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Visitors Review

labucher 2013-06-14 07:51:30

Good introduction to history

While this movie may not have been historically accurate, for me itgave me an introduction to a character I have always found fascinating.And what else is the internet good for but looking up a history to findout the facts that the movie was based on.Because it was a made-for-TV film, and USA at best, you could expect awatered-down version of the main character. I was impressed with allthe acting in this movie. Surprised to find Tim Curry but happy to seePowers Boothe, who I respect as an powerful actor. He didn't reallyhave the chance to live up to his potential in this film.I am taking offense to some of the comments made about Gerard Butler.Yes he is a hunk. But what first drew me to him was his ACTING PRESENCEin other films like Reign of Fire and Timeline. Atilla may not be thespringboard for greatness but I believe his talents will soon beshowcased in more powerful films.I viewed Atilla because I wanted to see more of Gerard Butler THE ACTORand I was not disappointed. I also got to learn more about anhistorical figure who always intrigued me. Do not peg me as a starstruck, fanatical female. I learned long ago that just because someonehas looks does not necessarily mean they have talent. Gerard Butlerbelongs in a class with Jude Law and Russell Crowe.I would recommend this film for the entertainment value it is and ifyou want to learn more about Atilla, go to the internet historicalsites and get your fill.

2013-06-13 10:38:12

ATTILA

This review is from: Attila (DVD) I did not think this movie lived upto the description and star rating it lift me doubt about where it was going.

2013-06-13 18:19:28

Difficult to rate

This review is from: Attila (DVD) It's hard for me, when rating this movie, to give an accurate apraisal. Atilla was a made-for-tv movie, and thus puts it in a seperate category. Do I judge it in comparison to hollywood? Or in comparison to other TV movies?... it's tricky but here's a go...Atilla is a biographical, historical film about many epic, but by no means original, themes - destiny, war, power, love, betrayal. The man commonly known to history as Atilla the Hun was voted one of the most hated men in all history (apparently he even beat hitler!). The infamous legend depicts a brutal barbarian warlord, who saight to destroy rome. An upstart tribe of barbarians threatening the end of the most powerful empire on earth is an appealing enough plot, but atilla takes a different direction, paying more close attention to the realer side of Atilla the hun - which isnt as anything like the horrible rap history gives him (history is written by the winners). Atilla is shown in the movie as abhoring the roman way of life - the decadence, and coruption - the lies and trickery and politics. He does however, respect and admire it's power and status. "Civilization belongs to whoever is strong enough to take it" he says in the one scene. Seeing it as his destiny to destroy rome and rule the world, the inevitable result is war.The plot and historical material is the strongest point of the film, being fairly accurate to the context of this point in history. Rome is shown as it was at this time as being in a constant internal power struggle, and ussing trickery, bribery and cleverness to divide and conquer it's enemies and thus keep its place in the world despite it's declining strength. The movie has some good points, but some negatives. The acting is pretty good sometimes, but overall isnt very good at all. The sounds arent very good, and effects are poor. You can tell this was a tv movie.The first time I watched this movie I didnt like it, but it grew on me. I began to like both atillas character and the development of his relationship with rome (admiration and awe mixed with hatred and despise). The battle scenes are good for a tv movie but wouldnt hold a candle to cinematic masterpieces like brave heart or gladiator (the manuevers are more or less correct though, so that was a good point).All in all... if this were a hollywood movie Id give it a solid 2 stars... maybe 3 just out of the kindness of my heart. But since most tv movies are so much worse than this, and since I actually did like the movie after rewatching it a few times, Im inclined to give it a very generous 4 stars. Deviding the difference gives us about 3 stars... If you enjoy roman history or like this type of movie then Atilla might not be that bad a choice on a dull night, and it just might grow on you as it did me. For everyone else the weaker points of this movie will show through and could possibly stand in the way of enjoyment.

2013-06-13 00:34:26

Good film, great action, some historical flaws.

