Title: Thrones & Empires (15)
Year: 1995
Running Time: 85 minutes
Director: Gabriel Axel
Cast: Christian Bale (Amled), Helen Mirren (Geruth), Gabriel Byrne (Fenge), Kate Beckinsale (Ethel)
Notes: Also known as Prince Of Jutland. Also known as Royal Deceit. Miraculously repackaged in 2012 with "Thrones" in the title.
Rating: 7
Thoughts: Fenge kills his brother, the King, and takes his wife.
The heir to the throne, Amled, feigns insanity and flees. He then goes to England, marries a Princess and come back to claim what should be his.
A star-studded line-up in a film that no-one has heard of? How on earth?
The lead character is Amled. So this is a take on Hamlet, which is presumably why so many luvvies joined in. Brian Glover, Andy Serkis, Brian Cox and more add their names to the hefty cast list.
It also got cynically renamed in 2012. And re-released in the same year as The Dark Knight Rises that one of the cast starred in.
Once we get past the dodgy recycling of a seventeen year old film, what's it like?
Well it's quite a subtle tale, using the origin story of Hamlet just as Shakespeare did. Throw in all these amazing actors, some at the start of their career, and the whole thing comes together.
But you do have to think that a stronger script, a little more budget for some realistic fighting, and tighter direction would have got even more out of the fine cast.
It's good but should probably be better.