10-14-2009, 02:58 PM
[size=150:dne4bgmz]AVGVSTVS (2003)[/size]
I've loved pretty much everything Peter O'Toole has ever done- he seems to improve even a dog of a film otherwise, and while he certainly helps Augustus, it acutally wasn't bad- the kit is pretty crappy as always, but I didn't find it so distracting as to detract seriously from the movie, and historically it wasn't so far off either as to make watching not at all the chore it is with many others. I've actually watched this one twice- rented it both times too- and enjoyed it overall both times. As the title suggests, it's the story of Augusutus, told by Peter O'Toole as the old Augustus, much the way Derek Jacobi does as the elderly Claudius in I CLAVDIVS, and although other than Charlotte Rampling (best known to me from that crazy sci-fi classic Zardoz) there's nobody else you'd probably recognize, I find this refereshing as all too often well-known actors are no longer able to play roles, but are simply recognized as themselves 'in a role'- Tom Cruise, for example. It's not a high-budget movie either, which I think makes accepting its less-than-perfect costumes, etc. easier (Gladiator had a huge budget, so it's difficult to ever see why they didn't do more correctly) in the way one does for older movies like my other recommendation, The 300 Spartans.
I'd give this one the probably common 4 bracers (====) for costumes, and 4 plastic spears for weapons (^^^^), but three-and-one-half stars for being an otherwise rather good movie (***.5)
I've loved pretty much everything Peter O'Toole has ever done- he seems to improve even a dog of a film otherwise, and while he certainly helps Augustus, it acutally wasn't bad- the kit is pretty crappy as always, but I didn't find it so distracting as to detract seriously from the movie, and historically it wasn't so far off either as to make watching not at all the chore it is with many others. I've actually watched this one twice- rented it both times too- and enjoyed it overall both times. As the title suggests, it's the story of Augusutus, told by Peter O'Toole as the old Augustus, much the way Derek Jacobi does as the elderly Claudius in I CLAVDIVS, and although other than Charlotte Rampling (best known to me from that crazy sci-fi classic Zardoz) there's nobody else you'd probably recognize, I find this refereshing as all too often well-known actors are no longer able to play roles, but are simply recognized as themselves 'in a role'- Tom Cruise, for example. It's not a high-budget movie either, which I think makes accepting its less-than-perfect costumes, etc. easier (Gladiator had a huge budget, so it's difficult to ever see why they didn't do more correctly) in the way one does for older movies like my other recommendation, The 300 Spartans.
I'd give this one the probably common 4 bracers (====) for costumes, and 4 plastic spears for weapons (^^^^), but three-and-one-half stars for being an otherwise rather good movie (***.5)
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