This review is from: Attila (DVD) This was a truly interesting film. If you like the history, or at any rate historical drama, of late antiquity, this is DEFINITELY one to see! Action is intense, and in some ways as intense as Gladiator. But unlike that film, which is merely a drama set in late 2nd Century Rome in the reign of Commodus, this one tries to be a factual telling of the life of Atilla the Hun. And unfortunately this is where the problems arise. Only a couple of fairly major flaws need to be pointed out here. 1) Theodosius II (played by Tim Curry in a great performance!) was in fact dead by the time alot of the action in this movie takes place. 2) A pivotal moment in the life of Atilla--the sacking of Mediolanum (Milan) and the subsequent invasion of the Italian peninsula are completely ignored. 3) The even more important meeting between Atilla and Pope Leo I which prevented the former from sacking Rome and bringing the empire to an early end was also totally ignored. Instead of even mentioning in passing events 2 and 3, the action skips right to the end of Attila's life! WHY?!

2013-06-09 07:48:00

Attila - Nice Period Epic

Attila was a 2001 mini series which won the honor of being the most watched mini-series of its day. It features a stellar cast including Powers Boothe as a crafty Roman leader who tries to use Attila to gain possession of Rome.Gerard Butler is Attila, the Hun,and he is everything about Attila in this role, never was an actor better suited. His character is sharp, passionate, determined and has an instant magnatism that keeps the viewer glued to the film. He brings a strong intensity and subtle gentleness to the character which makes watching him clash with Boothe even more dynamic.This is a definite watch for anyone that likes period piece drama or just really well staged war scenes.

2013-06-08 14:47:17

Interesting

This review is from: Attila (DVD) I can't help liking Gerard Butler, despite his roguish behavior. I also like Powers Booth, and he's got a really cool name. The movie was good and well acted, although the lack of any type of accent for Powers Booth's character was somewhat odd and detracted from the performance. The director was a little heavy-handed and in-your-face obvious with the depiction of Roman decadence. It could certainly have benefited from being more subtle. Overall, the movie was very interesting.

2013-06-08 01:11:33

It was a good movie

This review is from: Attila (DVD) I liked this movie because the scenery is interesting, the actors are doing a good job, and I am surprised that this movie has not been very popular.

2013-06-07 22:28:11

Well, it's only a TV mini-series....

Bah! To call this a great masterpiece, what a bunch of crap! I think that this production is just a notch better than your average "Xena" or "Hercules" TV episode. B-class actors such as Power Booth (when did he last appear in a good movie..???). I admit that the newcomer Gerard Butler had his shiny moments of classy acting but still....yak! And once again we see bad choreographed battle scenes involving roman legions (a roman legion consisted of at least 4000 troops, and they are not even close to that here...). If you know just a little bit of roman warfare you would know that they started the close combat with actually THROWING their spears (pilum) at the enemy not charging with them. They should someone who knew roman history WELL! All the castles and houses looks cheesy to me, fake! Just look at the castle siege scene, it look like paper "stone blocks" and it it coz they used modells to make that scene! Not even close to Gladiators stuff. And why is that there is always so clean and shiny cloths in these mini-series, did they have washing machines that always removed the dirt, I mean comon there should at leaste be some stains here and there, right???! This problem also pops up in the B-class Hallmark production, Cleopatra mini-series as well. Ok, I did give this movie a weak 3 star. Here's the good stuff. Some scenes are very well done and the music through out the hole movie is the only thing worth calling a masterpiece. As said before the lead actor Gerard Butler (Attila) will probably rise to be a moviestar. And then there is the stunning Simone Jade Mackinnon who plays both N'Kara and Ildico character. She total blew me away with here beauty! If you think you recognize her you have probably seen her in Baywatch (1999-2000). So if your looking for a roman / historical movie with good acting, grand surroundings and large battle scenes don't bother, just grab a copy of Gladiator or Fall of the Roman Empire. Then again if you fancy Xena tv-episodes with average acting and ok battle scenes this is a sure bet. The DVD is also pretty good, including some stills, trailer and a "Making of..."

mmereos 2013-06-06 11:18:31

Don't think it's accurate history

I didn't realize this was a made-for-tv mini series until after I rentedit.I seemed pretty entertaining, but it was 3 hours long. It reminded me of acheezy show that one would see on lifetime network; lots ofover-dramatization ,and a story to be told.After the movie I looked up the history of Attila and wasn't surprised atall that much of the story in the movie was fabricated.

