The Colin Firth Sci-Fi Fantasy On Streaming That’s So Ridiculous You Won’t Believe It
Before Colin Firth starred in The King’s Speech and won two Academy Awards for his acting, he played the lead role in a ridiculous sci-fi fantasy movie called The Last Legion. The 2007 film is now streaming on Peacock if you want to see just how crazy the movie really is.
The Last Legion is one of Colin Firth’s strangest films and it’s streaming on Peacock.
The Last Legion follows a young Roman emperor, Romulus Augustus (Thomas Brodie-Sangster), who flees the crumbling Roman empire in an effort to find more supporters. On his journey to Britannia, he is accompanied by his closest allies, including Aurelius (Colin Firth), Ambrosinus (Sir Ben Kingsley), and several of his soldiers.
The journey includes their travels through the Alps and across the English Channel, epic battles that seemingly go on for days, and a whole lot of sword fighting.
The movie is considered historical fiction since the collapse of the Roman empire loosely inspires the plot, and it includes some elements from King Arthur and Julius Caesar. In addition, it is based on the 2002 novel The Last Legion by author Valerio Massimo Manfredi.
The film was directed by Doug Lefler, written by Jez Butterworth, Tom Butterworth, and Carlo Carlei, and produced by Dino De Laurentiis, along with his daughter and his second wife. Author Valerio Massimo Manfredi also helped out on set to bring his novel to life on the big screen.
Based on a suggestion from executive producer Harvey Weinstein, the lead role of Aurelius went to British actor Colin Firth. At the time, he was best known for both his Darcy roles, including Fitzwilliam Darcy in Pride and Prejudice and Mark Darcy in Bridget Jones’s Diary and Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason.
Colin Firth is certainly not an action star, but he was drawn to the film because the story seemed interesting.
Colin Firth is certainly not an action star, but he was drawn to the film because the story seemed interesting, and he wanted to play a role that was different from his usual dramatic and romantic movies. Plus, he got to work with Thomas Brodie-Sangster again after the two had previously worked together on 2003’s Love Actually and 2006’s Nanny McPhee.
Sir Ben Kingsley, best known for his roles in Ghandi, Schindler’s List, and Sexy Beast, came on board to play Ambrosinus. Much like Colin Firth, he was fascinated by the story and wanted to help bring the tall tale to life.
The beautiful Aishwarya Rai landed the role of Mira, which was also a very different role for her. The Indian actress has typically only worked on Hindi and Tamil films, so the sci-fi fantasy movie was quite the change of pace for her.
Despite the impressive and optimistic cast, The Last Legion did not do well at the box office and did not get many good reviews from critics and viewers. Currently, the film has a 15 percent rating on Rotten Tomatoes, a 5.4 out of 10 on IMDb, and a 2.3 out of 5 on the Bomb Report.
With a budget of $67 million, the movie only ended up grossing $25 million, making it a box office failure. This might be partly due to its competition upon its release. When The Last Legion hit theaters in 2007 it was up against the hilarious movie Superbad and Nicole Kidman/Daniel Craig’s thriller The Invasion, which both drew in more viewers.
Colin Firth’s Career After The Last Legion
Luckily, The Last Legion did not hinder Colin Firth’s acting career. In fact, he landed one of his most popular roles just one year later when he was cast as Harry to play opposite Meryl Streep and Amanda Seyfried in Mama Mia!.
Two years after that, Colin Firth got to play the honorable role of King George VI in The King’s Speech, a film that really is based on a true story. His struggle to overcome a speech impediment and his fear of public speaking resonated with many audiences, making the movie one that will go down in history. Colin Firth received two Academy Awards for Best Actor thanks to his performance in this great film.
It is always fun to look back on a star’s questionable roles in previous films, so if you want to watch the ridiculous movie The Last Legion for yourself, then you can stream it on Peacock.
