Brace yourselves... LAST LEGION (late Roman film)

[M. Demetrius]

One thing that always amazes me in movies (and in Rome the TV show) and others: what use is armor, if a fellow can just stick a sword right through it? Why bother with the weight and discomfort if a sword thrust pierces your heart anyhow??

I thought the whole point of armor was.... Oh, never mind.

Sigh

[Marcus Mummius]

One thing that always amazes me in movies (and in Rome the TV show) and others: what use is armor, if a fellow can just stick a sword right through it? Why bother with the weight and discomfort if a sword thrust pierces your heart anyhow??

I thought the whole point of armor was.... Oh, never mind.

Sigh

I have exactly the same frustration. In some movies soldiers wearing a hamata die instantly when they get a swordslash acros their stomach, this is even worse than stabs going through.

I mean, the armour used in the film may wel be knit and sprayed with metal paint but at least pretend it's made of metal :roll:

[Robert Vermaat]

One thing that always amazes me in movies (and in Rome the TV show) and others: what use is armor, if a fellow can just stick a sword right through it? Why bother with the weight and discomfort if a sword thrust pierces your heart anyhow??
I thought the whole point of armor was.... Oh, never mind.
Sigh

I have exactly the same frustration. In some movies soldiers wearing a hamata die instantly when they get a swordslash acros their stomach, this is even worse than stabs going through.

Indeed! Even the BBC did that in their latest series about the Roman empire, when some assassin stabbed an armoured guard through his hamata, killing him instantly. :evil:

[markusaurelius]

I'm looking forward to seeing it anyhow. This day and age you don't get to see many movies set in that time, even if the armor and weapons are off.

It is a work of fiction the story obviously. I'm just a sucker for anything with a remote roman theme. Besides the fighting, scenery etc. should be worth my $9.

Wonder why no one has or is making a historically accurate movie. I mean when they made Saving Private Ryan they at least tried to pick accurate uniforms and guns, wonder why no one can do that for Roman period movies......

[Goffredo]

One thing that always amazes me in movies: what use is formations, if it all becomes a free-for-all? Why bother with marching, and discomfort of training if in a jiffy it all just truns into a big chaos anyhow??

I thought the whole point of formations was.... Oh, never mind.

Sigh

[M. Demetrius]

Right. And everybody knows that all swordfighting amounts to is a back and forth overhead diagonal swing at the other guy's helmet, always parried by an opposite strike.

In the Augustan Civil War battles in Rome HBO 2, they did get some of the right kind of thing going on, upward thrusts, face strikes, shield bashes, etc., I think, but they still wore that latex armor...but they almost totally forgot the pilum volleys.

[Marcus Mummius]

One thing that always amazes me in movies: what use is formations, if it all becomes a free-for-all?

I can't remember but i think it was in the movie Augustus with Peter O Toole as Augustus. In the first part of the movie Octavianus rides to join Caesar who has cornered Pompeius' soldiers in a fort in Spain. When Caesar's army is going to storm the fort Caesar and the officers have the troops manoever and adopt different formations in front of the fort for about 10 minutes, Then Caesar gives the signal to attack the fort and all the soldiers (who were aligned into neat blocks, after the 10 min of manoeuvering) break formation and form a mob while storming the fort :lol: :lol:

[Roy]

One thing that always amazes me in movies: what use is formations, if it all becomes a free-for-all?

I can't remember but i think it was in the movie Augustus with Peter O Toole as Augustus. In the first part of the movie Octavianus rides to join Caesar who has cornered Pompeius' soldiers in a fort in Spain. When Caesar's army is going to storm the fort Caesar and the officers have the troops manoever and adopt different formations in front of the fort for about 10 minutes, Then Caesar gives the signal to attack the fort and all the soldiers (who were aligned into neat blocks, after the 10 min of manoeuvering) break formation and form a mob while storming the fort :lol: :lol:

Hm, I don't remember seeing any manoevring.
Doesn't the scene start with Caesar's soldiers standing in front of the fort in skirmishing formation? Haven't seen that movie for quite some time though, so I might be wrong.
Then Caesar gives the signal, about half of his army charges, and they all get killed by a single volley of arrows :roll:

The only good thing about the battle scenes in that movie was the correct use of pila.

