Production notes

Centurion was written originally by director Neil Marshall under the working title Ninth Legion. The Ninth Legion, according to one legend, marched into Scotland from York with over 3,000 men and disappeared. In recent years, historians have disputed the fate of the legion; some believe they were disbanded, while others believe they were massacred in Germania or in the East fighting the Persians during the early years of the second century. Marshall said of his take of the story, "It's not meant to be historically perfect. I'm picking up on a legend and exploring it... it's an action thriller." The tide of academic opinion seems to be returning to the view that the Legion was probably wiped out in Britain. In a recent book, Dr Miles Russell of Bournemouth University observes that there is strong evidence for a catastrophic British war resulting in the annihilation of the legion early in the reign of Hadrian. Filming began towards the end of February 2009. Filming locations included the Scottish locations Badenoch, Strathspey, and Glenfeshie Estate in the Cairngorms. Filming also took place at Ealing Studios in London and in Surrey locations, such as Alice Holt Forest and Hurtwood Forest in the Surrey Hills. Historical re-enactment groups were enlisted to play Britions and Roman soldiers in the practical filming at Badenoch and Strathspey. Filming was completed in March, after seven weeks. Production design was by Simon Bowles, with art direction by Jason Knox-Johnston. The sets were built by DRS Construction. The film was screened on 18 March 2010 at the South by Southwest Film Festival as the "Super Secret TBD" film. It was also the opening night premiere for the inaugural ActionFest film festival. The film was released on 30 July 2010 as video on demand on the Xbox Live Marketplace and Amazon.

On Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds an approval rating of 60% based on 113 reviews, and an average rating of 5.5/10. The website's critical consensus reads, "It's a bloody geyser of Neil Marshall's typically stylish B-movie action, but Centurion is too focused on hacking and slashing to deliver original dialogue or interesting characters." On Metacritic, the film has a weighted average score of 62 out of 100, based on 21 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews". The Birmingham Post gave the film two stars out of five saying "this hideously violent, formula one chase movie lacks the novelty of Mel Gibson's Apocalypto". Empire gave the film three stars out of five stating that the film "could have done with a lot more character-meat on those bones." Film4 gave the film two stars out of five stating "It's just a shame none of this stuff was thought through a little more carefully, because there's a talented cast here who have been hung out to dry." The Guardian gave the film two stars out of five stating that "this is exercise-bike cinema: energetic, relentless and tipping towards monotony".