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+--- Thread: Roman Movie Identification? (/showthread.php?tid=22316)
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Roman Movie Identification? - Roman Military History is 4 Me - 03-13-2013
I watched this video on YT last night that somebody put together as a school project. Some of the vid clips, ive seen before accept one. Fast forward to the 1:30 minute mark and there is a movie scene in which legionairies are fighting barbarians. Can anyone identify the movie that it came from? It looks cool. I think its from the hbo series "Rome", but not sure.
http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=dbHCyaadhhI
Roman Movie Identification? - John W Davison - 03-13-2013
It is "Rome" - from memory (it's been a few years), it was the opening scene of episode 1 of series 1 - where Lucius Verenus and Titus Pullo had their first disciplinary disagreement!
Regards,
John
Roman Movie Identification? - jvrjenivs - 03-13-2013
Well that looks like the Ermine street guard, one of the foremost and oldest Roman re-enactment societies, based in the UK.
Roman Movie Identification? - Roman Military History is 4 Me - 03-13-2013
Thanks. I have only watched 1 episode of the series. How much of it deals with legionaries and battle? Im more interested in that than the political side of things.
Roman Movie Identification? - Valerian Pertinax - 03-13-2013
Unfortunately not very much. When Rome showed us a battlefield, it tended to be an "aftermath" shot, e.g., ships burning in the distance or a field of dead men and horses. I imagine that was done because each episode was on a budget, and the creators wished to keep the attention on the lead characters.
The only two real battles I can recall consisted of the opening scene (not perfect, but one of the only attempts I've ever seen at depicting a Roman century...wait for it.... fighting *as a unit*!!!). The other was Phillipi , which I won't spoil by getting into detail, but I *will* mention that I felt very let down.
Roman Movie Identification? - Robert Vermaat - 03-14-2013
Quote:The other was Phillipi , which I won't spoil by getting into detail, but I *will* mention that I felt very let down.
Then I will. Both armies marched towards each other in formation, than battle began and it was a chaotic 'Hollywood-type' one-on-one. Indeed, not of high quality.
Roman Movie Identification? - Valerian Pertinax - 03-15-2013
Robert Vermaat Wrote: "Then I will. Both armies marched towards each other in formation, then battle began and it was a chaotic 'Hollywood type' one-on-one."
That pretty much sums it up.
Just once, I'd like to see a high-budget pila volley. That's not asking too much, is it?
Roman Movie Identification? - Michael Kerr - 03-15-2013
Hi, budgets for movies about not just Roman but ancient battles would be enormous. However "American Civil War" re-enactors made the battle scenes in Gettysburg look very good and realistic even though the rest of the movie wasn't very good. (I'm sure Roman re-enactors are just as hard-core as their Civil War counterparts. Maybe if some Hollywood type wants to make a Roman movie I am sure there are heaps of Roman re-enactors that could put some realism into a Roman movie. Hollywood loves CGI these days and although some scenes look good in movies like Troy, LOTR trilogy and Alexander most of them look bad.
Regards
Michael
Kerr
Michael
Kerr
Roman Movie Identification? - Thomas Aagaard - 03-15-2013
But there are some problems...
Firing a musket volley and then showing a line of men falling is pretty easy to make work.
Hand to hand combat is not...
The first requires a bit of training... the second a lot.
The first is pretty safe... the second is not so much
and the list does on...
Based on some of the topics on this forum, a lot of roman era reenactors don't even do mock fighting.
There are 20000+ acw reenactors or something in the US... how many do roman reenactment?
I would love a "roman movie" with a "band of brothers" realism... but I don't think we will get it...
Roman Movie Identification? - Timianus - 03-15-2013
Quote:But there are some problems...
Firing a musket volley and then showing a line of men falling is pretty easy to make work.
Hand to hand combat is not...
The first requires a bit of training... the second a lot.
The first is pretty safe... the second is not so much
and the list does on...
Well, if one were to focus on the armies fighting "as a unit" then some of the problem with Mano-e-mano hand-to-hand combat goes away. By using close shots and blocking shots from the front line of one army to the next or just superimposing two images, you can reduce the risk of physical injury. You are depicting a group of shields/spears that don't even necessarily need to be held by actors.
