The Lost Legion (2014) User Reviews

Mostly intricate plots with a few slow-motion fighting scenes

[Thomas-McSweeney · 4/10 · 10 December 2014]

Although the films starts out with an action filled forest attack on the column of a newly married bride (Michelle Lukes) and the leader (Tom McKay) of one of the bands of warring barbarian clans, it quickly descends into a series of intricate plots and counter-plots. Urbina Prima, scheming wife of Maximus (Brian Caspe) the leader of the Northern Roman Army plots with Argos Sertorius (Jim High) and others to have her son Cassius positioned to be the next Emperor of Rome. Viewer interest in this long string of plots and counter-plots is daftly maintained by the ever presence of numerous bare-chested or thinly veiled young women and the occasional nude, both male and female. Betrayals and kidnappings prevail until the sub-climatic fight between Tom McKay and a pair of prize Roman gladiators. Here the use of slow-motion and quick cuts imparts a sense of action with Tom McKay as the obvious winner against all odds. Meanwhile, Maximus over-indulges his adopted son Cassius to gain Cassius' confidence only to betray him and his mother Urbina Prima when, at the moment of Cassius' inauguration as Emperor, Maximus convinces the dim-witted Cassius to adopt Maximus as Cassius's legal son, thus allowing Maximus to immediately slay Cassius once he is made Emperor and take the title for himself. Maximus then divorces and enslaves his wife Urbina Prima as her just reward for all her scheming. Feeling magnanimous, Maximus sends Tom Mckay as a slave prize to a rival barbarian war-lord King to gain his approval and avoid future fights with the Roman Army. This war-lord King reveals to Tom McKay that his young wife was given to him as part of Urbina Prima's schemes and that she is now with-child from his nephew and wishes to remain in his kingdom. She chose life over love. The love- stricken Tom McKay is given his freedom vowing to never lose his love for her and now must begin a quest to gain his place in the world as a set-up for a part two - if this film is successful.

Overall, I would have to say that the acting by Tom McKay and Brian Caspe is well done even thought they are set in a slow-motion plot with the supporting actors giving their lines like they were slowly reading them from Que cards. There really isn't enough action to call this an action film and no depth of characters to call this a drama. However, there is plenty of eye-candy with numerous window dressing half and full naked babes. The Emperor of Rome is crowned in the North, so there are no shot of Rome and it is hardly believable that only a pair of senators is needed to make a boy an Emperor. The chances of their being a sequel are slim, and if they do make one that should put in a lot more action scenes because the writers do not appear capable of making an interesting plot.

Very disappointing.

[johannes2000-1 · 4/10 · 7 February 2019]

I love historical movies, on condition (apart from decent acting, script and settings) that the average viewer should be able to understand what historically is going on. Here unfortunately this is not the case, as least in my opinion.

Story and script are the biggest problem. In stead of simplifying the tumultuous historical period that this movie is about, they made it even more complicated, with an abundant dropping of names of persons that a layman in history hasn't heard of ever before, and who are neither properly explained nor introduced, while the characters that we see have such vague backgrounds that their actions and interactions for the most part stay incomprehensible.

Tom McKay as Taranis Maldras is clearly meant to be the hero of the story, but he has hardly any dialogue, spends half of the movie chained in a dungeon and in the end just leaves the movie in gloomy silence (after which instantly the closing credits appear!). There are way too many sex-scenes that have no function whatsoever and are endlessly stretched in time, to the point of getting more boring than exciting. I guess the makers have watched notorious series like "Rome" and "Spartacus" very closely and wanted to recreate the same atmosphere of decadency, but with the very limited means in this movie the result is rather thin and lackluster, everything like settings and costumes and even the colors of the movie looks cheap and uninspired. As the bickering and scheming couple Maximus and his wife Urbina Brian Caspe and Michelle Lukes are the only positive thing in this movie and make the best of their parts, but cannot save this movie.

One wonders what people were aiming at, when they took up this project, and how anybody can have looked with pride and satisfaction at the result.

This is not a great movie.

[billteller · 3/10 · 10 June 2021]

You would think a movie about the Roman Empire, even at its end, would be good. You would be mistaken.

