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ANCIENT PERIOD MOVIE REVIEWS
#1
Here is a topic to post your reviews of movies set in Ancient times Rome Greek etc.

PLEASE POST the movie name and year as the subject in your post.

A suggested rating scale is zero to five "Bracers" for rating the historical accuracy of the costumes/armor with five bracers being the worst and zero would be if RAT member reenactors made the movie! = = = = = NOTE: This one is an opposite rating scheme as opposed to other two. The more bracers the worst the gear.

A rating of one to Zero to five Spear points could be used for rating GOOD weapons accuracy ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ To use an negative scale award PLASTIC spears for BAD weapons > > > > >

The traditional rating scale of Zero to five stars can be also used if you want also rate the movie on how good it was as a movie even if not very historical accurate. * * * * *

The topic is in the off topic section because the movies rarely are historically accurate enough to qualify for the history or reenactment sections! Big Grin
John Kaler MSG, USA Retired
Member Legio V (Tenn, USA)
Staff Member Ludus Militus https://www.facebook.com/groups/671041919589478/
Owner Vicus and Village: https://www.facebook.com/groups/361968853851510/
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#2
Not bad for the Hollywood 1945 knowledge of gear. Soldiers are wearing Attica helmets carrying spears instead of Pila. Some scuta looking shields do appear. Hamatas are absent
and lots of bracers appear. But it is a good movie ( 5 stars ******) and worth watching even though it it earns a four bracer rating for Armor and costumes. = = = =
John Kaler MSG, USA Retired
Member Legio V (Tenn, USA)
Staff Member Ludus Militus https://www.facebook.com/groups/671041919589478/
Owner Vicus and Village: https://www.facebook.com/groups/361968853851510/
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#3
[size=150:belb8uyu]The 300 Spartans (1962)[/size]

A really rather fun film- very 60s in style and the prevalence of (over)'acting' although Sir Ralph Richardson does a rather nice job as Themistocles. The clear brazing lines in the helmets is pretty distracting but what seems the use of real bronze is nice to see- the bell cuirasses every Spartan wears aren't bad if perhaps dubiously-used. David Farrar is excellent as Xerxes- one hell of a lot better, as is the whole movie, than that 2hr. comic book, 300 LOL. At least too in the 300 Spartans, other Greeks are noted at Thermopylae, not just the Spartans. I liked this one rather a lot more than many Hollywood 'sword and sandal' movies...

Only two bracers and spears for costumes, etc. because like all movies even to today, it's pretty flawed (===.5 ^^^.5), but three-and-a-half stars for being otherwise not bad ( ***.5 )
See FABRICA ROMANORVM Recreations in the Marketplace for custom helmets, armour, swords and more!
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#4
"I can get free use of some Roman sets leftover from a miniseries and my cousin Fred is great with CGI so let's go rent some roman costumes and armor and whatever looks neat
and make a movie!"

Evil Emperor Tiberius is eaten at the arena by a cyclops monster.

Three stars for being a HOOT of a movie.
Four bracers instead of five because they (probably by accident) rented some gear that was fairly accurate. = = = =
John Kaler MSG, USA Retired
Member Legio V (Tenn, USA)
Staff Member Ludus Militus https://www.facebook.com/groups/671041919589478/
Owner Vicus and Village: https://www.facebook.com/groups/361968853851510/
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#5
"Tiberius is eaten by the Cyclops..."