[Marcus Mummius]

One thing that always amazes me in movies: what use is formations, if it all becomes a free-for-all?

I can't remember but i think it was in the movie Augustus with Peter O Toole as Augustus. In the first part of the movie Octavianus rides to join Caesar who has cornered Pompeius' soldiers in a fort in Spain. When Caesar's army is going to storm the fort Caesar and the officers have the troops manoever and adopt different formations in front of the fort for about 10 minutes, Then Caesar gives the signal to attack the fort and all the soldiers (who were aligned into neat blocks, after the 10 min of manoeuvering) break formation and form a mob while storming the fort :lol: :lol:

Hm, I don't remember seeing any manoevring.
Doesn't the scene start with Caesar's soldiers standing in front of the fort in skirmishing formation? Haven't seen that movie for quite some time though, so I might be wrong.
Then Caesar gives the signal, about half of his army charges, and they all get killed by a single volley of arrows :roll:

The only good thing about the battle scenes in that movie was the correct use of pila.

Could be lol:

[taira1180]

Well, i actually like the movie. Not as a roman movie of course. But as a fantasy movie it was OK. And since i like ninja/yakuza movies the scenes with the byzantine girl (she is beautiful) and the barbarian cutting the finger were fun. And someone did some research (to get the name of Odoacer and Orestes correct). It's probably one of the worst historical movie i saw for the details, but as an adventure movie, i saw much worst. And it's not boring.

[Narukami]

Wonder why no one has or is making a historically accurate movie. I mean when they made Saving Private Ryan they at least tried to pick accurate uniforms and guns, wonder why no one can do that for Roman period movies......

And even then, try as they might, Spielberg et.al. still made historical errors. Not in the uniforms perhaps but in other areas.

World War Two is still within living memory, unlike the Roman Empire.

Our view of ancient Rome is so heavily colored by Hollywood that it is sometimes difficult to separate the two. As we discussed in the HBO Rome thread, several of their costume decisions seemed based not on history but upon our perception of what a Roman soldier "should" look like. (I'm thinking in particular of the helmets used.)

And now this film, with weapons piercing armor and maidens distributing swords from ponds (or other bodies of water).

Once again we are left with that old saw: Even a bad film about Rome is better than no film about Rome.

Well...perhaps this film will push that past the limit. Based upon the trailer I think that a certainty.

Some day Hollywood will get it right -- ah hope springs eternal.

:wink:

Narukami

[taira1180]

I imagine in the 24 century a producer making a film (or whatever will exist) about the current war in Iraq, with giants robots and laser guns, and some academics criticizing the movie because in the beginning of the XXI century giant robots didn't existed yet...

[Memmia]

Forget that Aishwarya woman, Alexander Siddig would get me interested in the film

He's only got a small role in this apparantly, so I probably won't bother. :evil:

Watching him in Hannibal, it was the only time I cheered the Carthaginians

[DARTHICUS]

Hollywood should make a movie about Hannibal and Scipio, you have all the elements of a great drama and action flick.

Revenge, 2 great leaders poised against each other, betrayal by politicol masters and 1 kick ass, bloody climatic battle at the end.

From Cannae to Zama would be a good spread, with a few flashbacks of their youths and education thrown in.

They coould do it and be accurate and still make bagloads of cash.

I guess I need to write a script, get a gun and go visit Jerry Bruckhiemer, and get it done.=)


Dylan Thomas aka Darthicus

[Marcus Mummius]

Hollywood should make a movie about Hannibal and Scipio, you have all the elements of a great drama and action flick.

Revenge, 2 great leaders poised against each other, betrayal by politicol masters and 1 kick ass, bloody climatic battle at the end.

From Cannae to Zama would be a good spread, with a few flashbacks of their youths and education thrown in.

They coould do it and be accurate and still make bagloads of cash.

I guess I need to write a script, get a gun and go visit Jerry Bruckhiemer, and get it done.=)


Dylan Thomas aka Darthicus

Are you joking? :lol:

Two Hannibal hollywood films are currently under developement. One starring Vin Diesel as Hannibal, the other with Denzel Washington as Hannibal. Both are also directing their movie I believe.