The Eagle | Rotten Tomatoes (2024)

39% Tomatometer 158 Reviews 41% Popcornmeter 25,000+ Ratings

Under the command of Flavius Aquila in A.D. 120, Rome's Ninth Legion marches north carrying its revered eagle emblem and vanishing into the mists. Rumors of the legion's golden eagle appearing in a tribal temple reach Marcus Aquila (Channing Tatum), Flavius' son, 20 years later. Accompanied by his slave (Jamie Bell), Marcus makes a dangerous journey to Scotland to retrieve the hallowed eagle and, in doing so, to restore his father's tarnished honor.

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The Eagle

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Critics Consensus

The Eagle has a pleasantly traditional action-adventure appeal, but it's drowned out by Kevin Macdonald's stolid direction and Channing Tatum's uninspired work in the central role.

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Critics Reviews

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The Eagle | Rotten Tomatoes (1) Nell Minow Movie Mom Rated: C Feb 18, 2012 Full Review The Eagle | Rotten Tomatoes (2) Philip French Guardian The Eagle appeals to my older self while retaining what made my childhood reading so stirring. Mar 28, 2011 Full Review The Eagle | Rotten Tomatoes (3) Charlotte O'Sullivan London Evening Standard As culture clashes go, this one should be filed under rout. Rated: 3/5 Mar 25, 2011 Full Review The Eagle | Rotten Tomatoes (4) Brian Eggert Deep Focus Review Macdonald’s film boasts impressive production value and an eye for historical detail, but the film suffers from a leading man who emotes less than a marble bust. Rated: 2.5/4 Jul 31, 2023 Full Review The Eagle | Rotten Tomatoes (5) Keith Garlington Keith & the Movies It starts off as a poor man’s “Gladiator” which isn’t necessarily a bad thing. But then it loses it’s identity and heads off into a different direction becoming a very mediocre action picture. Rated: 2/5 Aug 20, 2022 Full Review The Eagle | Rotten Tomatoes (6) Rene Jordan El Nuevo Herald (Miami) The film manages to revive the incandescent prose of the book as much as possible. [Full review in Spanish] Aug 9, 2022 Full Review Read all reviews

Audience Reviews

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Audience Member I really enjoy this movie. I admire the director's work and the acting prowess of all the performers, but especially of Donald Sutherland, Channing Tatum, and Jaymie Bell. Their performances are outstanding, and the dialogue, cinematography, and plot are all spot on. It's enjoyable to watch an ancient Rome movie once more after occasionally watching The Gladiator, and Channing Totum deserves praise for his portrayal of the character. Based on their expectations, past performance, and ego, I wonder how in the world Rotten Tomatoes rated it as low as 39%. Come on, this is a movie, it's supposed to be entertaining. Rated 5/5 Stars • Rated 5 out of 5 stars 06/04/24 Full Review GuestLord D The beginning was good but the development and story didn't turn out to meet the start Rated 3.5/5 Stars • Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars 09/21/23 Full Review Jeffrey P B Not sure what's wrong with people. A really enjoyable film with solid acting, and unique story line. Great adventure and look at the conquering nature of the Roman empire. Enjoyed it. Rated 3.5/5 Stars • Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars 07/16/23 Full Review Ben M This is a really bloody poor film. I love films about Rome, the medieval period, Scotland - it should be right up my street. But it's just really poorly written, the story and characters aren't engaging, some of the costuming is quite silly. Tatum is a really poor actor, like I didn't realise how bad he is til I saw this. Also, they must have had a tight budget, at one point they CGI a small funeral pyre and it's painfully obvious. Even if you're into this type of film, it's one to avoid. Rated 1.5/5 Stars • Rated 1.5 out of 5 stars 06/08/23 Full Review Henry W One of the worst movies I've ever paid for to sit through. I saw it when it came out, back in 2011. Good points: the costumes were pretty cool, except for all the cotton. It looked nice. And... well, that's it. Oh, and it was kind of funny, but only unintentionally so. Another customer at the showing (which was sparsely populated) summed up my opinion really well. As they roll the credits, he just said loud enough for everyone to hear, "Well...that SUCKED." Everyone in the theatre laughed, because we were all thinking the same thing... Rated 0.5/5 Stars • Rated 0.5 out of 5 stars 05/14/23 Full Review Brian B Despite all the bad reviews this works well as an action movie and the sacenery is wonderful. The acting might not be as good but it is more than adequate and I think that Channing Tatum and Jamie Bell build up a credible relationship the twists and turns of which are nicely portrayed. All in all it does the book, on which it is based, justice, is enjoyable, accurate enough for the casual historian and it is entertaining. I would certainly recoomend it to those who like a bit of historical faction. Rated 3.5/5 Stars • Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars 04/03/23 Full Review Read all reviews

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Cast & Crew

Kevin Macdonald Director Channing Tatum Marcus Aquila Jamie Bell Esca Donald Sutherland Uncle Aquila Mark Strong Guern Tahar Rahim Seal Prince
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Synopsis Under the command of Flavius Aquila in A.D. 120, Rome's Ninth Legion marches north carrying its revered eagle emblem and vanishing into the mists. Rumors of the legion's golden eagle appearing in a tribal temple reach Marcus Aquila (Channing Tatum), Flavius' son, 20 years later. Accompanied by his slave (Jamie Bell), Marcus makes a dangerous journey to Scotland to retrieve the hallowed eagle and, in doing so, to restore his father's tarnished honor.

Director
Kevin Macdonald

Producer
Duncan Kenworthy

Screenwriter
Jeremy Brock

Distributor
Focus Features

Production Co
Twins Financing, Duncan Kenworthy, Film4, Focus Features

Rating
PG-13 (Some Disturbing Images|Battle Sequences)

Genre
Action, Adventure, History, Drama

Original Language
English

Release Date (Theaters)
Feb 11, 2011, Wide

Release Date (Streaming)
Sep 3, 2013

Box Office (Gross USA)
$19.5M

Runtime
1h 54m

Sound Mix
Dolby SRD, Dolby SR, DTS
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The Eagle | Rotten Tomatoes (2024)
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