The acting isn't that good; there are quite a few adult films which have better acting. The script could have been a lot better. Too bad it wasn't.

The action was okay for a low budget film. No great shakes.

There are lots of semi-naked women throughout. While the inclusion of this 'bevy of beauties' does take the sting out of the lameness of the movie, it still isn't that good.

It's like it tries to be the continuation at times of the Spartacus 4 season series. It fails.

Watch it if you get bored.

What's so difficult learning a little bit of history

[semar-fb · 1/10 · 2 January 2015]

What do you get when you combine bad acting and historically illiterate writer ? You get the Lost Legion. I would say that the title of the movie gave you the real impression of the movie itself.... i.e.: lost.

Bad script can be the cause of bad movie, but so is bad acting. This is one of the movie where you have both of them. I am not a history buff, but know enough about the Roman history or at least know where to find the reading material about it. Just in case the director or the writer of the Lost Legion is reading this article, you can find some simple information on the website called Wikipedia.

If you can not or do not want to follow the history line, just name the country on your movie some "abracadabra country", that way you don't insult the intelligence of the people watching your movie and nobody can complaint that the director or the script writer are quite illiterate in history.

Forget about the Roman army, there is no such army on this movie, not even a CGI army. The setting was barely enough to justify as a screen setting and the green-screen action were done so badly that you can actually see that the background is coming from some other movie.

My suggestion is that if you do have the money to spend, give it to the homeless guy on the street. And if you have the time to spend, sitting in your backyard doing nothing is still better than watching this crap.

Soft Pornathon with rubbish acting and a plot too dull to care about

[t-dooley-69-386916 · 1/10 · 28 February 2015]

The year is 475 AD, the current Western Emperor of Rome is Julius Nepos and in the northern region of this vast empire we meet Maximus Antonius Albanis, he is married to scheming opportunist and widow - Urbina Prima. Her son has a sort of claim to the Empire but has been schooled in the ways of self interest, the use of expletives, bad acting and over dubbing and as such is not fit to rule (or act).

Then we have some war lord getting attacked in some forest and he then gets double crossed in a bid to sway another war lord. All the time Urbina Prima is wandering around half dressed trying to bed anything and undermine everyone till she gets her hands on the levers of power like some obsessive disorder nympho with an allergy to the truth - and clothes, unless they are transparent.

I think that covers the plot. Right the good points are that the uniforms and props are all quite good, there is some correct historical references and the make up is on the money for the most part. Also to be completely fair there is some good to OK acting hence the 2 stars, with most of the main roles being filled by competent players.

Now to the bad bits; this is supposed to be about a lost legion, well I think they went AWOL before filming as there is not one here to actually lose. We do have some legionaries but don't let them near a mic as they couldn't act their way out of a paper bag or the Roman equivalent of a flimsy carrying vessel. The action scenes are filmed on such a small set that I am amazed the cameraman wasn't injured. They also use that slowed down then speeded up, CGI blood splatter filming. This can work in epic productions, but I have seen more rough and tumble down my local pub or even ASDA (Walmart) on Black Friday.

The plot is all Machiavellian, but we sort of don't care. The would be spoilt brat Emperor is lamentable in his script and acting. Then we have the constant nudity - especially of the women who drop their clothes at a drop of a hat or helmet or anything to be honest. Mind you the actors should get a medal for not laughing at some of the ropey dialogue. I do have to congratulate Brian Caspe as Maximus whose imaginative insults of maternal transgressions and choice of fecal based food options were truly the most fun part of the whole thing.

In summation, the cover art is from another film, yet to be made, the lost legion thing is just plucked from god knows where and the whole thing was about as compelling as an anthrax sandwich - I have seen better fridge art - just avoid completely.. IMDb says they are thinking of a sequel, I mean has no one learnt from 'Coming Home in a body bag 3' - Jeez

Hard to watch

[cassiusaetiussilva · 1/10 · 8 September 2021]

I watched the first 30 minutes or so, and tried to ignore the bad acting and costumes, I was hoping the plot would be good, and it was weak. It is soft porn with a British accent.