Classic!
:wink:

Narukami
David Reinke
Burbank CA
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#6
Damn you're generous John- I haven't even seen that Cyclops movie but would've bet it'd rate well for being fun, but only maybe =.5 and ^.5 for the stuff Confusedhock: And Eric Roberts is in it? LOL I just saw the South Park where they eat him becase 'No one gives a s*#t about Eric Roberts' LMAO

Good to consider the 1945 knowledge when reviewing Caesar and Cleopatra though- that's a very good point as we can hardly denigrate the past for not knowing as much as we do now :wink:

I wonder how much of an argument there'd be about Miller's 300...?
See FABRICA ROMANORVM Recreations in the Marketplace for custom helmets, armour, swords and more!
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#7
A Biblical epic that has a Legate in charge of Christ's execution and gambling to win his Robe.
Popular in it's day it a movie that could would be unlikely to be made in today's Hollywood. I give it two stars overall. * *
It gets a four bracers and avoids the worst rating of five for having decent looking scuta (however lacking bosses) a couple of good metal curtiss. It features lots of bracers, poor Round topped helmets, Leather Armor, and a centurion wearing an Attic helmet and chain mail with shoulder armor (paulders) = = = =.
For weapons a rating of one spear point is given for decent socketed style Pila. Swords are similiar to 1700 -1800 Artillery foot swords and daggers are medievel style. ^
It is of interest to note the movie won an Oscar for costume design reflecting the lack of Roman era historical costume and military equipment knowledge over fifty years ago.
John Kaler MSG, USA Retired
Member Legio V (Tenn, USA)
Staff Member Ludus Militus https://www.facebook.com/groups/671041919589478/
Owner Vicus and Village: https://www.facebook.com/groups/361968853851510/
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#8
Oh whoops- I misread your rating system John- five is the WORST... geez. Gotta brush up on my reading skills LOL I should've known- bracers=bad. Should use 'plastic spears' and 'leather armor' as the others LOL
See FABRICA ROMANORVM Recreations in the Marketplace for custom helmets, armour, swords and more!
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#9
[size=150:dne4bgmz]AVGVSTVS (2003)[/size]

I've loved pretty much everything Peter O'Toole has ever done- he seems to improve even a dog of a film otherwise, and while he certainly helps Augustus, it acutally wasn't bad- the kit is pretty crappy as always, but I didn't find it so distracting as to detract seriously from the movie, and historically it wasn't so far off either as to make watching not at all the chore it is with many others. I've actually watched this one twice- rented it both times too- and enjoyed it overall both times. As the title suggests, it's the story of Augusutus, told by Peter O'Toole as the old Augustus, much the way Derek Jacobi does as the elderly Claudius in I CLAVDIVS, and although other than Charlotte Rampling (best known to me from that crazy sci-fi classic Zardoz) there's nobody else you'd probably recognize, I find this refereshing as all too often well-known actors are no longer able to play roles, but are simply recognized as themselves 'in a role'- Tom Cruise, for example. It's not a high-budget movie either, which I think makes accepting its less-than-perfect costumes, etc. easier (Gladiator had a huge budget, so it's difficult to ever see why they didn't do more correctly) in the way one does for older movies like my other recommendation, The 300 Spartans.

I'd give this one the probably common 4 bracers (====) for costumes, and 4 plastic spears for weapons (^^^^), but three-and-one-half stars for being an otherwise rather good movie (***.5)
See FABRICA ROMANORVM Recreations in the Marketplace for custom helmets, armour, swords and more!
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#10
[size=150:u2hknuvc]Druids (2001)[/size]

Starring Christopher Lambert as Vercingetorix, Claus Maria Brandauer as C. Julius Caesar, and also Max von Sydow, this movie's about, obviously, the Gallic Wars and ultimately the battle of Alesia. It's really a very fantasy version of it all, following the Gauls' end of things mostly with some really fabricated Druidic mysticism, but it also goes into the intertribal conflict of the Gauls, the barbarity of the Romans and despite it being pretty weird, with nasty costumes, and historical 'liberties', overall I found this one strangely entertaining and I'm not sure why LOL I've actually seen it a couple of times and now thinking of it again, I'll probably do so once more before long. I guess I liked it because it's a different story- how many movies are there from the Gallic perspective?- it's entertaining, and it's not a big-budged Hollywood movie, so it's easier to accept the costumes, etc. (not the usual could have been done well but wasn't).

