08-05-2011, 02:31 AM
Hi
Not CGI but early camera trickery. The second wave of Roman troops are simply a repeat of the first wave matted. The film-makers give the game away in the publicity booklet for the film which shows a still from the battle scene but with the entire second wave of the Roman army missing! They had a lot of extras but not that many but yes, they were using Spanish troops as extras.
Auxiliary archers and infantry appear in the 1980's production 'AD Anno Domini' the sequel to Jesus of Nazareth. The gear in this series was pretty good and it looked like movies might actually start using decent kit. Sadly then came the nineties with virtually no Roman type productions at all. By the time of 'Gladiator' the improvement in accurate equipment and sets appears to have been forgotten and the process started again!
One of the 'Auxiliary' helmets appears as a Gladiator helmet in the BBC documentary on the Collosseum. Apparently according to the extras on that DVD it was found in a warehouse in Tunisia along with other movie gear some of which is clearly from 'The Fall of The Roman Empire'.
Keeping on thread in the reconstruction scene of the famous view of Hadrian's Wall in 'The Eagle' I realised you can see Marcus and Esca riding towards the Wall. This would mean the milecastle they are approaching must be milecastle 37 which is on a cliff edge and therefore not the best choice to ride out of!
Graham.
Not CGI but early camera trickery. The second wave of Roman troops are simply a repeat of the first wave matted. The film-makers give the game away in the publicity booklet for the film which shows a still from the battle scene but with the entire second wave of the Roman army missing! They had a lot of extras but not that many but yes, they were using Spanish troops as extras.
Auxiliary archers and infantry appear in the 1980's production 'AD Anno Domini' the sequel to Jesus of Nazareth. The gear in this series was pretty good and it looked like movies might actually start using decent kit. Sadly then came the nineties with virtually no Roman type productions at all. By the time of 'Gladiator' the improvement in accurate equipment and sets appears to have been forgotten and the process started again!
One of the 'Auxiliary' helmets appears as a Gladiator helmet in the BBC documentary on the Collosseum. Apparently according to the extras on that DVD it was found in a warehouse in Tunisia along with other movie gear some of which is clearly from 'The Fall of The Roman Empire'.
Keeping on thread in the reconstruction scene of the famous view of Hadrian's Wall in 'The Eagle' I realised you can see Marcus and Esca riding towards the Wall. This would mean the milecastle they are approaching must be milecastle 37 which is on a cliff edge and therefore not the best choice to ride out of!
Graham.
"Is all that we see or seem but a dream within a dream" Edgar Allan Poe.
"Every brush-stroke is torn from my body" The Rebel, Tony Hancock.
"..I sweated in that damn dirty armor....TWENTY YEARS!', Charlton Heston, The Warlord.
"Every brush-stroke is torn from my body" The Rebel, Tony Hancock.
"..I sweated in that damn dirty armor....TWENTY YEARS!', Charlton Heston, The Warlord.