Don't waste your time

[csrothwec · 1/10 · 25 March 2021]

Going through a phase of watching "End of the Roman Empire" movies ("The Last Legion", "The Standard") and so gave this one a go as well. After a slow-motion fight sequence (not very well handled) at the very beginning, the thing descends into non-stop copulation plus the lead participants in this (the masters/mistresses of the performing slaves) talking endlessly of plots, intrigues, machinations and political manoeuvrings. After a solid half hour of this, I could feel myself going comatose and did something I very rarely do once I have started to watch a movie; gave up and did something more constructive with my time. I am grateful for the hour or so I saved by not watching this tripe further, but resent having wasted the half hour spent watching the first third. Do ANYTHING (rearrange your sock drawer, sort your desktop paper clips according to size, polish all your shoes etc.) rather than making the same mistake! (Makes the two other (moderately good) films mentioned look like "Gladiator" or "Ben Hur" in comparison!)

For the Love of Caesar's Ghost, Don't Bother with this Abomination

[stanrogersmith · 1/10 · 10 June 2016]

Holy sh*t is all I can say. I love Roman history and will watch pretty much anything "Roman", however after this turd I just want to slit my throat with a gladius. Within minute one when the Roman "legion" made up of 6 yes count 'em 6 Roman soldiers, some dude without armor on a horse, and some chick in a covered wagon, are making their way through the forest and the natives are looking to ambush them, I just knew this was gonna be a real piece of horse turd. Then the slow motion fighting. Guys being thown in every direction, the chick from the wagon cutting peoples throats, then "victory" and the 6 idiots all cheer and congratulate themselves. Hahahahaha. What a lame-ass opening. Now, cut to a scene of some conniving bitch trying to manipulate her stupid husband to somehow betray Rome and ascend her to some prominent position. Next, cue her little bitch of a son who wants to have his slave servant executed for beating him at checkers. What. The. F.ck? Next we are treated to some really bad soft core porn. But at least the chicks had some nice boobies for voyeuring. At about this point I said what the heck, if I want real porn, I'll just put that on. I fast forwarded a bit hoping to see if there would be a battle with more than 6 legionaries. But there wasn't. I said "Eff this" and turned the t.v. off. Don't waste your time.

Lost is correct

[randyhayes-29279 · 2/10 · 12 September 2021]

Acting skill is lost, as well as a plot that makes any sense at all. The fighting scenes, cheaply done in a very small set, are contrived. The sex scenes look like the trailer to a cheap porn movie. The dialogue is spoken so slowly as if to lengthen the movie. My time watching was ultimately what was lost in the Lost Legion.

More chaos than glory

[TheLittleSongbird · 2/10 · 10 August 2018]

Just to make things clear, have no prejudice against low-budget films despite how my recent reviews as part of my low-budget film quest implies. There are actually good ones out there that may not be the most visually accomplished but surmount that with doing other components well. There are also really lame and often even worse ones out there.

'The Lost Legion' is not one of the worst examples out there or of the ones seen recently by me. There is a huge amount wrong with it and the flaws are major, quite a lot of it is amateurish, but 'The Lost Legion' at least didn't insult my intelligence as much as other films that were part of the quest and there was a little effort put into a couple, emphasis on couple, of elements that they didn't have.

Its least bad elements are that the costumes don't look as ugly fancy dress/shoe-string budget as one would fear.

Also Brian Caspe's performance is fun to watch, because he not only tries but he enjoys himself too.

Nothing else good going on here sadly. The acting elsewhere lacks any kind of passion or emotion, even skill or direction, with an uncharismatic central performance and a bland and charmless female lead. Only Caspe comes out unscathed.

'The Lost Legion's' uncharismatic, wimpy and annoying character writing and writing that is far too excessively ridiculous to be guilty pleasure cheese and too awkward and dull to be tongue in cheek works against them. As well as non-existent direction.

