Ancient warfare movies

[Celtic_Punk]

Which was your favourite?
What was your most hated?

excessive 300 bashing will not be tolerated... seriously, you guys bash it so much that you forget it was not meant to be historically accurate. It was based off the comic, which took the story of Thermoplyae with poetic license. seriously read the comic, most of you would like it.

I'll start- My favourite would be Gladiator, The acting was absolutely superb, and the way mixed the historical characters with their own spin was done very well. You get very attached to Maximus, and really begin to LOATHE Commodus(this movie is probably the reason for Commodus being my number 1 hated emperor), something only superb acting can do with a baddy. Joaquin did an exeptional job. My only qualm was that they didn't have enough fights in the arena, I would have liked to have seen much more. The extended version is the best viewing of the movie, the added bits add so much depth to the story, it is really like watching a Shakespearean play (I do believe they should adapt the movie to a play, it would be quite good)


My most hated would have to be hmmm, Troy... or Aurthur. Probably Aurthur. I got to when Ajax got killed in Troy (which is total bullshit and a slander to his name) which is alot further than I got through Aurthur... I mean cmon circa 14AD legionaires in Britain? And aparently Britain's most favourite superhero(of sorts) is actually Sarmatian?! Plus all the crappy camera angles, and the arrow shots flying all over the place you never could why someone fell off their horse... you just assumed they were wounded from the arrow you just followed to nowhere... The cinematography gave me a massive headache... I couldn't reach for the aspirin in time.

Then again in Troy you get Ajax being slain in battle (he took his own life after slaughtering a herd of sheep) and Aegmenmon being killed by the queen of Troy? I am very surprised that they bothered to actually have Achilles be killed by an arrowshot to the heel! They might aswell have had him conquer Troy singlehandedly armed only with a sling. That wouldn't have butchered the Odyssey anymore than they already did. I wouldn't have THAT big a problem with it if they went about it like Gladiator, and didn't go for historical accuracy, but amazing acting, and superb story. But when fail to achieve either, you just make a terrible movie. The action wasn't even that good.

I expect better from Wolfgang Petersen.. THE MAN WHO DIRECTED THE AMAZING FLICK, DAS BOOT!
Homer, Achilles, Ajax, and Agemenmon are rolling in their respective graves. Thank you Brad Pitt and company, for taking a gigantic shit on ancient history!

Your takes?

[abou]

Actually, I think Miller is a pretty terrible writer and perhaps clinically insane, but that is a whole other thread.

That being said, I don't know if there is an historical warfare movie that I like - in that I keep going back to over and over again. Kind of depressing, really.

[Aper]

Actually, I think Miller is a pretty terrible writer and perhaps clinically insane, but that is a whole other thread.

That being said, I don't know if there is an historical warfare movie that I like.

I totally agree.

However, 300 and the gladiator are great fun

[Celtic_Punk]

thats what ive been saying. 300 was meant to be fun, not historically accurate... Troy was supposed to be a tribute to Homer's work. and we know how that turned out. Did anyone like Spartacus? I've never gotten around to watching it... I've heard it was one of the greats. Same with Henry V... "We few, we happy few, we band of brothers! For he today that sheds his blood with me shall forever be my brother! Be he ne'er so vile!" Kenneth Branagh is my freakin hero! lol he not only made a good king... He made an amazing Iago in Othello! such a convincing sociopath... I wonder if that's really a good thing... hmmm

[desert]

[Celtic_Punk]

never ever ever speak of 10 000 BC again. ever

[Maion Maroneios]

I won't make any critics on movies, but I feel the need to add something about the Troy movie. Not only did Ajax not die (he jumped on his own blade after slaying sheep he mistook, with a little help of Athena, for Trojans), but Menelaos the king of Sparta also didn't. Apart from that, Achilles originaly died before Troy was captured and not during that night.

Maion

[Dutchhoplite]

King Arthur was awfull. By the way, he wasn't Sarmatian but his knights were ;)

When I still was a small Dutchhoplite i thought "Fall of the Roman empire" was very impressive. I still think it's an excellent movie! Commodus was a much better character than that boring Livius ;)

[oudysseos]

Probably a minority opinion, but I liked Kingdom of Heaven. I agree that Arthur and Troy were serious let downs, and 300 just silly, tho good fun in its way. I wish someone would make Kataphract Rhinos for RTW.

I thought that the battles in Spartacus and Cleopatra were good, and although I wasn't a big fan of Alexander, some of the smaller touches were cool (the pezzies shaking their sarissas to make a weird noise). The battle scenes in Rome from TV were good, better than Gladiator IMHO, which though not terrible was seriously over-rated.

[Celtic_Punk]

I won't make any critics on movies, but I feel the need to add something about the Troy movie. Not only did Ajax not die (he jumped on his own blade after slaying sheep he mistook, with a little help of Athena, for Trojans), but Menelaos the king of Sparta also didn't. Apart from that, Achilles originaly died before Troy was captured and not during that night.

Maion

total slander to Ajax's fighting prowess... Didn't they make him wield a battle hammer or something equally stupid and inaccurate?
like I said, Homer is rolling! Sometimes I wish that people who make movies has as much zeal about the subject matter as I do.

[desert]

The historical movie I hate most is The Last Legion. I mean, c'mon:

The prophecy of Julius Caesar?
Romulus Augustus is the father of King Arthur, aka. Arthur Pendragon??
Indians in Britannia?

Yeesh.

[Celtic_Punk]

makes you want to take a hammer to your head doesn't it?

[hoom]

Greatest Ancient war movie = Life of Brian.

[Recoil]

I agree that 300 gets flamed too much. Like it's been said, it was made not for historical accuracy but to tell the story of Thermopylae but to make it seem glorious, most likely how Greeks of the time recited it.

As for kingodm of heaven i think it was a great movie. Personally Orlando Bloom was completely miscast as he's not really believable, to me at least, as the defender of Jerusalem. Seems too much like a pretty-boy.