaniac, despotic King John. The movie is 2 hours long, was released in 2011, and stars the following actresses and actors . . . . James Purefoy in the role of Thomas Marshal, a Templar Knight in 13th century Great Britain; also starred in "Resident Evil," "Solomon Kane," "A Knight's Tale," a TV series called "Camelot," a TV series called "Rome," and a TV series called "Philanthropist."Brian Cox is cast as Albany, a strong and principled man (also starred in "Frasier" as Daphne's father, "Borne Identity," "Troy," "Rise of the Planet of the Apes," a TV series called "Kings," "Braveheart," and a 1983 TV version of "King Lear." Kate Mara portrays the character Isabel, the young hot wife of a much older Baron; also appeared in "Iron Man 2," the TV series "Entourage," "Transsiberian," a TV series called "24," "CSI: Crime Scene Investigation," "CSI: Miami," "Boston Public," "Nip/Tuck," and "Law & Order."Derek Jacobi is the Baron Cornhill, who owns the castle in "Ironclad." As an actor, Derek has been knighted in Danish and English orders both, and is considered to be one of the more preeminent British classical thespians of the post Olivier generation (Olivier also had two knighthoods bestowed). Derek Jacobi has also appeared in "Gladiator," "There Be Dragons," "The King's Speech," "Henry V," "The Golden Compass," the TV series "Doctor Who," a TV movie "Inquisition," a TV mini-series "The Jury," on "Frasier" where he lampoons himself as a bumbling old actor in a one man Shakespeare theater performance that clearly bombs, also appeared in "Jason and the Argonauts," "Hamlet," a TV mini-series "The Civil War," and is the narrator for several films including "The Secret of NIMH" as Nicodemus. Paul Giamatti is cast as King John, a despotic mad man at the end of his reign and desperate enough to employ mercenaries under false pretenses to get back his personal freedoms lost to the Magna Charter. He has also appeared in "Saving Private Ryan," a TV series "John Adams," "The Illusionist," "Cinderella Man," a TV movie "The Pentagon Papers," and "Donnie Brasco." Charles Dance portrays Archbishop Langdon, during a time of power for the church. Also known for his roles in "Alien 3," "Gosford Park," "Last Action Hero," "There Be Dragons," a TV series "Trinity," a TV series "Merlin," a TV mini-series "Bleak House," a TV movie "Henry VIII," and a TV movie 1990 version of "The Phantom of the Opera."Jason Flemyng plays as Becket. Also known for "Lock, Stock and Tow Smoking Barrels," "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button," "Snatch," "Clash of the Titans," "Solomon Kane," "The Quatermass Experiment," "The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen," "The Red Violin," "Rob Roy," and a TV series "Doctor Finlay."Jamie Foreman is Coteral. Also known for "Sleepy Hollow," "Saving Grace," "Elizabeth," a TV series "Doctor Who," "Layer Cake," a TV Series "Rescue Me," a TV series "The House of Eliott," and a TV series "Dempsey and Makepeace."Mackenzie Crook in the role of Marks, another in the team of fearsome mercenaries - as an archer who never wastes an arrow. Also known for "Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl," "Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest," "Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End," "Finding Neverland," a TV series "Accused," a TV series "Demons," "The Brothers Grimm," a TV series "Merlin," "The Merchant of Venice," the TV series "The Office," a TV series "Skins," and "Sex & Drugs & Rock & Roll."Rhys Parry Jones in the role of Wulfstan. Not as renown as the rest of the "Ironclad" cast, but still has a dozen or so titles to his credit.Aneurin Barnard plays the role of Guy, the young protégé who hopes to make a difference. He has about 14 or so titles of movies, films, TV series, and short presentations that he has been part of, such as the TV series "Y Pris."Vladimir Kulich is Tiberius, a muscle bound Viking looking leader of the army on the side for King John. Vladimir was born in Czechoslovakia, and speaks four languages fluently. He is also known for his roles in such works as "The 13th Warrior," "Smokin' Aces," "Firestorm," the TV series "The Beast," the TV series "Highlander," "Red Scorpion 2," the TV series "MacGyver," and a TV series "Cobra."David Melville is Baron Darnay. Also known for "Hamlet," "Letters from the Big Man," "The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde," and for his work as a talented musician.Annabelle Apsion plays the part of Maddy. Also known for "From Hell," a TV series "Shameless," "Goodnight Mister Tom," "The War Zone," a TV series "The Bill," a TV series "Outlaws," a TV movie "Darwin's Daughter," a TV series "Coronation Street," a TV series "Micawber," a TV series "My Good Friend," a TV series "Soldier Soldier," and over 3 dozen other titles.Steffan Rhodri as the character Cooper. Also known for "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1" "Submarine," Ali G Indahouse," a TV series "Doctors," a TV series "Gavin & Stacey," and over a dozen other titles.In other words, just a bunch of nobodies who know nothing about acting, and have no idea how to perform with enough enthusiasm to entertain. Psyche !!The movie is rated "R" and I only saw one hooter that wasn't an owl. Other than that, the rating is for violence primarily, and a little bit of vulgar language. The language is less vulgar than your Jr Hi School kid hears on a daily basis, and the gore isn't as severe as I'd hoped for since that is the biggest claim of the promoters of this film. There is a realism to this film though, and you get a sense of the crude and harsh conditions that time period had - and what battle strategies desperate men plied against each other. There are some brutal sequences of torture and dismembering in "Ironclad," but the suggestive themes of sex and passion are left to the imagination. If all the film wanted to do is show horror and gritty violence, then it should have dismemberment including sodomizing beheaded throats, and body parts used as phallic substitutes in unwilling participant's body orifices, as well as broadswords impaling from crotch to crown both male and female combatants. There should be some pitchforks, lance through the eye out the back of the head type stuff, and some better attempts to portray rotting leprosy. But "Ironclad" does the best they can, and still get by the censorship in America. Otherwise, it would be deemed a foreign film only, and would cost three times as much, not to mention only play on a high tech DVD player meant for outside the U.S. and Canada based movies. As far as American censorship goes, I suppose "Ironclad" is fairly decent for a medieval violent history chronicle allegedly based upon true events. There will be blood.

