Blu-Ray Review: Ironclad: Battle For Blood

By Brad Henderson

Viking and medieval indie films have it worse than horror and drama these days. These films are harder to make than sci-fi flicks. Between sets, set dressings, and costumes, your budget could skyrocket in no time at all. The sad part is that most of these films are kind of boring. Every once in a while there will be something worthwhile but not enough to make us want more films like this. Back in 2011 Jonathan English did a film called Ironclad that was pretty good. The cast and special effects were good along with the costumes and sets. The film was also moderately successful and did well on the video market. Now the director is back with a sequel and it seems like Ironclad: Battle For Blood might have used a quarter of the budget of the first one.

Ironclad: Battle For Blood picks up where the first one left off. Yet this film lacks the charm and energy of its predecessor. Since Ironclad was successful for the director he probably already had the continuation in mind but I’m sure it didn’t do as well as they hoped. So, we are left with this subpar sequel that gets old very quickly and leaves us very unsatisfied.

I truly loved the first Ironclad and was excited to see what Jonathan English had in store for us. I figured he was going to pull some Neil Marshall shit like Centurion but instead the movie fell flat. If this was a passion project I’m glad he did it because he probably had the second film in mind while writing and filming the first one.

Sadly, Ironclad: Battle For Blood wasn’t for me and I’m sure it will have a tough time finding its audience. Hell, hardly anyone knows the first one existed and if they did, they probably wouldn’t think this would be a direct sequel. Way too many times we are presented with a “sequel” to direct-to-video films that have no correlation with their predecessors and that throws everyone for a loop.

If you really dug the first Ironclad you may be pleasantly surprised. If you really dig indie medieval flicks then this might be right up your alley. If you are wanting a kickass action flick then I recommend watching The Raid because you won’t get that here. You are simply going to get a subpar sequel to a film that hardly anyone remembers that lacks everything the original had right. I’m still on Jonathan English’s side but I can’t get behind this film. Sorry.

Ironclad: Battle For Blood was released on Blu-Ray on August 5 by XLrator Media.