Most Historically Accurate Films/Documentaries/Video

**Apázlinemjó** · 07-01-2010, 12:37

Originally Posted by athanaric

Yes: why the hell couldn't they just make a straight Viking movie?

I find even the trailer good too compared to other "historical wannabe" movies' trailers.

**runes** · 07-02-2010, 01:31

ah man, i love the 300 hate.

it's like.. MAN ANYBODY SEEN THAT MOVIE WILD WILD WEST... WTF?? BLACK COWBOYS?? MECHA SPIDER MACHINES?!?!? WTF COME ON GUYSSSS THAT'S TOTALLY NOT RITE

**Ibrahim** · 07-02-2010, 01:53

Originally Posted by runes

ah man, i love the 300 hate.

it's like.. MAN ANYBODY SEEN THAT MOVIE WILD WILD WEST... WTF?? BLACK COWBOYS?? MECHA SPIDER MACHINES?!?!? WTF COME ON GUYSSSS THAT'S TOTALLY NOT RITE

ok....

well, black cowboys were real

(no, srsly, some did exist). and this movie, unlike 300, makes no real attempt at even rewriting history from the "perspective of one side". its just a western action sci fi thingy in the format of Jonah Hex...only IMO, WWW sucked, and Jonah Hex didn't (I refer to the comic, not the movie, which I have yet to see).

let's face it, comedy doesn't work with everything.

And honestly, 300 might have been awful (no denying that), but at least its not cinematic horror show known as "the spirit"

this one is based on a will Eisner comic, of the same name, only its been ****** on by Frank Miller (who not only wrote 300, but also directed this abomination). I heard Miller and the late Eisner were supposedly friends, but as Linkara and Filmbrain put it, after seeing this movie, I wonder if he actually hated Eisner.

I think this incident, along with others*, may be the ulterior motive behind the Miller-bashing; Miller, let's face it, is what in Arabic is known as a hamajiyy (barbarian or savage are rough translations); proud, deluded, and with certain...lady issues. the last one is particularly apparent in "the spirit"

*like: all star batman and robin, Dark Knight (the comic), Sin City, 300, etc, etc, etc.

**runes** · 07-02-2010, 02:07

300 was great, dunno what you're talking about.
so was apoclypto, which was really just a chase movie, set in a nondescript "prehistoric south american" context. the coming of the spaniards wasn't racist. i thought it was pretty clear the irony of them arriving. it had nothing to do with them coming to "tame and civilize" them. it seemed pretty obvious that it was meant to foreshadow and mirror the brutality seen in the movie.

like.. oh snap you thought that was bad... here comes cortez

not really anything about "making them into proper white people"
...they're gonna behead and murder and pillage this civilization, just as the 'mayans' did to the hero's family.

**Ibrahim** · 07-02-2010, 04:55

Originally Posted by runes

300 was great, dunno what you're talking about.

I respect your opinion, but, well, to me its terrible, whether or not its accurate historically. to me, on its own, it simply has no appeal. I don't think there is anything cool about a fool kicking a man down a well after hollering "this is SPARTA", or over muscled men fighting a la gaesatae. the dialogue is abrasive, and strikes me more as a bunch as gangsters screaming at each other. in fact, you can render the whole movie in underground language, and it would make about as much sense.

the lighting is terrible too; too special-effecty (is that even a word?), and I don't like the sepia toning of the skies and rock, and well...everything. and I don't appreciate the ridiculous, over the top appearance of some: I know this is a fantasy-toned movie, but a few thousand earrings on a person =/= creepy or evil. it just means the person looks like an idiot. the over use of oblique shooting and slow motion also kinda stunts the movie, and makes it look like some sort of violent warrior version of a male model exhibition. I want to see Spartans fighting Persians, not some models showing off their biceps to the camera as they spear some random fella in the stomach. actually, the over showing of muscles kinda reminds me of the ultimate warrior (a wrestler).

then there is the farcical spraying of blood, that makes the movie look like the mass-murdering of a bunch of mortal combat characters; one of the character's death recounts to me a fatality move some characters do; essentially ripping/slashing the arms off before decapitating(its been a while, so I'm not accurate).

overall, the movie shows many of the problems of adapting comics-particularly the dark, Milleresque comics, onto the blue screen. it might look right on a page of a cheap comic, but looks like a cheap video when rendered on the silver-screen.

as to apocalypto? I never saw the movie, and accordingly said little/nothing about it. unless you're referring to some other person's posts-I only focused on deadliest warrior and 300.