Not a huge fan of modern adventure films (I grew up with mostly 80s and early 90s films) I was surprised with the creativity and effort put into the movie. Apparently the film was based on a true story, the midevial siege of Rochester castle in the year 1215 against king John of England. a good movie, but quite remarkable taking into account this was one of the largest independently financed films ever made. The film is not for the faint of heart, the gore and violence is essesive, yet intristingly is almost essential for the telling of the story. James purefoy is perfect in the role of Knight templar Thomas marshal, a likable man of faith, haunted by his killing from his past, but also Brian Cox, a legendary British stage actor, known by many as the first actor to portray Hannibal lector, in 1986s manhunter, is also perfectly cast as leader baron (and siege master) William Albany. This is not a perfect film, where it excells in action, it falls in dialogue, however, if a two hour midevial action /adventure film is your cup of tea, Ironclad is your movie!!

This is what I want in a used dvd. The case is unblemished and the disc looks brand new. BRAVO

l'ho trovato tra i suggerimenti di amazon e, conoscendo James Purefoy e il suo talento (Solomon Kane, la serie con Kevin Bacon The Following...), ho deciso di fidarmi del mio istinto.Il film passato totalmente inosservato nel panorama cinematografico italiano, è davvero godibile. Scene di battaglia crude e realistiche, costumi davvero spettacolari, attori all'altezza come Giamatti, Purefoy, ottime coreografie di scherma molto curate senza sfociare nell'irrealismo cinematico.Acquistatelo non ve ne pentirete.Personalmente ho la versione DVD e devo dire che non capisco perchè di default da uno schermo 4:3 . qualità video e audio più che buone.Splendida sorpresa, consigliatissimo

