First Review : This is another pseudo-history that have become very popular with the movie goers. The exception is this is not really a pseudo-history, but a story based upon one iota of fact.
Rome and China decide to come together with a wedding of a Roman prince and Chinese princess. They are going to do this on neutral ground in Malaysia (The movie was a big hit there.) The Roman fleet carrying the prince gets damaged and loses its gold ships. They limp into India and attempt to get more vessels, but without the gold, the crafty Indian (They make him talk like a convenience store owner) won't budge.
They end up hiring a warrior/slave (Stephen Rahman Hughes as Merong ), who descends from Alexander to take them in his small junque. The prince (Gavin Stenhouse as Marcus Carpenius ) is concerned that the princess may not love him. We get that answer in the next scene as we see the Chinese princess (Jing Lusi as Princess Meng Li Hua ) bathing, complaining to her attendant she does not want to marry a barbarian. The movie shows the contempt Eastern civilization had for the west as they were "barbarians", "fur and gold wearers" and "boy lovers."
Rome and China decide to come together with a wedding of a Roman prince and Chinese princess. They are going to do this on neutral ground in Malaysia (The movie was a big hit there.) The Roman fleet carrying the prince gets damaged and loses its gold ships. They limp into India and attempt to get more vessels, but without the gold, the crafty Indian (They make him talk like a convenience store owner) won't budge.
They end up hiring a warrior/slave (Stephen Rahman Hughes as Merong ), who descends from Alexander to take them in his small junque. The prince (Gavin Stenhouse as Marcus Carpenius ) is concerned that the princess may not love him. We get that answer in the next scene as we see the Chinese princess (Jing Lusi as Princess Meng Li Hua ) bathing, complaining to her attendant she does not want to marry a barbarian. The movie shows the contempt Eastern civilization had for the west as they were "barbarians", "fur and gold wearers" and "boy lovers."
Rome is not at home in Malaysia. Clearly they are not in charge and are at the mercy of their host. Speaking of which, once the princess saw the Roman she opts to flee with her attendant Ying Ying (Nell Ng). In a poorly written scene, the Roman prince catches up to the two of them in the act of leaving. They do a role reversal and tell the Roman Ying Ying, the servant is really the princess. However the Roman prince is clearly attracted to the real princess. now pretending to be the servant. Hokey background music abounds. Ouch!
Marcus is also very adept in various Chinese fighting techniques.
There is sorcery by those that pray to the "old gods." There is a prophecy that Merong keeps remembering, one that his mother always spoke to him. Don't worry, if you missed it the first few times, you get to see it again.
When Merong is with his own people he speaks a foreign language with subtitles. When the Chinese are together, they opt for English, the same that the Romans speak. The princess mentions she also speaks Latin and does so, apparently not what the Romans speak. Ouch! The bad guy has a "Freddy Kruger" hand.
A sword form from "star rock" is nothing more than iron. Meteors were "star rock." They contained high amounts of iron that didn't need the high temperatures to be smelted like iron ore. Many civilizations do things according to a lunar calendar. It is a indication that at one time they worshiped the moon-god as the supreme deity.
Like so many of these pseudo-histories, the language is modern including slang, ideas and terms that are clearly anachronistic.
The movie dialouge and action is written for the younger audience, one prohibited from seeing this with the "R" rating. There is no nudity (naked silhouette). There is no foul language, Oh they do say "pee." The princess is apparently groped in one scene, but all we see is her face. There is a lot of fighting and killing with dead bodies, but not much in blood and gore. Let the kids watch it and think they are getting away with something.
Marcus is also very adept in various Chinese fighting techniques.
There is sorcery by those that pray to the "old gods." There is a prophecy that Merong keeps remembering, one that his mother always spoke to him. Don't worry, if you missed it the first few times, you get to see it again.
When Merong is with his own people he speaks a foreign language with subtitles. When the Chinese are together, they opt for English, the same that the Romans speak. The princess mentions she also speaks Latin and does so, apparently not what the Romans speak. Ouch! The bad guy has a "Freddy Kruger" hand.
A sword form from "star rock" is nothing more than iron. Meteors were "star rock." They contained high amounts of iron that didn't need the high temperatures to be smelted like iron ore. Many civilizations do things according to a lunar calendar. It is a indication that at one time they worshiped the moon-god as the supreme deity.
Like so many of these pseudo-histories, the language is modern including slang, ideas and terms that are clearly anachronistic.
The movie dialouge and action is written for the younger audience, one prohibited from seeing this with the "R" rating. There is no nudity (naked silhouette). There is no foul language, Oh they do say "pee." The princess is apparently groped in one scene, but all we see is her face. There is a lot of fighting and killing with dead bodies, but not much in blood and gore. Let the kids watch it and think they are getting away with something.
