Release: Blood and Glory

 

Blood and Glory

Genre: Action/Historical/War

Director: Tarsem Singh

Writer: Jack Brown

Cast: Dave Bautista, Cosmo Jarvis, Jamie Campbell Bower, Sam Spruell, Said Taghmaoui, Paz Vega, Aiyasha Hart, Milo Gibson, Laurie Davidson, Anok Yai, Fares Fares, Richard Coyle, Alexander Siddig

Budget: $100,000,000

Domestic Box Office: $54,499,254

Foreign Box Office: $142,167,293

Total Profit: -$4,102,064

Reaction: It was a bit disappointing that Blood and Glory just missed out on profits. The foreign box office numbers were very solid, but it was at the domestic box office that this one sealed its financial fate.

"Visually striking, with massive battle set pieces, impressive period detail, and a palpable sense of scale that makes you feel the weight of empire and war with brutal exhilarating combat. That said, the pacing gets bogged down by excessive nudity, long feasts, and drawn-out palace politics that slow the momentum. While the romance and intimacy scenes add flavor, they occasionally distract from the larger narrative of conquest and strategy. Overall, it’s a visually compelling, blood-soaked historical epic that rewards patience but some scenes went on too long to keep me fully engaged." - Dexter Quinn, Cinematic Observer Newsletter 

"There’s no denying Tarsem Singh can shoot a battlefield like it’s a Renaissance canvas splashed with blood. Blood and Glory is part fever dream, part Xbox cutscene, and while it doesn’t always hit the high notes of historical drama, it’s rarely dull. Cosmo Jarvis’s Alexander is brooding and magnetic, and Dave Bautista brings a brutish, wounded dignity to Darius. Yet for all the stylized chaos, the film sometimes forgets to breathe. Quieter moments - like Barsine’s conflicted presence between the two worlds - hint at the depth this could’ve had if it weren’t so committed to spectacle. It’s a guilty pleasure, gory and messy, but just gripping enough to keep you watching." - Kendra Voss, Neon Riot Review

"While Blood and Glory is not without its bombast and indulgence, there’s a certain brutal majesty to Tarsem Singh’s vision that’s difficult to deny. The film revels in operatic pageantry - gleaming bronze, rivers of blood, and dueling kings who feel carved from stone. Singh’s tendency toward slow-motion tableaux occasionally tips into self-parody, but at its best, the imagery achieves something undeniably mythic. Dave Bautista lends Darius a commanding gravity, while Cosmo Jarvis’s Alexander balances ferocity with flashes of doubt. The narrative may be thin, but in sheer visceral terms, the film succeeds as an overwhelming, almost painterly evocation of ancient conquest." - Harold Penworthy, The Silver Screen Quarterly

Rated R for graphic bloody violence and sexual content/nudity