Furius Venator Posted June 22, 2006 Report Share Posted June 22, 2006 A Bridge Too Far, Saving Private Ryan, We Were Soldiers, Black Hawk Down and A Walk in the Sun seem to me the most realistic of the moderns bar Band of Brothers. I don't think there's any decent representation of pre-gunpowder combat on screen, though pre battle manoeuverings are sometimes well done (Spartacus especially). Gladiator started promisingly (apart from the fire-missiles) but degenerated into the usual silly mass brawl (not that it wasn't an excellent film despite that). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest genjameswolfe Posted June 22, 2006 Report Share Posted June 22, 2006 O.K. Here's the lowdown from a real historian, an artist with an eye for visuals, a veteran, and one who makes note of these things over the years. But first you have to divide the scenes by time periods, just because of the differences. So here it goes. Please comment. ANCIENT WARFARE: (in order of period depicted, not quality) 1. Troy scenes, c.1250 BC (both the beachhead battle, and the attempt to take the city); 2. the Alesea battle scene from the made-for-tv Ceasar, c.60 BC I think; 3. HBO Rome: didn Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
phil25 Posted June 23, 2006 Report Share Posted June 23, 2006 I would propose some rather different choices: Bondarchuk's "Waterloo" in it's entireity. Borodino from the same director's "War & Peace" The Charge of the Light Brigade in both the Michael Curtiz and Richardson versions (VERY different but both effective) The battle of the three armies in "Fall of the Roman Empire" (Romans, Persian cataphracts etc) "300 Spartans" - whole film Olivier's Agincourt from "Henry V" (music and action combine) The opening battle in "Paths of Glory" (Kubrick) Battle of Britain (entire film) There's a very good C18th battle in "Revolution" Several Kurosawa offerings from Ran, Kagemusha, etc and my personal current favorite "Gettysburg" (three separate superb battles) but what about "Braveheart" 9even though I personally dislike the film the battles are well filmed. Just to widen the discussion... and morally can a flame-thrower ever be cool? Phil Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Furius Venator Posted June 23, 2006 Report Share Posted June 23, 2006 and morally can a flame-thrower ever be cool? Or even literally... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kosmo Posted June 23, 2006 Report Share Posted June 23, 2006 Milla Jovovich as Jeanne d'Arc :wub: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ginevra Posted June 23, 2006 Report Share Posted June 23, 2006 - LOTR The Return of the King - Kingdom of Heaven (Director's Cut) - Alexander - The Gladiator - Ben Hur Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pantagathus Posted June 23, 2006 Report Share Posted June 23, 2006 Final battle against the Turks in The Adventures of Baron von Munchausen... :bag: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pertinax Posted June 23, 2006 Report Share Posted June 23, 2006 The Wild Bunch shoot-out with Mapache :2guns: The final confrontation in Yojimbo - most of Ran and Kagemusha. Cross of Iron . Braveheart and Alexander -but only the battles. Flame throwers as cool? Only in OHMSS . Some of Excalibur ,for the way it looks , rather than any remote attachment to reality. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Virgil61 Posted June 24, 2006 Report Share Posted June 24, 2006 (edited) ...and morally can a flame-thrower ever be cool? Phil Frankly if they could save my men's lives I'd call it 'cool'. Then again in Iraq I acquired an aversion to seeing medics cover up the bodies of fellow soldiers or Marines after a firefight or IED so perhaps I'm to close to the issue to think about it analytically. For best battle scene maybe the opening of Saving Private Ryan takes the cake both for the sheer holy smokes factor and realism. I went with two female friends of mine who sat on both sides of me and grabbed my arms throughout the first twenty minutes. Edited June 24, 2006 by Virgil61 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
phil25 Posted June 24, 2006 Report Share Posted June 24, 2006 Pertinax - I too had thought of mentioning the battles from "Excalibur", but decided not too because they were "fantasy". But the scene with the attack on the castle with men fighting in the moat is a favorite of mine. History WASN'T like that, but it should have been!! Shows I was brought up on Victorian illustrators I suppose! Phil Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moonlapse Posted June 24, 2006 Report Share Posted June 24, 2006 Has anyone mentioned 'The Thin Red Line'? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jason Posted June 25, 2006 Report Share Posted June 25, 2006 Just wondered what users thought was the best battle scene on film, or choices if more than one! My selection is as follows: 1 The final battle in Spartacus 2 the opening battle in Troy 3 The opening battle in Gladiator 4 The opening battle in Saving Private Ryan 5 The final battle in above I like 3&4 but also love the battle in Kingdom of Heaven when they are defending the city Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WotWotius Posted June 25, 2006 Report Share Posted June 25, 2006 Battle of Endor: Star Wars Return of the Jedi Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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