Ironclad
Netflix Streaming
DVD | Blu-Ray
Written and Directed by Jonathan English
Starring James Purefoy, Brian Cox, Kate Mara, Derek Jacobi, Paul Giamatti, Charles Dance, Jason Flemyng
Warner Bros. and ARC Entertainment
Originally Released: March 04, 2011

Claiming to be the largest independent production from Wales, Ironclad is a period conflict piece depicting King John‘s wrathful march against rebels following the signing of the Magna Carta. Complete with stellar performances, impressive casting, and exceptional action choreography, the movie is most unquestionably worth your viewing time.

Ironclad essentially is a recapping of the siege of Rochester Castle in 1215. Determined to seek revenge for being forced to sign the Magna Carta, King John (Paul Giamatti) begins a cause to reclaim his royal power over England. A small rebel power led by Baron William d’Aubigny (Brian Cox) and accompanied by Crusade veteran and Templar, Thomas Marshall (James Prefoy), take claim of Rochester before the King can do so. A solid and bloody battle ensues, as the revolutionaries hope to hold the location until their expected reinforcements arrive.

A new teaser trailer for the very dark upcoming steampunk/noir drama, Thelomeris, has been released online.

The movie, which is directed by 28–year-old Hungarian Balazs Hatvani in his feature debut, stars Mark Hamill (Star Wars, Batman fan–favorite voice of the Joker), James Purefoy (Rome, A Knight’s Tale), Lance Henriksen (Aliens, The Terminator), and DJ Qualls (Road Trip, Hustle & Flow).

Continue reading to read a synopsis for the movie and check out the teaser trailer now!

Ironclad
Directed by Jonathan English
Starring James Purefoy, Paul Giamatti, Kate Mara, Brian Cox, Derek Jacobi, Vladmir Kulich, Charles Dance, Jason Flemyng, Mackenzie Crook, Aneurin Barnard, Jamie Foreman
Release Date: June 8th, 2011

The name Jonathan English may not mean jack squat to you now, but after you see his latest film, Ironclad, you’ll remember it for goddamn sure. English is the writer (with Erick Kastel and Stephen McDool) and director of this latest entry in the medieval action genre that has gotten a major adrenaline fix recently with the success of the HBO series A Game of Thrones and the literal onslaught of blood and steel battle epics like Neil Marshall’s Centurion and Christopher Smith’s Black Death.

Armed with a tight script, a fantastic cast ready to chew scenery and kick ass, and buckets of blood and severed limbs, English saddles up to take on that hoariest of cinema sub-genres that’s easiest to do if you have little funding to work with: the siege movie.

Finding Nemo and Wall-E director Andrew Stanton‘s first foray into live-action film making is still a ways off, but over the past number of months, many exciting names have been cast in John Carter of Mars. The castings have come in interesting succession, with new additions being revealed every month. We were first informed in June that leads John Carter and the Princess of Mars would be played by X-Men Origins: Wolverine co-stars Taylor Kitsch and Lynn Collins. Next up was the announcement in July that Willem Dafoe was also cast in the movie as Tars Tarkas, a friendly outcast within a species of vicious warriors. In August, it was reported that three supporting roles were filled by Polly Walker, Dominic West, and Samantha Morton, and all was shaping out nicely.

Like clock work, just before September ends, three new names have been added to the cast, and it keeps getting better and better. Disney has announced that the newest trio of faces added to the cast are Thomas Haden Church, James Purefoy, and Mark Strong. Church is best known for his work in Sideways and Spider-Man 3, and will be playing a warrior (likely of the same species as Dafoe) named Tal Hajus who’s expecting to become ruler soon. Purefoy is best known as Marc Antony on HBO’s Rome and will be playing the captain on a warship named Kantos Kan. Mark Strong has been making quite a name for himself lately and will be playing a god-like figure named Matai Shang. Though Strong has been around for a while now, he’s only recently gained his deserved recognition with movies like Stardust and RocknRolla, and has since landed roles in Guy Ritchie’s Sherlock Holmes and Ridley Scott’s Robin Hood.

Since its announcement nearly two years ago, there’s been very little buzz about Solomon Kane, the big-screen adaptation of the Robert E. Howard books about a 16th century wandering Puritan on a path to vanquish evil in the most badass of ways.

At the San Diego Comic-Con today, the film’s director Michael J. Bassett, producer Samuel Hadida, and star James Purefoy were on hand for the Solomon Kane panel to give audiences their first glimpse of the film.

From the trailer and clips shown, we see that Kane (played by Rome‘s James Purefoy), a formerly greedy warrior who meets someone with more power than him who takes him almost to Hell. Kane has to suffer the consequences of his earlier immoral actions and his soul is in jeopardy. From there, Kane embarks on a path of redemption, trying to avoid the road to Hell, fighting evil across the land. In his journeys, he meets up with a good family who shows him there’s goodness in the world; he also believes that this family could help him on this mission.

Director Bassett likens Kane to Batman, a man without superpowers who’s strong and has a strong belief in his own convictions and strengths. While Kane has renounced violence, he finds that the road to redemption is not always a peaceful one.