Cheap Attila (DVD) (Dick Lowry) Price

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Customer Reviews of Attila

Entertaining, yes, but...
It's such a treat to see a movie about this fascinating period of history that one hates to cavil, but if you're going to make a historical epic, why not get it right? I'm not talking about plot details -- to tell a good story you've got to make stuff up, like Attila going to Rome and boffing the emperor's sister -- but rather about the false picture of Roman society this film conveys. To begin with, the orgy scene: the idea that the Romans were wallowing in sensual pleasure while the barbarians were at the gates is utter nonsense. Roman morals were strict, especially once Christianity had taken hold. And speaking of Christianity, we get scarcely a glimpse of the now-powerful Church and its grip on the court, not even a hint of the Pope's famous embassy that kept the Huns out of Italy.

Another reviewer has pointed out the inaccurate picture of Roman warfare. I'd add that it seems very odd that the close-ranked legionaries with their rectangular shields -- themselves an anachronism -- break ranks as soon as they get within striking distance of the enemy, thus sacrificing all the advantages of their formation!

Still, it's fun to see the stuff they did get right. Aetius was indeed raised among the Huns and was a friend to their kings, and his remarkable career merits greater fame. Honoria did send Attila a letter with her ring, which served as the pretext for attacking the western Empire. Valentinian may indeed have personally murdered Aetius. Great stuff for a costume drama; I just wish they had gone a little further and shown the late Roman world as it really was.

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A classic!
This movie is SO GOOD and is amust see for everyone, a total must see. Just GREAT!

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Good movie, but lacking historical accuracy! Why???
Attila is a very good movie that brings to life the director's version of how he would have liked Attila the Hun's story to have been. The movie does not faithfully follow the original sources on Attila the Hun, rather it is INSPIRED by these, and therefore has a great deal of flaws and deviations from the real accounts. One could list one after another the discrepancies that occur, and for those that have read/studied History, you know the list would be very long indeed, some will say too long... From this very long list the most important alteration of course was when dealing with Attila himself, who is portrayed as "really nice guy" who is "determined" to have his way, when in actual fact he was one of the most brutal/lethal people to have existed (what so many tend to call a "butcher" and a "tyrant" these days...). Even though this is Hollywood and one should be more flexible and lenient when dealing with adaptations, one should also keep in mind that one must never do so at the expense of accuracy i.e. the truth. Why? Because Attila was a REAL person and a very important historical figure and not part of some modern twentieth century novel! Therefore, the only real problem arises when the majority of people (and most people have NOT read the actual sources) who see the movie start believing that events happened the way the movie depicts/portrays and not the way they actually did. Consequently, due to this distortion, the movie poses a very serious danger of producing armies of misinformed people who think they know Attila's history when they really do not. Not good!
On the positive side, the movie does succeed in transporting the viewer back in time when the Roman Empire had recently been divided into Eastern and Western parts, following Emperor Theodosius's death in 395 AD and the subsequent division of the Empire between his two sons: Arcadius and Honorius.
The film does a great job of presenting these times and therefore providing a very accurate and thus, contradicting Decadent West (Rome) compared to the Pious East (Constantinople).
The movie is action packed, the acting is very good and the cast are wonderful. The actors' performances are outstanding, especially Tim Curry playing the Byzantine Emperor, steals the show, but also the rest of the actors who have done a superb job of providing an entertaining film that can be watched over and over again. Hopefully, more movies will be made set in the ancient times, as the demand for them is definitely there. And hopefully they will be historically accurate as well!
In short, it is my belief that the movie deserves 4 stars for the top quality and entertainment it provides, but falls short of 5 stars for deviating so much from the original and creating a sense of confusion among viewers.