Chris has single-handidly done more for the marketing of The Last Duel than its entire advertising campaign

I worked on the sets for this film for 3 months in Ireland, we are all very proud of how it turned out, all practical hardly any green screen, it was a joy to work on.

One tiny detail that shows the way they handle nuance concerning the different POV's: In Le Gris' chapter, he makes it look like Marguerite intentionally took off her shoes before running up the stairs, like an invitation. But in Marguerite's chapter, we see how frantic and terrified she was, and the shoes coming off are just a part of that and clearly not some invitation.

I'm a movie buff and I came to know about this movie when Ridley Scott blamed young people for making this flop. I never knew it existed. Marketing has to be the biggest contributer in its bad performance at the Box-office.

Came out in between Dune, James Bond and Halloween kills. It was an uphill battle

The marketing was so bad for this film I didn’t even know it was in theaters until I saw this notification

that scene when the authorities were describing the horrific consequences that would happen to Jodie's character if Matt Damon's character were to die in the duel and you could see her physically trembling but still has to remain composed and mentally strong to defend her truth, was one of the best scenes in a movie i've witnessed to date. So much nuance and emotion and weight and you could feel all of it with her, that one scene alone should be enough to persuade people to go see this movie

In a perfect world Jodie Comer would get all the attention, recognition, and praises she deserves for her subtle, nuanced, poignant, utterly brilliant and beautiful performance in 'The Last Duel'. It's a crime how much she's been overlooked this award season.

The build up to the final fight was phenomenal. I was literally on the edge of my seat.

Honestly, this feels more like a marketing problem. These videos from Chris are literally the first times I've even heard this film mentioned. That's kind of wild considering the talent and resources involved.

The duel scene was one of the most gripping scenes I’ve ever watched. Pretty sad it probably never had a full theatre to watch that scene, it would have been electric

Just watched The Duel yesterday. Intense and disturbingly realistic. An excellent film. I was deeply impressed by how well it handled the subject matter.

Judging by the comments section, the Last Duel's marketing campaign must've literally been pushed only to me, because I saw just about every ad or trailer for this movie in the months leading up to it's release. The fact that seemingly barely anyone knew about it coming out, except for me, is truly a bizarre feeling.

From an historian's POV, this movie is a gem, because it shows the importance of perspective in sources and how hard it sometimes is to compare different accounts of the same events

Masterpiece, should never ever had bombed. The Duel sequence is totally amazing and the way of this story has been depicted is really something one should experience.

Class film. The dual at the end was weighty and gritty, the films was so good in my opinion. Took a while to get used to Damon and Affleck in this genre but overall they nailed it. Can't put my finger on it but something about this really drew me in to the story.

This’ll be on Netflix in a few years and everybody will say “hey, ya know that Matt Damon knight movie on Netflix? It’s pretty good”

One important reason why this film bombed that Chris didn't talk about is the fact that it came out at the same time with Dune, French Dispatch and Eternals. These are some very attractive titles that more people would likely prefer over The last duel, especially if it's their first time in cinema after a while and they have a limited budget. It also feels like The last duel is one if those films that people "will definitely watch when it comes out on streaming", while leaving the movie-going experience to more lighter- or blockbuster-type films

This movie was excellent in telling a story, and really hitting on human truths, social issues, and perception. It was a bit dry and boring, but the characters delivered were great. I think some part of me wishes the different perspectives were drastically different, but the subtly of differneces speaks more to our own human condition. And it was ARTFULLY done. To be honest on first viewing I thought I was watching the same set of events with no difference, but my wife noticed a huge amount of differences. This really emphasized that even we the viewer can even be clouded by our own perceptions on hearing or viewing it. When other dudes retell of how a woman was "all over them" and flirting. and then the woman was like " I was just being polite and trying to get away". It wasn't in your face different like Rashomon and I actually appreciated the subtly more upon 2nd viewing. Great review, Chris I don't think everyone can appreciate it for the art that it is, and hope more ppl will.

I like how they showed each persons perspective especially hers. The ending fight was pretty epic. With that said: it was a little boring until it reached her perspective and you realize there both jerks and women are treated poorly in those times.

