05-12-2006, 01:43 AM
[ Edit: I posted this after reading page 1. THEN I saw the next four pages. Ooops! But I'll add my II asses worth anyway...]
One thing Hollywood can't get right, and thank god, is the smell. Anyone who has been in the "field" (by this I mean in the real deal, not maneuvers) for more than three days will reek. You don't notice it unless you get sent to the rear, and get a shower, and then go back to your unit. Then it takes a few days to get back with it.
Also consider: equipment for films are worn for dramatic effect. Equipment worn under combat conditions are either the result of a pragmatic design evolution for practical reasons, or it is discarded. Use and adaptation is a survival issue. Especially in the ancient world. Given the Napoleonic snazzy stuff, but even then it was for unit recognition in the last analysis. As pointed out in previous posts, reenactors strive towards the historical and archaeological record.
Renactors tend to have better hygiene and this reasonably may be overlooked... they are also better fed, so they don't have to forage much. Most reenactors have other ways of making a living than by being professionally violent. Thus, the body language, and general outlook on life may be different. This is referred to in Police work as a "command presence". If real reenactors behaved like real Romans, or almost any modern combat unit (note: combat, not support unit), and like any inner city police dept when you do something stupid, you would not want to be around them. Count your blessings...
I think its unfortunate that Hollywood never did anything like Seven Samurai, which proves the film industry can do things right if they want to. Maybe there will be a new Kurosawa once the current crowd dies off. Would not it be interesting to do a serious film from the point of view of the common Roman soldier? "All Quiet On The Dacian Front"?
Gaius Decius Aqulius
(Ralph Izard)
One thing Hollywood can't get right, and thank god, is the smell. Anyone who has been in the "field" (by this I mean in the real deal, not maneuvers) for more than three days will reek. You don't notice it unless you get sent to the rear, and get a shower, and then go back to your unit. Then it takes a few days to get back with it.
Also consider: equipment for films are worn for dramatic effect. Equipment worn under combat conditions are either the result of a pragmatic design evolution for practical reasons, or it is discarded. Use and adaptation is a survival issue. Especially in the ancient world. Given the Napoleonic snazzy stuff, but even then it was for unit recognition in the last analysis. As pointed out in previous posts, reenactors strive towards the historical and archaeological record.
Renactors tend to have better hygiene and this reasonably may be overlooked... they are also better fed, so they don't have to forage much. Most reenactors have other ways of making a living than by being professionally violent. Thus, the body language, and general outlook on life may be different. This is referred to in Police work as a "command presence". If real reenactors behaved like real Romans, or almost any modern combat unit (note: combat, not support unit), and like any inner city police dept when you do something stupid, you would not want to be around them. Count your blessings...
I think its unfortunate that Hollywood never did anything like Seven Samurai, which proves the film industry can do things right if they want to. Maybe there will be a new Kurosawa once the current crowd dies off. Would not it be interesting to do a serious film from the point of view of the common Roman soldier? "All Quiet On The Dacian Front"?
Gaius Decius Aqulius
(Ralph Izard)
