Centurion

Centurion (2010) was directed by Neil Marshall.  Like his previous films Doomsday and Dog Soldiers it has a great premise but ultimately falls a bit flat because his direction favours style over substance.

The story is a theoretical fiction dealing with the mysterious disappearance of the Ninth Legion in the second century CE.  Marshall's film says that the Legion is largely destroyed by Picts in the wilds of Scotland.  Those that do survive and return to Hadrian's Wall are killed by a general who fears his military record will be tarnished if anyone learns the truth.

The production design by Simon Bowles is excellent.  As usual, Marshall and his cinematographer Sam McCurdy manage to create a visually beautiful film. Centurion was shot entirely on location.

I find that I'm always disappointed by Marshall's films.  He comes up with great story ideas and creates stunning visual worlds but he has only ever been concerned with making entertaining action films so his characters are rarely fleshed out enough to make us really care.

Michael Fassbender (300, Inglourious Basterds) does well with what he's given but Marshall mostly uses his actors as eye candy.

Fans of the genre will have to watch this at least once for the action and special make-up effects.  It's available on Blu-ray and DVD.  

The official website is also still up at CenturionMovie.com.

300 Spartan Costume

Last month, Prodiles in History auctioned off this screen-used Spartan costume from Zack Snyder's 300.

These costumes were designed by frequent Snyder collaborator Michael Wilkinson. I think he did a great job at translating the graphic novel art into a flesh and blood costume.  It's lines are really simple but it's somehow still stunning to look at.  This sold for $8000.

Kevin Sorbo's Hercules Costume

The Prop Store of London has a complete Hercules costume worn by Kevin Sorbo during the production of Hercules: The Legendary Journeys and Xena: Warrior Princess.

So many of the Hercules and Xena costumes were sold off in little bits and pieces so it's rare to find one that's so complete including even the gauntlets and boots!  The listing at Prop Store indicates this was used in the season five Xena episode "God Fearing Child" and it may have been.  But there's a sewn-in costume tag dated December '97 which mean it was probably first used in season three of Hercules.

Immortals Costumes at Prop Store of London

The Prop Store of London has some amazing Immortals costumes available.  My favourites are this Titan costume and battle-damaged helmet.  As I've said before, I think Eiko Ishioka is a remarkable designer.  From her work on the 1992 Dracula through all her collaborations with Tarsem Singh, she managed to create extremely memorable pieces that are works of art in themselves.  Ishioka passed away in January 2012 so these pieces will be a lasting tribute to her talent.

Xena Costume Patterns

Here are some more treasures from the eBay auctions of shed11costumehouse in New Zealand.  These pieces come from the private collection of Jane Holland who was the Xena: Warrior Princess costume designer for seasons 5-6 after Ngila Dickson left to work on The Lord of the Rings.

These are actual reinforced patterns for pieces of Xena's iconic armour!  If someone wanted to make a replica there's no better place to start than the original source material.

As I said about the earlier auctioned pieces, these are amazing pieces of history from the show.  They deserve to be carefully archived and now they can be.

Immortals Costumes at Auction

Premiere Props is holding a Hollywood VIP auction this Saturday July 21 and there are several costumes and props from Tarsem Singh's beautiful Immortals.  Bids can be made online at iCollector.com.  These pieces are obviously the "leavings" from the collection.  There are no spectacular items but some good deals can probably be had.

First, here are two costumes worn by Henry Cavill as Theseus:

Next, costumes worn by Stephen Dorff as Stavros and Alan van Sprang as Dareios:

Here's a memorable piece worn by Freida Pinto as Phaedra:

My favourite of the bunch is this hoplite costume which captures some of the more creative design elements and motifs of the film.

There's also a large selection of prop weapons and prototypes available.

Gabrielle Costume Elements

shed11costumehouse is a reliable eBay seller from New Zealand.  Recently, they auctioned several costume elements that come from the private collection of Jane Holland who was the Xena: Warrior Princess costume designer for seasons 5-6 after Ngila Dickson left to work on The Lord of the Rings.  These pieces provide great insight into the construction of the costumes.

First, a hero Gabrielle bodice worn by Renee O'Connor.  This piece is great because it has a sewed in label indicating it was worn by Renee.  Countless copies of this piece were made for stunt use but it's rare that a hero one pops up.  The rarity is reflected in the price; this sold for over $2000!

Second, Gabrielle's gauntlets and necklace.  Replicas of these are highly sought after so it was no surprise that the necklace sold for more than $600 and the gauntlets sold for more than $700.