People aren’t to blame for the Last Duel bombing…the producers are. Its marketing was utterly nonexistent. Everywhere I looked there was a Dune ad, or a the Foundation ad, heck I even saw See - Season 2 ads. But I’ve NEVER heard or seen anything about the Last Duel. It’s almost like the producers thought slapping big names on their project would bring them in the big bucks without effort.

I'm gonna agree with a lot of people here: I wouldn't have heard of this movie if it wasn't for KZfaq. Even now I didn't know it was out. Movies are just coming back now and the competition has been on top of their game when it comes to advertising. I haven't gotten a single ad for this, whereas Dune has been everywhere

This was really a directing masterpiece. I love Scott’s ability to humanize history in such a relatable way without being cutesy. Very grounded and believable. His attention to detail was amazing. The only thing that stuck out to me was the lack of accents from the main cast. Made their pronunciation of French words sound clunky at times, as if they were playing AT being French. The quality of the story and storytelling won out and I wasn’t taken out of the film. Loved the themes and messaging, which mirrors what I was enamored and inspired by in Robin Hood. Ridley Scott is now hands down my favorite director!

I made sure to buy a ticket to watch this in the theatres because I’ve always loved Ridley Scott’s movies. He may have some duds but his contribution to movies and his legacy will live long and be studied for generations to come. The Last Duel was a solid good old fashioned movie in the tradition of Rashomon, who’s aim was to tell an engaging story through great writing, acting and directing. Watched it a second time and it got even better because you could identify the shift in the actors body language when they went through different perspectives. Matt, Ben and Adam was brilliant in their roles but Jodie Corner was simply a revelation.

The movie was released a week before Dune, the most anticipated film of both 2020 and 2021, the week after Daniel Craig's final Bond movie, and the same day as the latest installment in the Halloween franchise. All of that and they still didn't market the film at all. I hope they weren't expecting this movie to just do well? Everybody was already talking about Dune and WB still knew it was necessary to put ads everywhere constantly. I didn't know The Last Duel was a thing until a few days before it released, because my dad follows everything any Star Wars cast member ever does. The truth is, even if it's the best film of the decade, this time popcorn munching philistines aren't responsible for the film's failure. If they want us to see a movie we need to, at the very least, know that the movie exists.

I genuinely didn’t know this film existed till like, yesterday. And I’m usually pretty on top of current releases. So, something had gone wrong

Just watched it last night, imo one of the best films I've seen. The first 15 or so minutes were a little hard to get into because it seemed to jump from one point to the next. As soon as the 2nd chapter started i was like ok that's why its that way. The whole build up to the duel was great and it made the fight really intense specially the jousting part. All in all amazing film!

Criminally underrated I feel this is one of those that’ll be truly appreciated 10-20 years down the line of youre a fan of the medieval setting and great dramas I can’t recommend enough

One of the best films of the year, and one of Ridley Scott's best films. It's a shame that the marketing for this film was so poor. It deserved so much more.

I miss movie epics. I remember in the late 90's into early 2000's there were so many. The Patriot, Gladiator, The Last Samurai, Kingdom of Heaven, Troy. They are among the best kinds of movies to go see in the theater. It's just a good time to see with friends. I wish more were made, honestly.

As many now have said, this is not only my favorite film this year, but one of my all time favorites. I pray for this film to be a Big Lebowski, Shawshank Redemption, Fight Club, Wizard of Oz, comeback!

This is one of the best cinematic experiences I have had the pleasure of viewing. I am so sad that it got such horrible advertising and therefore bombed at the box office. I literally had no idea this movie was even a thing until I saw a KZfaq ad of it the day before it premiered. As soon as I saw the Trailer I bought tickets for opening day to go see it with my family. This movie was absolutely thrilling and left me on the edge of my seat until the duel had finally ended. After watching it I was actually interested in the story and the history behind it and spent a few hours reading and learning more that the movie didn't show.