Ich will in dieser Rezession erst gar nicht die Inhaltsangabe nochmals wiedergeben. Nur soviel sei gesagt, dass wir hier quasi die "Glorreichen Sieben gegen Prinz John aus Robin Hood", denn der König John ist niemand anderes als der allseits bekannte Johann Ohneland, vorliegen haben. Letzterer wird hervorragend fies und hinterhältig durch Paul Giamatti verkörpert, welcher manch einer noch von "Planet der Affen" (Tim Burtons Variante) oder das "Mädchen aus dem Wasser" kennt.Historische Genauigkeit ist hier denke ich auch gar nicht sooo bedeutend. Legen wir mal die Hand aufs Herz und denken mal drüber nach, ob es historisch genaue Filme wirklich gibt (die Frage sei mal in den Raum gestellt).Viel wichtiger ist eine gute Geschichte. Natürlich hat man hier das Storytelling nicht neu erfunden, aber auch das hat weder "Titanic" noch "Avatar" geschafft, dementsprechend sehe ich dies auch nicht Kriterium einen solche, weitaus preiswerteren Film abzuwerten.Ich persönlich konnte mich sehr gut mit den Figuren des Films anfreunden, die ich jetzt nicht alle aufzählen konnte und war immer traurig, wenn einer davon starb (so war es bei den Glorreichen Sieben ja auch), da sie es durchaus in der kurzen Zeit geschafft haben ein kleines Profil zu entwickeln.Auch das die Gewalt so hoch ausgefallen ist, sehe ich nicht als Punkt zum Abwerten an, da eine der Kernaussagen des Films dahin geht, dass man sich an das Menschen abschlachten nie gewöhnt und dies einen Kaputt macht.Und mal ehrlich, schon wieder so ein Mittelalterfilm in dem wieder alles bunt und sauber ist, kann ich nicht gebrauchen. Was erwartet man eigentlich, wenn man mit Äxten, Schwertern und Knüppeln aufeinander eindrischt und ums nackte Überleben kämpft ???Dennoch muß ich hier mal ein paar Worte in Richtung FSK richten. Dieser Film ist AB 16 ?????????!!!!!Wo ihr uns Volljährige all die Jahre mit Filmen wie SAW oder sonst irgendwas, "Ritter der Dämonen" z.B. auf den Index setzt. Filme wie "Doomsday" auch in der 18er Version um eine kleine Kannibalenszene kürzt und zum Beispiel "Centurion" ab 18 setzt, welcher zwar sicherlich schon hart war, aber ein Kindergartengeburtstag gegen "Ironclad", stellt man sich hier bei diesem Film die Frage ob ihr überhaupt ein Konzept besitzt zur Bewertung der Altersfreigabe.Ich will da mal etwas über die nette Szene gegen Ende von "Ironclad" berichten, die so den Höhepunkt der Gewalt des Films bildet und bei Filmen vor 10 oder 20 Jahren wohl zur "bundesweiten Beschlagnahme" gereicht hätten.Nachdem man die drei Gefangenen am Ende vor dem letzten Turm, vor den Augen in aller Detailverliebtheit die Hände und Füße einzelnd abgeschlagen hat, bleibt es einem nicht erspart zu sehen, wie der Anführer der Rebellen an den Tribok gebunden wird und mit voller Wucht gegen die Mauer des Burgfrieds geschleudert zu werden. Suuuper !Na, hab ja wie gesagt Nix gegen die Gewaltdarstellung des Films, aber die FSK muß hier eindeutig gepennt haben.Ich kann nur jeden Eltern sagen, diese Altersfreigabe auf der Hülle in den Müll zu werfen, im Kopf diese durch "ab 18" zu ersetzen und ihren Kindern dies nicht zu zeigen und sich den stattdessen alleine in ruhiger Minute anzusehen und zu genießen, denn die Gewalt ist hier nicht als Selbstzweck zu sehen.Am Ende bin dann aber froh, dass die FSK pennt, denn dadurch haben wir vielleicht in Zukunft mal die Chance auch die Filme, welche ab 18 sind ungekürzt zu sehen !!

Mi è piaciuto molto il protagonista nel suo ruolo, davvero convincente. Bella la storia e le scene di battaglia (molto spettacolare come usa lo spadone), bellissimo l'assedio del castello di Rochester, in pieno stile medievale ma anche realistico e spettacolare!

Gritty, meaty, cruel, greasy, tough movie! Oh, and by the way, Good Movie! James Purefoy was great in Rome, he seems to have that physical presence to him. Derek Jacobi always a favorite of mine, does a good job as the castle owner. The Danish mercenary commander I believe was the same actor in the 13th warrior, he does a good job in this. One will really develop a healthy dislike for King John (Paul Giamatta) in this movie, as he really is a weasely, arrogant villain. Brian Cox is similar to his Agamemnon role in Troy, except this time he is a good guy.Very violent, many, many, lopped off limbs. Dirt flying everywhere, thank god this is 2013. I am serious when I say that this movie is like looking through a time portal into the middle ages. I really imagine this is how life (warfare anyway) was back then. One scene that I liked was when James Purefoy put on a crusader helmet and went out to do battle on his horse. I think the main reason I gave this movie a five star rating was because of it's realism, certainly not because it is a pleasant movie to watch, be warned this is not a fluffy romance! Also there is not one shred of humor that runs through this film, but if you are in the mood for a violent, atmospheric, medieval thriller, then tuck-in and enjoy!