Federico Barbarossa wants to extend his empire and invades northern Italy before a decisive battle stops his advance. His main antagonist is Alberto da Giussano from Milan who having seen his city razed to the ground eventually gets several city states to combine, forming the fighting force called the Company of Death. There is also Alberto da Giussano's love story with a woman called Eleonora who has flash forwards and premonitions and Siniscalco Barozzi who is lusting after Eleonora's sister Tessa. Sounds like a heady brew but most of it is routine and unexciting.
Rutger Hauer, F. Murray Abraham and Cécile Cassel are good but the rest of the cast are uninteresting. It was difficult to tell some actors apart as they were hiding behind beards. The battle scenes had too much CGI and some scenes seemed truncated or confusing. How Eleanora ended up on the battlefield in uniform beats me.
Films about a people fighting for their freedom can be inspiring but in this case I was rooting for the conqueror.
Rutger Hauer, F. Murray Abraham and Cécile Cassel are good but the rest of the cast are uninteresting. It was difficult to tell some actors apart as they were hiding behind beards. The battle scenes had too much CGI and some scenes seemed truncated or confusing. How Eleanora ended up on the battlefield in uniform beats me.
Films about a people fighting for their freedom can be inspiring but in this case I was rooting for the conqueror.