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Druids

Druids

List Price: $19.95
Your Price: $17.96
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Rating: 1 stars
Summary: A Wretched Non-Epic
Review: "Druids" is a very important film for those filmmaking types looking to break into the historical epic genre. In fact, it should be studied in any film school - a second-by-second presentation on how NOT to make a film. Everything about this movie is bad - and this comes from somebody who delights in bad movies. Steer clear.

Rating: 1 stars
Summary: May it die on the battlefield!
Review: When I saw Highland: Endgame opening night, I thought I would see the baddest Highlander flick there was. Wrong. I thought Beowulf was going to be a good adaptation of the epic. Wrong. And after I saw "Beowulf" last year, I didn't think Christopher Lambert could star in a movie any worse than that sad failure of film.

Yet again, he proved me wrong!

While it was relatively accurate and detailed movie, it sorely lacked in any entertainment value. I was half-asleep by the first half, and some how stayed awake through the second dreary half.

What could have been an outstanding epic, based on the exciting true life story of the Gallic Wars, fizzled into another forgetable B-movie. Solid writing, above average acting, and stronger dialogue could have made this story truly worthy of joining the league of Braveheart, Gladiator, et. al.

I think Christopher Lambert needs to give it up. The only thing he's done right in the past couple of years is prove me wrong when I'm optmistic abot one of his movies.

Rating: 2 stars
Summary: A Mediocre Telling of an Epic Story
Review: Upon reading Caesar's "Gallic Wars" as a child, I developed an intense admiration for the Gallic chieftan, Vercingetorix. He proved a capable, worthy adversary of the Romans. It seems that the leaders whom the Romans defeated (Hannibal, Spartacus, Jugurtha, Vercingetorix, etc.) are always more interesting than the Roman generals who defeated them. Vercingetorix was as monumental a tragic hero as William Wallace, but this story was no "Braveheart." Perhaps someday someone will produce a fitting cinematic rendering of Vercingetorix's career.

I approached the movie with caution, knowing that Christopher Lambert had starred in some perfectly dreadful action/adventure stories. Consequently, I was only moderately disappointed by the wooden dialog, incomprehensible episodes, and leaden plot. I might have enjoyed the movie more had I not already known how it was going to turn out.

The Roman weaponry seemed authentic. The gladius (short sword), pugio (dagger), and scutum (shield)were rendered quite accurately. The pilum (javelin) appeared to me to be patterned after a model used during the era of the Empire, not the Republic. The legionaries' armor (the lorica segmentata) was also from the era of the Empire. Republican legionaries usually wore chain mail or scale mail. The Gallic swords looked more like Viking swords. Richard Burton's "Book of the Sword" depicts no Gallic swords even remotely resembling the swords that the movie put into the hands of the Gauls. The Teutons (a Germanic people) were accurately depicted as using the spear as their chief weapon. The Germans of Caesar's era lived in thick forestlands, wore little armor, and generally couldn't afford enough metal to make anything more than spearpoints.

The epic Seige of Alesia followed the broad outline of the actual historical event. Caesar beseiged Alesia and was in turn beseiged himself, but prevailed in the end.

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: only good for your collection, no more
Review: When , I bougth this movie , I have the expectation to see a great film, but o deception, The story is good, but the role of Christopher Lambert is not believable , Max Von Sidow appears just a little and don't approach his talent, I dónt like the quality of the fotograph, reviewing the picture will be ok in your collection furniture

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: Not bad, but not great
Review: I rented this movie (dvd version) despite all my friends saying it wasn't worth the bother. I won't say I didn't enjoy the movie, because I did. But anyone expecting an epic performance will be disappointed. Though mildly interesting and worth the...the rental, I've no care to own it. ...it annoyed me that all the druis in the film wore white (usually only the priests wore white, bards and ovates wore blue and green traditionally) and I recall maybe one person there who may have been a priest, the rest were mostly ovates.
I'll admit I'm not familiar with gaulic history relating to julius caesar so I can't and won't comment on historical accuracy there. I do think that the movie was poorly titled as there is little truly regarding druids and druidic history in the film. All in all, if you want to be entertained while folding laundry, it's a decent film to watch.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: extremely historically accurate, worth a glance
Review: What most of the the reviews above have failed to mention about this movie with all its evident faults is the evident attention of detail on behalf of the producers. With those with some historical background one will notice the many reference both visual a literary to the actual nature of Gallic society art and war. It seems most of the budget has gone to reproducing a number of well known, and some less known Celtic artifacts. From the helmets, skulls, sword hilts, shields, musical instruments, cloaks, cloak pins, shoes, combs, drinking vessels, habitations all are historically as accurate as possible with what we know of the period of the Vercingetorix resistance. The story is also faithfully followed while speculating that perhaps it is the actual way the Celts viewed war: as a pleasure and not a rational cruel science that led to their defeat. Their noble and boystrous natures are simply incapable of restraining their warlike natures.

Perhaps this movie has no ambition of being a Braveheart or a Gladiator, but of a being of a different order, i.e., educational. It is the only movie out there that accurately synthesizes and reproduces on living screen the customs and esthetics of the continental Celts. Because of its unique nature and educational value I give it the highest rating. Keep this in mind when you watch it and it will be an enjoyable historical ride.

Rating: 2 stars
Summary: Poor Vercingetorix... he got dragged into infamy once again.
Review: The English title itself is stupid and misleading. Unfortunately it should have been the story of Vercingetorix, King of the Gauls, but it falls short in its intent. Although the Cast is hard-working and professional the movie is a weak action-adventure nonsense. If you compare it to "Gladiator" it pales and fades away into nothingness. My supposition being that it was conceived for a TV audience and probably was intended as a mini-series (a 2x90min. parter), in which case some silent and motionless scenes could be explained away as being the remnants of what should have been an interesting plot-twist of the longer version, and instead some battle scenes (some of which we might never know to which battlefield they would belong... must have been a director's afterthought just to bring life to a sleeper) could have been better organized to follow the plot.
"Braveheart" and "Gladiator" it ain't. What remains is oblivion.
Poor Vercingetorix, had he lived to watch this, he would have hunted down the director rather than Julius Caesar.
The French didn't honor much their hero this time...

Rating: 1 stars
Summary: Please, make it stop!!
Review: Let this be a lesson to you; do not shop for dvd's when one over the eight, or you may well end up buying a chocolate hostage like this..

Rating: 1 stars
Summary: A wretched excuse for a film
Review: Now, granted, you can't expect much from a Christopher Lambert straight-to-video release, but I must admit that I do enjoy bad movies from time to time, and I even derived some pleasure from Lambert's Beowulf. However, despite this, Druids is utter filth. Even Lambert doesn't seem to want to be in this one - and that speaks volumes. However, if you down a few alcoholic beverages and want to bash something Mystery Science Theater style, this might be worth a look. I mean, after all, you do get to see a bunch of fat, bearded men running around in their quilted pajamas pretending like they're REALLY in Braveheart 2. All the same, this makes Beowulf seem Oscar-worthy with its incoherent plotline and dirt poor acting.

Rating: 1 stars
Summary: Waste of money and time to watch this stupid movie
Review: Poor acting, poor soundtrack, nothing positive to mention about this movie.
The worse war movie i've ever watch, don't even think of adding this to your collection, you will regret! Not even worth a star...


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