Attila (2001/I) (TV)

Director:

Dick Lowry

Writer (WGA):

Robert Cochran (written by)

Release Date:

30 January 2001 (USA)

Genre:

Action | Adventure | Drama | History | War

Plot:

A romanced story of Attila the Hun, since his childhood, when he lost his parents until his death. Attila is disclosed as a great leader...

Plot Keywords:

Constantinople Turkey | Historical | History | Ancient Rome | Alliance

Awards:

1 win & 2 nominations

Cast

Gerard Butler	...	Attila the Hun
Powers Boothe	...	Flavius Aetius
Simmone Mackinnon	...	N'Kara / Ildico (as Simmone Jade Mackinnon)
Reg Rogers	...	Valentinian
Alice Krige	...	Placida
Pauline Lynch	...	Galen
Steven Berkoff	...	King Rua
Andrew Pleavin	...	Orestes
Tommy Flanagan	...	Bleda
Kirsty Mitchell	...	Honoria
Jonathan Hyde	...	Felix
Tim Curry	...	Theodosius
Janet Henfrey	...	Palcharia
Liam Cunningham	...	King Theodoric
Rollo Weeks	...	Young Attila

Also Known As:

Attila the Hun (UK) (video title)

Runtime:

177 min | Finland:171 min (DVD) | Finland:184 min (TV) (4 parts) | 60 min (3 episodes)

Country:

USA | Lithuania

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.78 : 1

Sound Mix:

Stereo

Certification:

Finland:K-15 | Canada:13+ (Quebec) | Germany:12 | Spain:13 | UK:15 | USA:Unrated

Filming Locations:

Lithuania

Company:

Alphaville Films

Goofs:

Audio/visual unsynchronized: When Aetius first displays the Roman legions to Attila, the soldiers are clearly marching out of step with the beat of the drums. Also, at the wedding of Attila and Ildico, the beat of the music is very much out of sync with the dancing and hand-clapping.

Quotes:

Galen: The beast with red fur.
N'Kara: The toadstool who talks.
Galen: Bleda mounts you more often than his horse.
N'Kara: That is no choice of mine.
Galen: Then why do you?
N'Kara: My mother and sister, if I kill myself then Bleda will kill them.
Galen: They live becasue of Attila... I have seen the way he looks at you, and the way you look at him.
N'Kara: It doesn't matter, I belong to Belda.
Galen: A Hun warrior does not possess a woman until she bears his child. If you bear Bleda's then Attila will have nothing to do with you.
Galen: [takes a a little bag]
[...]

Hollywood, once again, steps into their own tangled web...

There was just too much left out or made up on this one. The acting was fairly descent given the stunted script, but history went right out the window. Example: When the King died, Attila allowed his brother to rule for 13 years, before he came to power. You need drama, agreed, tension, absolutely, but there's an old adage that goes, 'Truth is stranger than fiction.' It seems they couldn't decide how much of a hero or villain to portray the main character as in the show. I never really cared about Attila and his personal problems but rather was more interested in the doings of the diabolical Roman. They should have called it 'Flavius' since he had all the good lines and was portrayed by an aggressive Powers Boothe. He took over every scene. I liked Reg Rogers as the quirky Emperor Valentinian as well. Typically, the battle scenes depicting the Roman army devolved into a massive one on one brawl, rather than the disciplined tactics that gave Rome their empire. I was not pleased at the end of the four hours - they killed you with commercials - and regretted the time wasted.