In addition to being released RIGHT beside Dune (a.k.a., one of the most anticipated adaptations) and No Time to Die (which was Craig's LAST performance), the marketing for Marvel's Eternals has been relentless. I'm not surprised that this film was buried under so much competition. With films slowly beginning to regain confidence in theatrical releases, resulting in delayed films finally being released, there is a lot more competition for attention and marketing is more crucial than ever. The Last Duel's marketing felt extremely weak and underwhelming, especially compared to films like Dune.

It’s sad that these types of movies aren’t making money anymore. I didn’t even love the Last Duel, but I would rather Hollywood make more movies like this and a little less superhero films.

Edge of my seat Immersive and riveting An incredible piece of historical context Cinematic history and I think this will become a cult classic I do appreciate movies like this it was unfortunate to see this get pulled from theaters so quickly I didn’t have a chance to go see it. Watched in on HBO Max and what an exciting and dramatic movie highly recommend for anyone out there.

Kind Sir, THANKS for that monologue towards the end of this review, it was much needed. Reviewers like you are rare, who not only review just the movie, but also provide perspective for the reasons why the internet & the Media perceives a movie, a certain way. MUCH thanks.

The marketing was terrible. I didn’t hear about this movie until about a month before. With Driver and Damon, they should have been pushing this film for months prior

This sounds like a big fail on the marketing side. I'll be honest, Chris...the marketing just felt like 2 men fighting over a woman. Love triangle epic. Stuff we've seen done (badly) dozens of times in the past. I can tell you that I had ZERO interest in seeing this film until you explained the premise...now I'm incredibly interested. Also you are spot on with the reason why it bombed...the target demographic skewed older. Matt, Ben, and Ridley aren't nearly as popular with the crowds really driving the box office. It's the same reason why James Bond didn't do as well as they were tracking. These are films for late Millennials and Gen-X...they just aren't the same stuff younger folks are really into (yet). Thanks for clarifying what the marketing department could not.

The film is a masterpiece that's all a person that appreciates good filming can say.👍👍👍 Kudos to all worked hard for this film.👏👏👏

I heard from that movie shortly before it was released. I'm glad I saw it in theatres. I can understand your fears. So many people like to say: "Oh, I want to see something different and not only sequels and superhero movies." Then, they don't watch those films that are different. Me, I love superhero movies. And other movies. I love that there is some variety. I try to support the films I like.

I didn’t see a single trailer or poster in my local theater or even online marketing . I only knew and saw this film due to my dad telling me about it a couple days after its release. I even heard that theater employees would take breaks while “cleaning”, since almost no one came to a showing. Truly sad due to how well made and well casted/directed the film is.

The marketing was almost non existent. I found out about this movie literally 3 days before it came out. And the trailer I saw looked a bit "meh". Having seen it, I thought it was excellent. I liked the story, I liked the unusual structure, I liked the performances (Jodie Comer was fantastic). The only thing I didn't like was those stupid half-helmets in the opening scene ;-) Some of your comments are quite spoiler-y, but since nobody will go see the movie anyway... ;-)

It reminds me of the movie “the king”. Period pieces that look at the medieval era with modern rationality. This movie really had the courage stylise the period which is difficult to do, whereas “The king” wanted to mock its customs which is easier to do imo. Both succeed respectively, but this movie will be wayyyy more timeless because of its achievements in stylising the era for modern audiences.

Dude I lost it when he goes “it’s a big fucking mullet” hahaha

People get mad when they hear that a live-action movie or a remake of an existing movie is being made, yet at the same time complain that Hollywood isn’t pumping out original movies anymore. Like this one. And then don’t go see them. 🙄

One of the things I think The Last Duel has had going against it is the tone and subject matter of the film. Most people have spent the better part of the last two years unable to go to the cinema for a dark and depressing reason. So when they finally have the opportunity to go, they'd prefer that it be a fun time, which The Last Duel will most certainly not give them. It's a dark and depressing film, much like the real world these last two years, and that's the last thing a lot of people want at the moment.

