Saw this last night on HBO. This movie is not worth watching, it’s bad enough to actually be annoying. This despite having two actors I like, James Gandolfini and Robert Redford. Gandolfini in particular is extremely annoying, he affects a very precise staccato diction that will drive you nuts by the time he gets 3-4 words out of his mouth. Meanwhile the story is contrived. It’s going for ‘patriotic men of honor struggling against tyranny’ but ends up with ‘lame prison flick with no sense of character depth.’ I suppose there are a few redeeming traits to the movie – several of the action scenes are well done and the 5.1 surround sound is really well mixed. Not enough movies pay attention to this imho, though of course I’ve invested $$$ in a surround sound system so I’m biased. Anyway the redeeming traits are offset by a 2+ hour running time. I got bored an hour and a half in and washed the dishes while the last 40 minutes played out, that’s how bad the movie is. Stay away, even on tv the movie’s not worth the time.
I especially loved the construction of the medevial seige weapons in the climactic battle scene in the end.
I am inclined to agree with you, this script should have stayed a script.
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