Direction that fails to convey any urgency, tension, fun, suspense or emotion in the numerous scenes that need them. The action-oriented scenes, the few there are any, are the complete anti-thesis of exciting, are poorly filmed and looks so awkward in the choreography. The whole story is just lifeless, completely fails to make any sense at all and on the wrong side of daft that it's insultingly ridiculous. Nothing suspenseful or fun here and the lack of attention to visual and historical detail does annoy.

Visually, 'The Lost Legion' looks cheap as sin, with an overuse of truly risible effects that never gels with the setting or looks real, dizzying camera work and editing and shoe-string budget production design. The music is ill-fitting and not appealing on the ear.

In summation, nothing glorious and very chaotic. 2/10 Bethany Cox

Decent Movie with scope for development

[LipjamUK · 10/10 · 7 August 2015]

I think some of the reviews are unfair and so I wanted to add some balance and I feel the score of this movie in not justified. The opening sequence suggested what Gladiator would have been like on a budget. The storyline is convoluted and requires some attention. However, after watching it I wanted more. Over all I enjoyed this movie. There are some good points and bad but there is definite scope for a sequel and given the right director this could be a decent trilogy.

The acting is mixed but taken as a whole is decent and believable. Even the boy emperor character although questionable is redeemable. I liked the characters of the barbarian King and the Maximus (I will have vengeance. In this life or the next). I felt there was potential to develop these characters more.

I will not say this is a great movie because it is not. I will say that it is definitely worth a watch and give it a high score simply to balance the scales because it is not as bad as some make out.

Interesting historical piece

[celsmythe · 7/10 · 11 July 2017]

Indeed many huge movies and TV series was made by many with huge budgets, yet Legion delivers on what it promises: A good drama, love story, some nastiness and of course bevy of nice slave girls. A bit too long( I have seen 90 minute version) and as compared to the so called original ( which most folks have seen since LionsGate released it in a rough cut form) it is quite good.

Now as to the history of the piece. It is of course a part fiction and part historically accurate. I have not considered Wikipedia as a reliable source. I consider Wilipedia a source for those who are lazy to do a proper research or too ignorant to read a book. Well, I have read Peter Heather's " The Fall of the Roman Empire" the only real book on the subject since Edward Gibbon's more then 300 years ago. In Lost Legion I see elements of Heather's accurate history as well as fiction, all blended well.

For the connoisseurs of history I suggest for future viewers to look for the shorter 90 min version. As a pilot for possible series this exceeds anyone's expectations. I do however agree with the original review above , that the 2h original version is indeed too verbose and badly put together, however an intelligent fan of history will find the "pearls" among some of the "amateur "editing and sound post production.

Ploddy

[a-29488 · 4/10 · 12 April 2021]

This film was a bit ploddy .It does entertain in places but not very convincing.

A far flung Roman legion and interesting sets of historical characters

[bnot8 · 8/10 · 10 January 2015]

I happen to have spent a lot of time in present day Bohemia and was very happy to see something of the history from here that is not so well known. Very few people are aware of just how far the Roman legion established outposts in the 5th century. They had outposts in southern Bohemia and were constantly under threat from the Amal Goths and other barbarian tribes and were really cut off from their usual help. I would like to have seen more action, more fights but do think this is an interesting take on Roman legions and for that I give it extra stars instead of sticking to the same stories with same 2 characters everyone else portrays, a number of characters in this film are from history and have very interesting stories behind them I wish we could see better developed. Tom McKay's performance is great, he makes for an interesting hero, likewise the other performances are quite excellent.

Good action and performances.

[Utery · 8/10 · 29 December 2014]

Would have liked more action scenes but what is present is very well done but more needed. Like the various slow mo and speed up in action sequences. Performances by all major characters is excellent. Missing some sound fx in what I saw, so is empty in places which is a shame, because it wrecks some important scenes, I find it almost distracting. Would enjoy seeing more of these characters, as they are very interesting although should have been shorter overall, it's too slow in places A TV series would be excellent idea as there are a number of intricate plots in work here that would really work into numerous segments of TV series. Michelle Lukes is especially a good villainess. Tom McKay has much appeal as the hero, and Brian Caspe is evil defined on the verge of madness, yet just holding back from that edge. Overall quite enjoyable.