**Badass Buddha** · 07-02-2010, 05:10

Originally Posted by Ibrahim

I don't like the sepia toning of the skies and rock, and well...everything.

The filmmakers just misunderstood the meaning of Bronze Age.

**runes** · 07-15-2010, 09:43

Originally Posted by Ibrahim

I respect your opinion, but, well, to me its terrible, whether or not its accurate historically. to me, on its own, it simply has no appeal. I don't think there is anything cool about a fool kicking a man down a well after hollering "this is SPARTA", or over muscled men fighting a la gaesatae. the dialogue is abrasive, and strikes me more as a bunch as gangsters screaming at each other. in fact, you can render the whole movie in underground language, and it would make about as much sense.

the lighting is terrible too; too special-effecty (is that even a word?), and I don't like the sepia toning of the skies and rock, and well...everything. and I don't appreciate the ridiculous, over the top appearance of some: I know this is a fantasy-toned movie, but a few thousand earrings on a person =/= creepy or evil. it just means the person looks like an idiot. the over use of oblique shooting and slow motion also kinda stunts the movie, and makes it look like some sort of violent warrior version of a male model exhibition. I want to see Spartans fighting Persians, not some models showing off their biceps to the camera as they spear some random fella in the stomach. actually, the over showing of muscles kinda reminds me of the ultimate warrior (a wrestler).

then there is the farcical spraying of blood, that makes the movie look like the mass-murdering of a bunch of mortal combat characters; one of the character's death recounts to me a fatality move some characters do; essentially ripping/slashing the arms off before decapitating(its been a while, so I'm not accurate).

overall, the movie shows many of the problems of adapting comics-particularly the dark, Milleresque comics, onto the blue screen. it might look right on a page of a cheap comic, but looks like a cheap video when rendered on the silver-screen.

as to apocalypto? I never saw the movie, and accordingly said little/nothing about it. unless you're referring to some other person's posts-I only focused on deadliest warrior and 300.

that is all.

**Smellycat** · 07-26-2010, 11:25

Originally Posted by runes

that is all.

Yepp 300 was VERY faithful/accurate to it's source: the comic.

**Meneldil** · 07-02-2010, 20:05

Originally Posted by runes

ah man, i love the 300 hate.

it's like.. MAN ANYBODY SEEN THAT MOVIE WILD WILD WEST... WTF?? BLACK COWBOYS?? MECHA SPIDER MACHINES?!?!? WTF COME ON GUYSSSS THAT'S TOTALLY NOT RITE

Agreed. That's retard. 300 is an action movie to be taken as seriously as Lord of the Rings or The 13th Warrior. People who try to find a political meaning into everything so they can pretend to be intellectuals just make me laugh.
'Onoes, there's a swatiska in Sin City, Miller must be a nazi'
'Onoes, the Spanish invade South America (like they did for real) at the end of the movie. The film is a colonialist hogwash'.

Please, it reminds me of this. Same attitude.

**Lucius Verus** · 07-14-2010, 15:16

I think Troy and Spartacus (2004)

**Hax** · 07-14-2010, 19:45

Troy was ludicrous hogwash.

**antisocialmunky** · 07-14-2010, 23:30

Originally Posted by Hax

Troy was ludicrous hogwash.

I knew a guy in college who thought Troy was the best thing since sliced goat cheese. He didn't believe me when I told him the movie was crap - that was just the type of person he was. However, he took Classical Mythology and had to read the Illiad. He sang a different tune after that and we watched the movie to heckle it later that week.

@ On Topicness

Yes, please post good stuff, not Deadliest Warrior. I'll check out the viking movie.

**Ichon** · 07-15-2010, 07:07

Enough about 300... not sure how much was mentioned but to me the only halfway close to accurate historical movies have been movies about naval warfare. Probably because making it historical it is still easy to portray it as interesting.

For laughs... Last Samurai- ignoring Tom Cruise character the rest wasn't half bad though a bit mixed up in time period it was closer than most Hollywood stuff.

More historical- Gettysburg, Lebanon (new movie, filmed from Israeli tank crew PoV, political overtones but from a battlefield perspective pretty accurate).

Some German movie I wish I could remember the name of... about WW1 not sure if it was ever translated. watched it in Germany as exchange student.

Unfortunately never seen a good EB era movie from anywhere. HBO's Rome as good or better than any other but still pretty lacking.