Ratings- 4 bracers (====), 4 plastic spears (^^^^), but 3 stars (***)
See FABRICA ROMANORVM Recreations in the Marketplace for custom helmets, armour, swords and more!
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#11
Caesar (2004) is the DVD movie version of a TV miniseries. Good overall with good civilian costumes and sets the military side has a lot of problems earning a poor rating of four bracers for:
BRACERS on major characters and some soldiers.
Poor Cavalry and Archer helmets.
Out of period Infantry helmets (Dacian wars and 2nd Century)
Out of period High relief scuta w/o bosses
Leather currass and out of period leather segs and metal segs with rounded edges
White medievel style tentage
Triangle shaped flags abundant
Cavalry using stirups
Not enough defensive stakes and no valli (sudes) type stakes evident at Alesia
A few hamatas appeared on archers but somehow added incorrect large leather pieces under the doublers
Interestingly the pirates used Greek hoplite gear

The movie earns two plastic spears for:
Pila used as spears and never thrown
Incorrect movie Pila

I think the Gauls could have used a few more helmets and chainmail and presented a bit less of a "wildman" appearance.
Bows and swords in general were not too bad.
John Kaler MSG, USA Retired
Member Legio V (Tenn, USA)
Staff Member Ludus Militus https://www.facebook.com/groups/671041919589478/
Owner Vicus and Village: https://www.facebook.com/groups/361968853851510/
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#12
Five stars for movie quality, *****
Bracers and spears, typical for its time, but what I like about this movie are the sound effects, towards the end of movie, as the roman army marches down the hill towards the slave army, close your eyes and listen. The sound of the dangilae is emphasized in the sound track, it's beautiful to behold. No other roman movie has attempted this since.
Titus Licinius Neuraleanus
aka Lee Holeva
Conscribe te militem in legionibus, vide mundum, inveni terras externas, cognosce miros peregrinos, eviscera eos.
<a class="postlink" href="http://www.legiotricesima.org">http://www.legiotricesima.org
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#13
new, horrible, 300-like inaccurate movie....
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yHxn8mTpAJU

roman legionaries with segmentata in the spartacus rebellion? greek-corintian elmets?
no way.....
my warrior blog:
http://sardinianwarrior.blogspot.com/
My Sardinian archeology blog: http://archeosardinia.blogspot.com

Alessandro Atzeni. Nuragic, Roman and Medioeval reenactor.

my Family http://memoriaemilites.weebly.com/
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#14
Quote:new, horrible, 300-like inaccurate movie....

roman legionaries with segmentata in the spartacus rebellion? greek-corintian elmets?
no way.....
I wouldn't call 300 horrible. Just watch it from an different angle. You know that people like to overreact and make up elephants out of mices. If you watch the movie 300 out of an spartiate vision as if you were in the frontline yourself with horrible beasts and 1000's of men attacking you it's easy to see things out of the proportions and consider yourself superhero like by just opposing them.

Try to watch the movie again and who knows perhaps you'll appreciate it a bit more but forget historical accuracy in 300 because I don't think accuracy was the vision of the creator
Polemarch of the Spartiates: Aegiadae

Hardwig
http://spartiates.agogeads.be
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#15
Quote:new, horrible, 300-like inaccurate movie....

roman legionaries with segmentata in the spartacus rebellion? greek-corintian elmets?
no way.....

Looks like they will be using Imperial period equipment but perhaps more accurate than most. Sort of like watching a WW1 movie that uses Spanish American War uniforms and equipment. Looks they just can't resist using bracers though! What is the Industry fixation with bracers anyway? Did they do a survey and find people wouldn't watch Roman period movies without them? Maybe studio executives have stock in bracer companies.
John Kaler MSG, USA Retired
Member Legio V (Tenn, USA)
Staff Member Ludus Militus https://www.facebook.com/groups/671041919589478/
Owner Vicus and Village: https://www.facebook.com/groups/361968853851510/
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