Printing it on VOD now! Merry Christmas everybody 🎄. BTW I live for these type of movies 💕

Watched it, 10/10. Amazing fight scenes, great acting, no lousy camera angles or shaky camera action. This story felt to me like one of those hard westerns where basically everything the main guy does or goes through is just grueling, makes very little to no progress and it is just a struggle from start to end

It’s another movie’s reputation tarnished by marketing. Nobody batted an eye at No Time to Die until the marketing started stirring up controversy. They need to understand that using controversy in your marketing doesn’t always work. I mean even the freaking Bond movie had an average opening weekend, before bouncing back a bit in its second weekend, most likely due to the fact that everyone’s fears about the movie had been settled and many half interested parties went out to view it. It’s really sad every movie has to be politicized or have some controversy stuck to it nowadays.

I didn't see this because: 1. I had never even heard of it before the trailer came on (before either Bond or Dune, I forget) 2. The trailer made it look frankly boring - a love triangle drama with some occasional fighting to spice things up - and the way it was cut together I got a strong vibe of "we put every action beat into the trailer to make it look more exciting than it really is", something I'm sure everyone's been caught by. This shit is exactly why I don't watch trailers unless I'm in a cinema and I can't avoid them. 3. Now that I watch this and discover that it sounds like a really good film in reality, I find it disappeared from the only cinema in town within a week, and I don't get to go out to the cinema more than once a week in practice. Chris, I feel like you could really help mitigate this sort of problem by including a segment in your videos after the review or discussion about what's coming out soon that you're interested in seeing, and why you're into it.

This was the greatest movie of 2021. Awesome acting and performance.

"The last duel" is a beautiful and deep movie, it's intelligent and the characters are amazing. It deserves much more audience.

"the movie should not have bombed" - every John Carpenter fan knows this

For me, Ben Affleck was the standout in the film. Which I totally wasn't expecting, but he was hilarious in the role he played.

I think this is one of Ridley Scott's best films in a while. I'm glad that he trusted the strength of a pretty sophisticated script.

So there I was last night in my hospital room watching this film on FX. I was blown away by such a story. It built up to the duel at the end wonderfully and I was in tears by the end credits. Ridley Scott's best work since Alien and his most underrated by far.

This film should definitely be nominated for several oscars. It was superb, and the opening scene was one the best opening scenes I've seen in the cinema for a long time. The final duel was amazing

People are saying there's been no marketing, I'm guessing that's in America because it's been promoted more in the UK. I went to a near packed screening when it opened and absolutely loved it. Gonna see it again along with Dune this weekend

Thank you for leaving this review! I just watched the film and loved it. The nuance shift between POVs was amazing. I gave it a 9/10 on imdb and couldn't believe this film wasn't top contender for Golden Globes or all things oscar related. You are the only big reviewer that reviewed this film. Send other reviewers a nudge, it's out on stream.

Hey thanks for recognizing this film! This was a pleasant surprise for me and I think it is masterfully made!

Gladiator, Kingdom of Heaven (DC) and now The Last Duel. We need more.

Just watched it and really enjoyed it! The different character's perspective made the story way more nuanced as you peel the layers.

Ridley Scott was the perfect choice for this. In his film, Marguerite is clearly the wronged party-wronged not just by Gris, but her husband, his mother, the whole insane edifice of misogyny, which Scott expertly deconstructs.

Your review is very insightful, one of the fairest I have seen of any film. I saw The Last Duel at the cinema, recommended it to a friend and I went to see it a second time but it was gone. Let's hope nothing is lost when viewed on a Bluray

Same thing I thought about Blade Runner 2049. I absolutely loved the movie, felt transported into the world and didn't feel the time passing. I however am in the minority of moviegoers nowadays. I was really worried that Dune would have flopped but thankfully it didn't. People aren't interested in time dramas unless it's a Viking story aka more action, faster pacing

I never watch trailers before I see a movie. I just look up Directors and Actors/Actresses I like on IMDB and see when their next movie is coming out. I go into all movies almost blind and it's amazing. I watch trailers of a movie afterwards and it blows my mind how different of an experience it would have been if I saw the trailer before hand. All I knew of the Last Duel was that it was a medieval movie directed by Ridley Scott and had some notable people in it. Didn't know the story, plot or premise. It made the movie watching experience all the more better. I recommend going into movies blind. Such much more of a treat and enjoying experience.