The big problem is showing use of pila. However, this too can be dealt with by a director who wants to take the time to do it. You shoot a cohort throwing their pila and then cut over to the opposing army with pre-affixed pila wounds....the old "arrow in the hat trick"---if you time it correctly, you create an optical illusion of motion.
I think it certainly can be done, but no one really WANTS to do it because it is more exciting to show hand-to-hand combat than blocks of shield walls and swords, ebbing and flowing and slowly grinding it out.
Roman Movie Identification? - Timianus - 03-15-2013
Also, Hollywood feels it is necessary to always show the protagonist in battle, which they usually do by having him remove his helmet or wear distinctive armor.....hard to do if your main character is an average legionary.
Roman Movie Identification? - jkaler48 - 03-15-2013
"There are 20000+ acw reenactors or something in the US... how many do roman reenactment?"
Someone recently estimated 350 including civilians but not counting the LAARP sort of Romans
The largest event is probably Clash of Iron in Lafe Arkansas drawing 100+ participants counting Celts, Roman civilians and even children. Many Roman reenactors also do other time periods like Civil war and WW2.
Roman Movie Identification? - Alanus - 03-16-2013
Quote:Also, Hollywood feels it is necessary to always show the protagonist in battle, which they usually do by having him remove his helmet or wear distinctive armor.....hard to do if your main character is an average legionary.
Even when the main character is an officer (which he usually is), his helmet is SO DIFFERENT than everyone else's that it even looks FRUITY! :woot:
Check out the aluminum helmet of Maximus in Gladiator. Where did it come from? Uranus? Or the costumer's anus?
illy:
Roman Movie Identification? - Narukami - 03-16-2013
Actually ...
Re-enactors did work on the film Centurion and there was discussion about staging a pila volley, however it was nixed due to safety concerns.
I've tired finding that original thread from two years ago but with no luck. Perhaps the Forum member who worked on the film will post a link to that original thread or chime in with his comments about working on the film.
However ...
In Hollywood if there is anyone less revered than the screen writer then it is the historical/technical advisor. I remember that in the heyday after the runaway box office success of Star Wars, Disney mounted an ambitious big budget Sci-Fi film called The Black Hole. They hired an "A" cast and spared no expense when it came to effects or production design. They even hired two NASA Astronauts as technical advisors. When it came to the film's big finale and the Astronauts politely pointed out that the characters in the film needed suits & helmets to survive the vacuum of space, the film's director thanked them for their advice and ignored it all the same. He had paid big money for these stars and to get his money's worth the audience need to see their faces as much as possible. Helmets, no matter how realistic. would only get in the way.
Oh well.
We are so familiar with the look of Hollywood Romans that to spend the money getting it historically right, as opposed to what the audience is expecting, seems pointless to producers and directors (despite the lip service they may pay to 'authenticity'). Some films are getting better, but it is still a mixed bag at best and I fear it always will be. Remember, this is Show Business, and if your film doesn't turn a profit you may never have the opportunity to make another. (Woody Allen being the exception the proves the rule.)
There are quite a few films set in the ancient world currently in production. I wish I could say I was hopefully about any of them, but I'm not. Even so, I will likely go to the cinema to see most, if not all, of them.
Cleopatra (with Angelina Jolie)
Cleopatra (with Catherine Zeta-Jones)
Hercules (with the Rock)
Hercules (without the Rock)
The prequel to 300
The sequel to 300
Pontius Pilate (with Brad Pitt)
Pompeii (directed by WS Anderson, who also directed the Resident Evil series)
The Hannibal Trilogy (directed & starring Vin Disel)
And the rumored feature film of the HBO/BBC series Rome.
Oh, and there was going to be an feature film of I, Claudius starring Leonardo DiCaprio, but that was shelved and there will now be an HBO series instead. Now some of you might be thinking, wait a minute - the BBC already did a TV series about Claudius. Indeed they did, and it is still one of the best TV shows about ancient Rome ever produced, which is exactly why HBO is remaking it. Hollywood loves a sure thing.
:wink:
Narukami
Roman Movie Identification? - Alanus - 03-16-2013
Wow! :woot:
A Hercules film featuring the Rock. Too Cool.
Even if it's not "historical," it'll be hysterical. On this one, we can let authenticity fall by the wayside. Plus, how do you make a fictional movie about a fictional charater and make it totally accurate?
mile: