Field Battles .. shows or movies

[ElGuapo]

Hi All,

Great game. I'm playing as Egypt right now. Long live the Pharoh!

One of the great joys that I think computer gaming brings is the depth of a good game. A game like this wants to make you read about the history of Rome and the peoples of the game. In that vein (kind of like the thread a bit further down), I was wondering if anyone had a comprehensive list of movies that have large scale field battles in them. That is, large battles where you can see field movements, formations, tactics, etc. There are a couple that come to mind, but I really know of NO others.

To be more clear, I'm not looking for movies about the tragedies, politics, etc of Rome, I'm looking for movies that show ancient world field battles, preferably with some tactics involved and what tactics it shows.

Here are mine so far:

1. Braveheart - Shows two large battles as well as a seige and other small scale fights. Calvary flanking and charging into archers, pikes against a calvary charge, boiling oil on a gate, shooting arrows into your own troops, using reinforcements from the side. The best example I can think of so far.

2. Troy - shows some really large battles, and cool effects, but mostly it's the epic warriors fighting each other. The beach landing is pretty good, as well as when the whole army is lined up in front of the gates, and the actual seige/conquering of Troy.

3. Spartacus - The end battle shows a bit of troop movement and some large scale fighting.

Any I am missing?

[Maltz]

You can watch Oliver Stone's "Alexander" in theater now. The time frame is actually the cloeset to RTW period - you can see how phalanx is executed on the battlefield and realize why these guys try so hard, and they are still so darn slow. In Alexander you can see 2 field battles, the first one involves a bit strategic planning before the battle delivered by Alexander the cheap-dye blonde.

[Kommodus]

To add a few more:

1. Gladiator - who could forget the big battle in the very beginning of the movie? Some good Roman tactics are shown here, although they are probably not quite accurate.

2. The Patriot - not exactly ancient battles, but they're not modern either. It's an American Revolution movie, and alludes to the American three-line defense tactic, but doesn't quite get it right.

3. Alexander - I haven't seen this one, so I don't know if the battle scenes are any good, but I know it has them.

4. Lord of the Rings - obviously fantasy battles, but cool nonetheless.

[Maltz]

LOTR, great mentioning.

At the end of "Two Towers", you see mass cavalry charged.. head-on into the spears and routed the orcs. Don't try that in RTW. You also see how powerful oliphauts can be. Har har har

[ElGuapo]

Yes, forgot about LOTR... good battles in all 3 movies, but especially the last 2.

Gladiator ... also good, but only that beginning battle. Nice chariot/tesudo scene in both the opening battle and the arena. And, we get to see a headhurler (ok, one headhurler).

Spartacus has a great scene where he is describing army movements on a strategic map... that an army is moving from the south, has landed in the east, and both are moving toward him. This basically forces him to move north and march against Rome. Great scene in his tent.

I really, really wanted Alexander to be good, but the reviews I have read so far said it sucks so much @ss that it's not worth the price of admission to see the battles. Though, they said Troy sucked too, and I thought it was pretty good.

[Fridge]

Again, not particularly ancient, and doesn't involve much strategic planning, but the battles in Henry V (the Brannagh version) do a good job of bringing the horror and mass confusion of a battle in that era to life.

He says, like he was there. But you know what I mean.

[mfberg]

There are quite a few movies from the 50's and 60's showing ancient warfare, but only a few are good. The only one I remember being okay was Spartacus, where the Romans draw up in the checkerboard formation.

mfberg

[soibean]

I really, really wanted Alexander to be good, but the reviews I have read so far said it sucks so much @ss that it's not worth the price of admission to see the battles. Though, they said Troy sucked too, and I thought it was pretty good.

I saw it and thought it sucked too. I had watched the history channel's presentation on Alexander so I knew every plot turn, and they missed a few if I remember correctly. I couldnt see much of the battles, one taking place in what seemed to be a dust storm that blocked out everything. Most of the movie seemed to focus on the fact that all greeks were bisexual in those days, this is shown again and again during the movie which whoever has seen it can confess to.

I was disappointed by this. The battles were awful (imho), they focused the entire movie upon everyone being bisexual, and left out huge parts of history by saying two sentences about it.

you could say I didnt like it because I knew what would happen, but I knew what would happen with troy and that movie was fantastic.

[sapi]

And why is he portrayed as being gay/bisexual?

Because he was. As were most of the immorals...