Brilliant. I miss these movies. Movies that leave you dwelling on it for days. Not sure if the masses can even get the point of these instant classics. Gone are the movies with story, heart, action, huge set pieces.. Great review Chris.

Watching this 2 months later after this film is getting a second life through streaming. So glad this amazing movie is getting more attention!

the way media is critiquing subject matter before even delving into its content reminds me of how media always painted music genres such as rap

It’s was wedged in between Bond and Dune. Not a smart release time.

Chris I wanna say thank you for making a video about this movie. I didn’t see any marketing for it but I was interested by your thumbnail and held myself from spoilers. Tonight I finally got around to it tonight by buying it on Blu-ray and it was great! Extremely disturbing but I was very impressed by how the team handled the subject matter. Unfortunately I didn’t get to see it in theaters but I’m glad to own it and will be telling my friends and family about it. It’s amazing that a film with this strong of a message didn’t get picked up by media. I share the same concerns as you and can only hope that audiences open their eyes and give more films like these a chance because they are desperately needed in the industry! Thanks for all that you do!

Just watched this film after watching this review. Loved it. Keep up the good work, Chris. I watched on Amazon. As much as I would love to go to the theater, health issues keep me home. But, I do appreciate what you're trying to say.

Well, I've seen The Last Duel 3 times, about to be 4 times tomorrow. Every time I watch it, I see little things that I missed especially in each POV's. It is outstanding!!

I was blown away by this one and really hope that Jodie Comer or Adam Driver will get an Oscar campaign, but who knows at this point? I guess Jessica Chastain is dealing with the same issues after The Eyes of Tammy Faye flopping. Thanks for covering this -- you're doing more for this film than anyone else.

Great story, great directing, great acting and great editing. A true masterpiece

Thank you for a very well considered review of the subject matter of this film. Nicely done.

I feel like Ridley will definitely make a lot of money back on House of Gucci with all the advertising I’ve seen on that, Lady Gaga’s fanbase and the fact it seems to be coming out in a less competitive time. However, this one seemed like it’d at least make more than $10 million so who knows

Stopped this video a couple minutes in, and caught the afternoon show… wow, amazing film. The last battle had me literally on the edge of my seat - because it earned those stakes

question. @chris stuckmann. how do you think the pr was done? I gotta atmid I didnt see much from this movie. maybe 1 trailer and I dont even remember it that much. Maybe its just my country. what are you guys thoughts?

Love the T-shirt Chris . Where did you get it from?

I think the marketing should have keyed on the different perspectives thing, that might have clicked with a lot of people. Hindsight is 20/20 though.

We saw this in theatre when it came out. It's maybe my favorite movie I saw this year (definitely in the top, if not.) I think there was only one or two other couples in the theatre with us and we saw it on a Saturday. Super sad that more people didn't go - it's a long movie but I wasn't bored for a single second of it. Acting was incredible, story was incredible.

Saw it yesterday, after preordering the bluray from amazon. This is one of the best films of the year and could probably be even one of the best films from Ridley Scott. Damon and Affleck have written another amazing script and the movie just gets you from the very first scene up to the very end. What a masterpiece. I feel so bad for not going to the cinema for this, but honestly, I didn´t even knew that it was running. This one deserves the oscar for best film of the year for sure.

I really enjoyed this one, Matt Damon fucking killed it with this performance.

Just back from seeing The last Duel and I can honestly say its one Ridley Scott's best films. The story and storytelling format were excellent. The actors all played there parts masterfully. So well that my mind is still sifting through the finer moments of each characters motivation.. As you have said more films need to be made this way and in these periods..

Another thing about the subject matter, in addition to the 'controversy' is that it is a really heavy, dreary topic. Everyone's mood has been sunk by feeling of anguish and despair for the past two years, very few of us want to go back and be reminded of the worst of humanity in film. I'm still going to watch it, but I'll be preparing myself for a hit to the stomach.

I had wanted to see this movie badly when I first saw the previews and let one person tell me it was bad discourage me from seeing it, finally saw it today and wow am I sad I didn’t see this on the big screen, what an amazing film

Chris- you articulate our feeling about a movie soo well, really appreciate you man. This was an amazing film very gripping!