2013-06-05 13:14:10

A Diving Board

I found this movie very interesting and feel that it was done very well. I love period/historical movies and so thought I would give this a try. I missed it when it was on tv. The acting was good and the characters were well developed and I felt like I wanted to know more about this part of history. That is why I titled my review "A Diving Board". This movie made me realize that I didn't know much about these events and so I started doing some research. Through the research I found that there were some flaws in the history, but a lot of it was correct. I didn't like the ending with Ildico. I felt like it was a very abrupt ending that I was not ready for. All in all it was an entertaining, educational movie that I highly recommend.

parhat 2013-05-30 13:18:45

You'd be better off Watching This than Alexander

The movie, if you compared against this year's (2004) historical moviessuch as Troy, or Alexander. The movie is great considering it was onlyan mini series and a low budget. It could easily fool me into believingthis was another major movie, if you ignore FX, Musical scores, cameratechniques and beginning titles.While the general stories were in general accurate, they are some minorinaccuracies such as reasons for assassination of Atelius, and cause ofdeath of Attila (which many thought his wife killed him, but whether itwas by a knife or poison) remains entirely on speculations.While it lacks theatrical dramatics, FX, etc, the story is first rateand the plots was done quite well, such as the scheming Romans. Whilethe weakness of the movie rests with a somewhat uncharacteristic Attilathe Roman actors were surprisingly well done. The director's lack ofunderstanding of Attila was what made the movie bad. In fact I rootedfor the Romans all the way.While actors in general were bad, with exception of Powers Boothe, themovie did very well and would easily outdo Gladiator, Alexander andTroy if they had more budget. If I would just rate on the strength ofthe story alone (which I do), this movie would be better thanGladiator.Gladiator, while the story was good, was not believable enough at leastfor me from the point of view of historical inaccuracies were too greatto ignore. While Attila was somewhat inaccurate, it was convincingenough for me to enjoy the movie. In fact, what's the point inGladiator? How can the general become a Gladiator was a sore point Irefused to accept, especially when the Emperor take a passing interestin him. The conflict of both sides in Attila vs the Romans were morebelievable.Oh yes, one note: the reasons why Attila did so well fighting wasalmost its entire income (usually tributes) was spent in the warmachine than building coliseums, theaters, etc. With that in mind, onewonders whether today's war of terrorism will help our economy or willit lead us to once again into another Dark Ages. I give it 8/10.

mat-1 2013-05-29 22:23:59

Excellent Movie

Okay, I'm a fan of movies like Atilla. I wasnt expecting much, the channelit is shown on in my area really played it up in commercials. But was isurprised. I really enjoyed it and loved Gerard in it. Those eyes..wow!!!!Even though i know what type of person Atilla was from reading about him,Iwas rooting for him the whole time. You just cant help yourself. Well,ihope i have some people who agree with me, and Gerard keep entertaining usyour great at it.

2013-05-28 22:22:39

A flaw in the DVD open center circle

This review is from: Attila (DVD) I received my DVD very promptly. The DVD has a flaw in the open center circle. A slash in the edge which leaves a small tab sticking up. When I first placed it into the DVD player it made a horrible scratching sound. I took it out and found the flaw and flattened it out and it played fine. I contacted the seller and they were willing to send me a return mailing label to return the movie at no charge and have a new one sent. They were nice, but the process would have taken a long time per their email. I didn't want to go through that so I did flatten the slashed tab in center circle and it played fine.It bothers me that it has the flaw, but I will keep it so as not to go through the rigamarol of that return process. I just hope it stays that way, as this is one of my favorite movies. I just expect perfection on a new movie. I feel they should have just put a new movie in the mail gratus so that I wouldn't have to go through that whole return process.Attila The cost of the movie total was $9.78. A lot of work to go through for return of this amount of a purchase.

