Black Death + Digital Copy (2011)

I honestly had never heard of this film before seeing a preview on Video On Demand. Being a fan of Sean Bean of Lord of the Rings fame, I gave it a try. Set in Europe during the time of the Black Death, this film has Christian knights searching out a village that has not felt the touch of the plague. To guide them they enlist a young monk who has broken his vows and fallen in love with a woman. The story involves their journey and what they find when they reach this village looking for a witch or necromancer. Well acted with great characters. This is a dark story and a wonderfully recreated period piece. This is not a feel good movie, it is gloomy and sticks with you after you have watched. This is a nice find.

This movie really stuck with me days after I watched it. I can't imagine what it was like to live in Europe during the Black Death but it must have seemed like Hell on earth. I really enjoyed Eddie Redmayne in this as well as his acting in the excellent The Pillars of the Earth mini series. The cover may fool you into thinking there is a lot of action but the majority is on the story and the characters. However, the action was very brutal and realistic as I think it should be. The pace of the movie was done well and the overall atmosphere is very haunting. Do yourself a favor and watch it.

Buy Black Death + Digital Copy (2011) Now

On the heels of Season of the Witch (as inaccurate a vision of this era as I have seen), Black Death manages to be everything that its predecessor was not. A group of knights are traveling to a village which has reportedly not been impacted by the plague AT ALL, to determine whether or not it is "protected" by a necromancer. If so, they are to return same to the bishop who commissioned them for judgement and execution. Along the way, they pick up a young monk who knows the area to guide them, discover one of their men shows signs of having contracted the plague, and run afoul of thieves who are obviously robbing any and all travelers for whatever they can get. Ultimately, they reach their destination and discover that the rumors appear to be, in fact, quite true. What is unknown is the identity of the necromancer and how the few soldiers should proceed against so many villagers.

I won't reveal certain twists and I won't give away any more of the plot than I already have. What I will say is that this is one good "tale". The kind The Brothers Grimm would be impressed with; and that any who watch it would do well to remember that a really good tale is neither about leaving, arrival or SPECIAL EFFECTS, it is about the journey. How men are changed by their journeys and about how not all of those changes are honorable or even life-affirming.

The Black Death, The Little Ice Age and The Inquisition were known as the dark ages and there is a reason for that name. This is a movie that is dark, cold, bleak and disturbing... just as it should be.

It is also well shot, well acted, well scripted, costumed and lit. Furthermore, it does not pander to the audience nor assume that we are, or are not, historians. In the end; it's just a well put-together film, one that is well worth seeing.

Read Best Reviews of Black Death + Digital Copy (2011) Here

Sean Bean, still sporting his fresh-of-the-set of HBO's Game of Thrones shag, plays the Bishop's go-to badass (Ulric) in this compelling medieval mystery-action movie. His team of mercenaries is guided toward a marsh village by a young monk (Osmond) with ulterior motives of forbidden romance. Their mission is essentially a witch hunt. This marsh village has been rumored to have been spared by the black death and its people, naturally, must be in league with the devil. Ulric and his men have been charged to find their God-renouncing heretic leader and bring him back to be tried and executed in the name of God.

Ulric is as gritty and callous as they come. He was "chosen by God" for this mission and would sooner gut a wrongly accused innocent than be troubled to detour his mission. Bean's Ulric is rather extreme, but easily likeable by any typical Maxim subscriber. However, it is the young monk (played by Eddie Redmayne) who brings the sincerity to the screen. He anthropomorphizes the compassion, desperation, fear and longing of Everyman while Ulric filters all such characteristics through a prism of fanatical devotion to his charge. Ulric's mercenaries initially depict greed, yet later favor to their fellow soldiers and demonstrate surprising camaraderie when faced with the worst. They are dirty, ratty-haired, and perfectly credible "tough guys".

I was a bit confused by the action scenes in this movie. They were brutal and cool, but would have been much better without the palsy-shaky camerawork. Maybe this camera style was meant to help the tone, but then why put so much effort into the gore, choreography and surroundings if the intended filming style only masks the effects of such efforts? Again, the battle scenes were good. This was also one of few movies which well-identified how exhausting it is to swing a sword for 60-90 seconds. Not since The 13th Warrior have I seen that portrayed so accurately. Ensuing the fray, these guys sounded like a fat kid after running a mile for his high school physical fitness test.

Finally Ulric and his men reach the quiet, plague-free, hospitable town. They are welcomed, wounds are dressed, and they are hosted with dinner and lodging. Here's where I have to stop giving details. I'll close by saying that I really like this movie, although there was (what I consider to be) a big oversight in the scenes which transitioned between the middle and end portions of the movie. I'm not saying that it's obvious or that everyone should catch it, but I felt like it was an insult to my intelligence as a viewer for the screenwriters to assume that viewers wouldn't catch it. This ranty nit-picking aside, if you liked Sean Bean in "any" other movie then I vote you see this one.

Fair warning, I feel that they showed more than they should have in the trailer. Not that it obviously gives anything away, but I suggest that you do NOT watch it. I didn't see it before watching the movie. I'm glad I didn't.

Want Black Death + Digital Copy (2011) Discount?

i never heard of this movie till i saw a preview for it on imdb, and seeing how LOTR is one of my favorite series i thought that this movie is actually really good. this takes place during the time of the Black Death (if you couldn't guess) and Sean Bean and his knights are sent out by the church to see why one town has not become infected by the black death. considering how low the budget was for this film they actually did a really good job making it look and feel like it was the time of the Black Death, the camera angles and lack of special effects actually play really good into the story. if you like Sean Bean and can get pass the budget for this movie i would really give it a try the actors all play a really good job and are faithful to their position in the film. this is one of the few low budget movie i would suggest everyone to check out..

Save 32% Off