Depictions of Classical Period Battles in Film

[stupac]

I love movies, but I find very few films that give me satisfying battle scenes, and I can't think of one that takes place in the classical period. Seems to me we should be seeing more of them with the advent of advanced computer generation being wasted on fantasy films like Lord of the Rings and The Chronicles of Narnia instead of on centerpieces of human history. Just wondering what are the best movie depictions of classical battles in your opinions? And are there any promising upcoming films?

[Centurion Crastinus]

The battle in Sparticus is pretty good.

[Spoofa]

of course Alexander.

The battles are what sparked my interest in Alexander in the first place!

[stupac]

I heard Alexander was horrible, so I never saw it, I'll have to rent it one of these days. Sparticus as well.

[Cybvep]

Gaugamela from Olivier Stone's "Alexander" is pretty good. It's probably the most accurate movie battle ever and it has great atmosphere. You really can feel like in the Ancient times. Too bad the rest of the film wasn't as good as this battle scene. Bad camera-work, too boring and too much emphasis put on the more intimate spheres of life...

[Andronikos]

I wrote that I like Alexander and recently have read one historical forum and many people there consider it as good with one of the best battle scenes (in the matter of realism) - Gaugamela.

[abou]

If anyone says Alexander I'll kill them.

Damn, too late. Well, at least you can guess my opinion on that.

[Moosemanmoo]

Alexander

[antisocialmunky]

HBO Rome has some interesting scenes.

[Cybvep]

Everyone's favorite Persian Fiends were depicted horribly . You had the highlander trash mixed in with the spearmen . WTF ?

It wasn't perfect, but compare Gaugamela from "Alexander" to the forest battle from "Gladiator", some shit from "300" or whatever... It's the best Hollywood will ever do.

[TWFanatic]

I have yet to see Alexander. I kind of avoided it, thinking it was just another totally inaccurate movie with nude Hollywood celebrities hopping around (like Troy). Seeing the prevalent opinion here, however, has changed my mind. I will have to rent it.

The few scenes from HBO's Rome are excellent. I wish they had more. I was shocked when I found out that a moviemaker had discovered the definition of "formation." The opening scene in Gladiator was also good, until the legionaries broke formation and started wrestling in the mud. It is understandable that they used too much fire, but I generally overlook that in films since nearly all of them have it--except, ironically, LOTR. IMO, it was an epic masterpiece, in spite of my getting irked over the idiots who couldn't hold a freaken' formation if their lives depended on it. What could be better against swarms of orcs, like those in 300? That last sentence probably gives you an idea of my opinion of that movie, whose name a had better not utter again on this forum lest the mob will eat me for supper.

Spartacus was pretty good. I loved the highly polished mirror-like shields. I wished that the cohorts would have opened their ranks to let those logs roll through though, that part irked me (yes, I get irked a lot). I doubt many of you have seen this very old film, but Alexander Nevsky was surprisingly fun and had a good battle scene considering the primitive technology of the times. The story takes place in the middle ages though. It's an old Russian propaganda film about the Teutonic invasion of Russia. Look out for the swastikas on the Crusader's uniforms.

[Sarcasm]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=keLeRDk4fJc&NR=1

[Gaivs]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=keLeRDk4fJc&NR=1

Hahahaha, ten dollars says you were there and you got owned.

[Mouzafphaerre]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=keLeRDk4fJc&NR=1

.

.

[TWFanatic]

The music is horrid. Sounds like the cookie monster from Sesame Street singing. But I suppose that's part of the fun.

I wonder how many people got seriously injured there...and how many died.

[Rodion Romanovich]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=keLeRDk4fJc&NR=1

Nice! That was some real adrenaline action! Now do that on a big field, with flanking moves and temporary retreating to rest, cavalry charges filmed with the same technique as in the return of the king but its effect nerfed a lot, add some hill on which to put one of the shield walls, and some slingers on both sides...

Excellent pushing game depiction, and nice overhead slashes over the shield when the shield walls came too close to give room for anything else.

[Snite]

I read somewhere once that the battle of Phillipi was remarkable in that neither side used missile weapons and as a result was considered a very brutal battle with men on both sides displaying a lot of savagery. Rome could have been trying to represent this with the two sides not throwing pilum and then merging into chaos.

Snite