2013-05-28 02:03:20

Attila never looked this good.

OK if this was about a hot guy doing a fashion show with an Atilla theme I'd say yep you are watching the right film. As for historical accuracy and realism, you can throw this right out the window. Half the film you saw the main character riding his horse looking all too good looking for a man that was really a killer. The movie was uneventful and I could see it as a less than B film. Butlers acting was just ok. Didn't do anything for me and he certainly was not meant for this role, 300 yes, Attila no. Considering he was filming Dracula 2000 at the same time, maybe he did two bombs at once. Both films were the pits.

jaxgirl2000 2013-05-25 08:29:40

Great Movie

Although I thought that parts of the story were disgusting, the movieitselfhad wonderful acting, great directing, and really neat effects. It lookssoreal, and If you watched the Behind the Scenes, you would see all the workthey put into it --even using policemen and the military as Romans andhuns!Gerard Butler was a wonderful Attila, and was perfect for the part. RolloWeeks was only in the very beginning of the movie as young Attila, but hisacting was wonderful! He said that it was a hard part to play becauseAttila's life was so traumatic, but you wouldn't be able to tell that byhisgreat performance. ~This was a very great movie~

Aaron Floky 2013-05-24 23:57:50

Enjoyable movie (very minor spoilers)

Despite the historical innacuracies, this film is really quite enjoyable.Ithink most of the innacuracies can be accounted to the fact that themajority of people do not know much about this history, so the film makerscapitalized on what they DO know, sad as that may be.I think a better male lead could have been chosen for Attila. As otherusershave said, it is the supporting cast that contribute the most to hischaracter. I feel that Gerard's performance was quite shallow.Powers Booth on the other hand, was very strong. In one scene, he preventsthe 'assassination' of the Emperor, and his acting is so corny (on purposemind you) that I had to laugh. It gives strength to the scene. His comment"It's shameful how this city fawns over it's athletes... some of them havemore money than I do" had me in tears for hours. I had to appreciate thehumour.In short, if you can put up with Rambo-Attila, you should be set for thisfilm. It's still very interesting and captivating and gives really goodinsight to the political tensions of those times.

2013-05-23 19:50:20

Attila Review

This movie is a very sweeping story of Attila. I never realized Attila went to Rome, but I know now. I don't know how historically correct this movie is, but it is very entertaining. Lots of beautiful scenery, lots of action, good actors, lots of stuff to keep you entertained. I have watched it more than once. Powers Boothe as Roman General Flavius Aetius was a good thing, he was good. All in all, I would say a good movie.

2013-05-23 02:50:42

Attila

The dvd came in excelent condition. The movie is wonderful to watch. Actor Gerard Butler gives a incredible and excellent performance in the title role. Well worth buying.

you-are-skrewed 2013-05-23 11:54:58

DO the research people!

I'm getting rather tired of the one sided views of Attila andHungarians, especially by people who don't anything about eithertopics. Do your research before you start yapping.For one, there is no real proof that Hungarians are Asian based, andthe historical accounts of Attila were more than likely slanted, andnot objective portrayals. As for being a barbarian, it's a matter ofperspective, there are things that the Roman Empire did that werebarbaric, but no one seems to poo poo on them.IT is a Hollywood movie and there inaccuracies but comments by othermembers here are plain farcical.

2013-05-22 23:17:33

The Best!!!

If I could give this movie more then 5 stars I would.If you like action,adventure,and a little bit of drama,then this is the movie for you.It has both love and war in it and Gerard Butler (Attila) gives the perfect amount of emotion at all the right times.So if i were you i would take a look at this movie.