Legit had no idea what I was walking into, just wanted to see a movie and bought the the ticket out of wanting to see any movie in a theater. Goddamn was that one of the best decisions of my last month. Such a great film.

I work at a Cinemark theater, and one of the biggest problems The Last Duel faced was the lack of showtimes for this. They only played it three times a day in a single auditorium, one of which was a very late 10:30 PM showing. Opening day for the film, the last showing sold 0 tickets.

I watched this movie and i will say with no reservation ITS THE BEST MOVIE FOR 2021 None of the Woke nonsense, great visuals, great storyline, excellent acting Lady Margaret character deserves an Oscar This movie is EPIC...i am certain i will watch it again every year at least twice

Another reason for the film flopping is simple: Covid-19. I still haven't been to the cinema since Sonic the Hedgehog. A lot of my friends and family have admitted that like me they just don't feel ready to go back to a screen filled to the brim with strangers having to mask up. It is a strange feeling.

By the end of the film I was incredibly disheartened by the fact my fiance and I were the only two people in the theater. Granted it was on a Sunday night while theaters still aren't exactly making bank due to covid, but still. This was an incredible film.

My wife and I saw this, and we both thought it was great. Also the duel at the end was Absolutely Amazing. It was probably the best fight scene I've seen in a long time.

This movie was amazing. Like you said this is the type of film that many people miss because it's such high quality and an intense story, not to mention characters. I think showing the characters in different lights was partly done so that no one seems all bad or all good, it's not black and white simple story telling.

I just watched this movie and it immediately propelled to my personal top 3 Ridley Scott movie's. Really having a hard time deciding the number 1 spot between this film, The Martian and Gladiator. Wonderfull performances, visuals and story. Indeed unsettling, the consequences of this duel and the role men and women have in that time period and how much of it still reflects on today's standards. I imagine Scott, Damon and Affleck having a hard time deciding whether they could depict certain aspects of the film in the way that they did. And they also suffered, unrightfully, for it. Great point made Chris and I agree with everything you say. Scott is absolutely right that younger generations spend to much time on their phones, and thus absorbing false facts and colored opinions.

With lockdowns ending here in Australia and cinemas opening this week, my friend and I were shocked to see we were the only ones to see such a big movie. Loved the perspectives from all sides of the story whilst still leaving a hint and doubt who is actually right at the end. Great movie!

SPOILERS Wow. Those articles… just wow. I haven’t watched a single review of this movie beforehand, nor did I pursue any advertising. So I went into this movie pretty much blind, with no news of these censures to be mindful of while I watched it. And even I knew (or at least I got the impression) that by the end of the film you weren’t supposed to be on the side of either Jean nor Jacques. One was a violent, ego-centered boor too caught up in his own insecurities and petulant tantrums (who, by the way, was also quite bad to Marguerite in the bedroom). The other was a rapist too caught up in his own delusions to see the horror he had wrought on another living person. Both of them caused harm to Marguerite, and neither ever truly cared for her. I only desired Jean’s victory because the alternative was Marguerite’s torturous execution. I thought this was illustrated time and time again, and even ended making it clear at the end. After the duel, Jean momentarily hugs Marguerite, only to turn around, show her off like a dog that’s just performed a new trick, then get on his horse and ride through the town, never looking back at her, only at the adoring crowds, so he can shake their hands, wave, and bask in their glory. The music swells triumphantly as he shows this is once again all about his honor, his fame, and his glory. But then the music is cut to near-silence as we shift to Marguerite’s face, and it’s… sad. Maybe relieved at her evading death, but it still doesn’t undo the trauma done to her (exponentially worsened by those around her, particularly her so-called “savior”). I know film is subjective to a significant degree, but there are some interpretations that say more about the good faith of the reviewer than the subject of review.

Just watched this amazingly done film. It's such a treat for the eyes. the last sequence was a bit like vertigo and thrilling to experience. Who knows how long it will be before we see something like this again.

The best film so Far, so powerful, excellent photograph , unique a master piece