7/10
This straightforward movie is paced reasonably well and turns out to be a long roller-coaster pursuit
2 November 2014
Good film with stunning fights scenes and chases illuminate the full-blown feats with a plethora of engaging set pieces on the combats in which the action runs here and there . June 6 , 1808 . The invincible Napoleonic Army , ¨Grand Armee¨ rules over whole Europe , it has a main aim to destroy the gun-power supplies of the Spanish Army , but then about 25 kilometres its objective takes places a first defeat at the hands of a single man . As the victorious person turns out to be a drummer boy who used the Montserrat holy mountains to echo his drums and send the enemy troops into a panicked retreat and then taking place a crushing defeat . As the Grand Armee suffers the bitter taste of defeat on the Mountains of Montserrat . An important defeat that threw every nations submitted by Napoleonic Empire to battle for their freedom . When the news publicize ¨Le Diablo Du Bruc¨ , it reaches Napoleon , he furiously orders the Major Officer Marval (Vincent Perez) to bring back the head of the young hero responsible for his army's defeat . The captain gathers together a military squadron of his best and most deadly men (Santi Millán , Nicolas Giraud , Moussa Maaskri) and so starts the hunt to death of the soldier who was to become a legend . Later on , the avenger band takes the starring's girlfriend (Astrid Berger Frisbey) as a hostage and developing a merciless chase .

Bloody and violently version based on historical events with overwhelming battles and nice production values , being well starred by Juan Jose Ballesta as the partially-fictional soldier/countryman , and Vincent Perez as brutal leader of a motley crew of tough , battle-hardened warriors/underdogs who try to take him . The movie has great action sequences well staged with stylish and vitality , thrills , a little bit of romance and is pretty entertaining . Several action scenes are outstanding with spectacular battle images and thrilling fights . Unfortunately, on small house screens much of the splendor will be lost . As the movie makes a big deal out of the supposedly deathly rivalry between French and Spanish people during called ¨Independence War ¨ . The two leading men are magnificent in the hostile environment which the flick is set in . There are still fine scenes to see as Juan Jose Ballesta leaping from a cliff and several sparkling duels such as the final take on between the captain of the Imperial Guard and the young countryman . It also results to be surprisingly gory , including head-slitting , along with a handful of violent and breathtaking action scenes . It's a thunder stuff with a strong star cast such as Juan Jose Ballesta and Vincent Perez . They spend most of it running through the forests , hills , mountains , being tracked , chased and escaped . And a beautiful Astrid Berges-Frisbey as protagonist's sweetheart , Astrid is a young actress with great future , as she has starred Pirates of the Caribbean : On Stranger Tides and filming Knights of the Roundtable: King Arthur by Guy Ritchie . The actors supporting the lead roles are frankly excellent , such as Santi Millán , Nicolas Giraud , Moussa Maaskri and Jérôme Le Banner . Riveting cinematography by Juan Miguel Azpiroz , reflecting wonderfully the rocky landscapes in the ultimate unfriendly environment , being shot on location in Cerdanyola,Castellterçol ,Marganell,Collbató ,Barcelona,Aiguamúrcia, , Arnes, Tarragona, and, of course , in El Bruc and Montserrat , Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain . Suspenseful and appropriate musical score by Xavier Capellas . A must see for every enthusiast of a decent action/history movie . If you are a fan of this exciting genre , you'll want to watch this one.

Other films dealing with these historical events are the followings : El Tambor del Bruch (1948) by Ingacio F Iquino with Ana Mariscal , José Nieto , Juan de Landa , Rafael Luis Calvo , Fernando Sancho and La Leyenda del Tambor (1981) by Jorge Grau with Andrés García , Mercedes Sampietro , Jorge Sanz , Alfredo Mayo , Iñaki Aierra , Raúl Fraire , Vicente Parra
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