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Parents' Guide to

The Eagle

By Jeffrey Anderson, Common Sense Media Reviewer

age 15+

Roman action epic comes across as grim, violent, and dull.

Movie PG-13 2011 114 minutes
The Eagle Poster Image

A Lot or a Little?

What you will—and won't—find in this movie.

Community Reviews

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age 13+

Based on 13 parent reviews

PITB
PITB Adult
December 26, 2021
age 16+

Not like the movie but still pretty great!

Ok so I’m 18 years old and loved listening to the book over and over again Shawn I was younger, I absolutely had a crush on Markus and watching the movie only made me like him better, ( I guess it’s because of Channing Tatum ) and the Esca actor was pretty great too, the acting and casting was good, but the camera techniques was very interesting and not the best, the only part of the movie that bothered me was a scene with nude, dead, human corpses hanging from a tree, you don’t really see them, you just know what’s going on, and a child was purposely killed, but again, it was off screen, the battles weren’t too bad, yes there was blood but not gushing or anything graphic. Overall I personally liked the movie, it’s a little low budget but well acted. I’d recommend this movie for teens ages 16 and up but it’s totally up to you.

This title has:

Great role models
Too much violence
familyviewing
familyviewing Adult
June 27, 2021
age 18+

Big gore

We watched 20 minutes before turning off.. The extreme violence starts after ten minutes. Fatal stabbing & slicing, spurting blood, multiple people burnt alive, a carbonised limb, dead bodies post-battle. The whole is accompanied by screaming and realistic sound effects, Then, after less than 5 minutes respite, we see prisoners awaiting execution, then being beheaded, legs chopped off by chariot blades. 12? Completely insane.

This title has:

Too much violence
See all 13 parent reviews

What's the Story?

In 140 A.D., during the Roman occupation of Southern Britain, soldier Marcus (Channing Tatum) lives in the shadow of his disgraced father, who disappeared along with his entire legion many years earlier. In doing so, Marcus' father lost the "Eagle" of the title, a symbol for Roman glory. After being heroically wounded in battle, Marcus recuperates with his uncle (Donald Sutherland) and rescues a slave, Esca (Jamie Bell), from a deadly battle. Unable to live with disgrace any longer, Marcus decides to take Esca and journey into enemy territory to find the fabled Eagle, thereby restoring his father's good name and setting things right. What Marcus doesn't realize is that the journey will teach him more than he ever could have realized.

Is It Any Good?

Our review:
Parents say (13 ):
Kids say (12 ):

The movie has a heavy, gray look, and it's mostly humorless. It delves into the battles with grim resolve (and choppy editing), and it's not clear whether the violence is supposed to be fun or cautionary (if it's the latter, then there's an awful lot of it, and it's tiresome). Fortunately, in his small role, Sutherland strikes a nice, cheerful tone that -- in larger doses -- might have made the movie more fun.

Oscar-winning filmmaker Kevin Macdonald (One Day in September) has had mixed results with his fiction movies (The Last King of Scotland, State of Play), and his rather impersonal approach doesn't suit this stodgy historical action movie. It takes a while to get going, and then its promising idea -- the "road trip" with the two enemies-turned-friends -- doesn't pay off. The film fails to really narrow its focus on these two, instead pondering larger issues, such as honor, glory, war, and freedom. The humans get lost in the shuffle.

Talk to Your Kids About ...

  • Families can talk about the movie's violence. Is it essential to the story? Why or why not? How does it compare to what you'd see in a horror movie?

  • What does the Eagle of the movie's title represent? Is it a good symbol or a bad one?

  • What does the hero, Marcus, learn over the course of his journey? Is he a positive role model?

Movie Details

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