The destiny of a soldier. The honour of a slave. The fate of an empire.|Feb. 08, 2011|United Kingdom, United States|114 Min.|PG-13
Genre: Adventure;Drama
Description: In the year 140 AD, two decades after the Ninth Legion vanished in northern Britain, Marcus Flavius Aquila, a young Roman centurion, arrives in Roman Britain to take command of his first garrison. Marcus’s father, the Senior Centurion of the Ninth Legion, disappeared along with the legion’s eagle standard. Determined to restore his family’s honor, Marcus serves bravely in Britain. His quick thinking and decisive actions save the garrison from a Celtic tribal uprising, earning him recognition. However, a severe leg injury forces him into an honorable discharge.
Staying at his uncle’s estate near Calleva (modern Silchester) in southern Britain, Marcus struggles with the abrupt end to his military career and the ongoing disgrace of his father’s name. Learning of rumors that the eagle standard has been spotted in the north, Marcus resolves to recover it. Ignoring warnings from his uncle and fellow Romans about the dangers beyond Hadrian’s Wall, he ventures north into Pict territory, accompanied only by his slave, Esca. Though Esca, the son of a deceased Brigantes chieftain, despises Rome, he feels indebted to Marcus for saving his life in an amphitheater.
After weeks of travel through the northern wilderness, Marcus and Esca meet Guern, a Roman survivor of the Ninth Legion. Guern tells them that most of the legion perished in an ambush by northern tribes, including the Brigantes, and the eagle standard was taken by the Seal People, the most brutal of the tribes. Marcus remains determined to reclaim the lost symbol of Roman honor.
(Note: The Silchester eagle, discovered in Silchester, inspired the original novel *The Eagle of the Ninth*.)
Cast director: Kevin Macdonald
Cast actor: Channing Tatum, Mark Strong, Jamie Bell, Donald Sutherland, Denis O’Hare, Tahar Rahim, Dakin Matthews, Douglas Henshall, Paul Ritter, Pip Carter
Original name: The Eagle