""Barbarossa" movie" Topic

A movie about the XI century wars between the empereror Frederick I "Barbarossa" and the italian city states is currently in post production in Cinecittà:
imdb.com/title/tt1242516
Rutger Hauer plays the emperor. The movie has been filmed in Romania during 2008 with a budget of 10 million euros. Beware Renzo Martinelli's previous movies had weak script and bad acting so don't raise your expectations. Here are some stills: link

Hmm, Hauer cuts an impressive figure, but you may well be right about the prospects for the movie as a whole.
Since even BBC docudramas like the Heroes and Villians series can use CGI to create pretty impressive battle scenes, it seems to me that there are fewer and fewer excuses not to have them in even modestly budgeted movies.

Also of note in the "In production" part of the site, is "September 11" which seems to be a questionable choice of title, since it purports to deal with the Siege of Vienna in 1683 (or as the site would have it 1638).

Looks like it might be a pretty film, if nothing else. Thanks for the heads up.

It can't be any worse than Vercingétorix with Christophe Lambert – 2.8 on imdb

Costumes already look questionable…

Damon.

why do they have a blond haired guy playing a red haired guy?

for a minute there, i thought you were talking about teh movie with Willie Nelson and Gary Busy. Pretty good flick.

Blond guys often have red beards, the meaning of "Barbarossa."

Actually, it's the XIIth century, not the XIth.

I can see Hauer doing a terrifically psychotic Barbarossa. I'm interested….

The details in the stills looks marginal, but not egregiously out of step with the period. The screen writing and directing will determine everything. Hauer has starred in some real stinkers over the years, but is always fun alone anyway….

Here some low quality shots from a preview showed at a meeting of the Lega Nord party:
link
The final cut is due for october. Martinelli said in an interview that the movie will have both a two-part Tv release and another one for worldwide theatrical release.

Hey, the horseys have big feet, cute….

So, if they can do Barbarossa, what's to stop those Hollywood peckers from doing 1066??????? I understand that the team are having trouble getting backing for that particular production.

Cheers,

Darrell.

Looks interesting.

Actually, I could see Hauer play a very convincing William the Conqueror too (a bit old for the part, but appearances are everything, and he's got "it")….

Looks interesting but I am afraid it might just be to heavy on pro-Lega Nord propaganda (being Greek I tend to side with the South).
Still if it has battles I will watch it, and Hauer kicks ass.

Thanks for info. It seems tough to get a budget for Historical (non-American) figures in movies these days. Vin Diesel cant get "Hannibal" off the ground, and Leonardo DiCaprio has been rumored to have been trying to get the "Brian Boru" story going for the last few years.

But then again "Alexander" didnt help any of these at all!

perception is always more accurate than reality in Hollywood, I believe – historic films are seen as expensive and high risk irrespective of the final takings.

It seems only China and Russia will commit budgets to historic epics at the moment.

Twas the same before Gladiator, as I recall, so it only takes one good movie to do well, and a bunch more can get off the ground.

I liked Rutger in FLESH & BLOOD and was always hoping for a FLESH & BLOOD 2

Flesh and Blood, Jennifer, mmmm….

As long as the German knights have twin-slot sword belt ties, I'm there.

atb
khurasanminiatures.tripod.com

Update: the movie is due for release on october 9

Official website (not working well for me):
barbarossailfilm.com

8-minutes trailer:
YouTube link

Short trailer and photo stills:
link

Visually it looks fine but the dialogues are as badly cheesy as I expected :(

My birthday. Hope it doesn't stink, the movie AND my Bday….

Hi

What, you didnt like Willie Nelson's "Barbarossa"?

Sheesh, no taste!

Rocky

10 million Euros budget says it all. You can't get anything for 10 million Euros these days. My gas bill's bigger than that. As for the acting…

I saw the movie and I'll post a review tomorrow. I can say that it was not as bad as I expected.

Anyone know of what sort of release this film will have in the UK?

Cheers,

Darrell.

Barbarossa has been a controversial movie in Italy for political reasons that would be too long to explain, I found it impossibile to read a trustworthy review because most tend to bash it beyond its demerits. This howewer helped me to enjoy the movie because I went to see it with extremely low expectations.

The story is a little disjointed and it spans the lenghth of many years but the actors change too little in appearance (or sometimes change too much) and you don't really get a sense of how much time has passed.
Also the dialogues are often cheesy and you don't care much about the hero. Howewer for the first 2/3 of the movie there is enough tempo and action to keep you interested, the siege of Milan had some good scenes and you enjoy whenever Barbarossa or the devious Barozzi (played by F. Murray Abraham) appear. I can say that I was pleasantly surprised through the first half and more of the movie.

Where the story really start to fall apart is in the last 30-40 minutes, when Alberto forges the rings for those who join the Company of Death, from there the story becomes even more disjointed (but with still some good moments) and you care even less for the hero but the worst thing was that I found the final battle of Legnano a big letdown instead of the movie climax: there is not buildup for the battle, the emperor abandons the siege of Alessandria and after a while the armies met. The battle itself (beside having nothing in common with the real battle or reality at all) is an uninteresting chopping of heads and limbs. Then the movie ends.

It lasted 140 minutes but I read the TV version will be 200 and there's even more footage left on the cutting floor. I think many of movie problems are due to the bad editing and an extended dvd version may address the worst of them.

Sure Barbarossa is far from a masterpiece but I didn't fall asleep either, it reminded me of Attila with Gerard Butler for the quality of the story and of Kingdom of Heaven for production value. I think it would work better as a TV movie.

Regarding historical accuracy, weapons and costumes seems ok to me but the historical facts are so chopped up, ignored or messed together that it bears little resemblance to the actual events. Anyway I hope you don't go to see such a movie to get an history lesson, isn't it?

Overall I'd rate it a 5/10

Sounds like the "killin' bits" are passable, which is all that any respectable wargamer should demand or deserve….

As a re-enactor i think i'll enjoy it simply for the entertainment factor , any film with nasal helms gets my attention. I'm surprised at how many films dont make use of the many re-enactors out there that would gladly do "extra's" work and many would be able to supply thier own very authentic kit , but i guess it depends on location . I look forward to seeing this as i did Kingdom of Heaven and Alexander. cheers Tom

oooh, this is the one with a very hot jane fonda floating around naked in space, isn't it? oh no, wait ….