Spoiler
Had me on the verge of tears when Maximus died at the end.
Greatest Historical Epic. (swords, spears and muskets)
Moderators: sgt.null, dANdeLION
-
Warmark Jay
- Elohim
- Posts: 195
- Joined: Wed Jan 05, 2005 11:37 pm
- Location: San Diego
- Contact:
If we're talking 20th century history, "Lawrence of Arabia". If you ever get the chance to see it on the big screen, do so.
WWII era - "Patton". The best performance by any actor ever, and the final scene is just perfect.
Vietnam - "Apocalypse Now". The helicopter attack scene - think about it. No models. No CGI. Amazingly complex set piece.
Ancient - "Spartacus". Saw it when I was a kid; first time I ever cried in a movie. Still holds up, and is a much better movie than either "Gladiator" or "Braveheart".
WWII era - "Patton". The best performance by any actor ever, and the final scene is just perfect.
Vietnam - "Apocalypse Now". The helicopter attack scene - think about it. No models. No CGI. Amazingly complex set piece.
Ancient - "Spartacus". Saw it when I was a kid; first time I ever cried in a movie. Still holds up, and is a much better movie than either "Gladiator" or "Braveheart".
"That must be the King."
"How do you know?"
"He hasn't got sh*t all over him."
"How do you know?"
"He hasn't got sh*t all over him."
-
dennisrwood
- The Gap Into Spam
- Posts: 4048
- Joined: Tue Jul 13, 2004 5:20 pm
-
Alynna Lis Eachann
- Lord
- Posts: 3060
- Joined: Wed Mar 20, 2002 8:23 pm
- Location: Maryland, my Maryland
Gladiator was pretty good, as was Highlander. Glory is pretty much the top of my list, though. If we're counting 20th century stuff, then Schindler's List and The Great Escape... and maybe The Tuskegee Airmen. Oh, and Stalag 13. Definitely that one.
"We probably could have saved ourselves, but we were too damned lazy to try very hard... and too damn cheap." - Kurt Vonnegut
"Now if you remember all great paintings have an element of tragedy to them. Uh, for instance if you remember from last week, the unicorn was stuck on the aircraft carrier and couldn't get off. That was very sad. " - Kids in the Hall
"Now if you remember all great paintings have an element of tragedy to them. Uh, for instance if you remember from last week, the unicorn was stuck on the aircraft carrier and couldn't get off. That was very sad. " - Kids in the Hall
-
kevinswatch
- "High" Lord
- Posts: 5592
- Joined: Sat Mar 02, 2002 2:46 pm
- Location: In the dark, lonely cave that dwells within my eternal soul of despair. It's next to a Pizza Hut.
- Has thanked: 6 times
- Been thanked: 5 times
- Contact:
Yeah, Glory is definately up there. A classic, just like Highlander.Alynna Lis Eachann wrote:Glory is pretty much the top of my list, though.
I think my favorite though is Gettysburg. It's long, but damn, is it good.
Of course, I'm a bit of a Civil War junkie. Heh.
Oh, another Civil War classic - Andersonville.
-jay
-
Alynna Lis Eachann
- Lord
- Posts: 3060
- Joined: Wed Mar 20, 2002 8:23 pm
- Location: Maryland, my Maryland
Yeah, those were both great. I could go on about the Vietnam-era ones, myself... Full Metal Jacket, Platoon, Apocalypse Now...kevinswatch wrote: I think my favorite though is Gettysburg. It's long, but damn, is it good.
Of course, I'm a bit of a Civil War junkie. Heh.
Oh, another Civil War classic - Andersonville.
-jay
Can't think of anything good in the sword/spear/musket era, really. Nothing that hasn't been mentioned already, at least. Alexander was alright, I guess. King Arthur was, too, but that's a weird take on legend more than anything else. I did want to mention The Thirteenth Warrior, but that was... um... interpretive might be a word to use. What is it with me and cheesy movies??
BTW, I read a great review of the background of Kingdom of Heaven that totally put me off to seeing the movie. Apparently the historical interpretation ranks somwhere just below Troy.
"We probably could have saved ourselves, but we were too damned lazy to try very hard... and too damn cheap." - Kurt Vonnegut
"Now if you remember all great paintings have an element of tragedy to them. Uh, for instance if you remember from last week, the unicorn was stuck on the aircraft carrier and couldn't get off. That was very sad. " - Kids in the Hall
"Now if you remember all great paintings have an element of tragedy to them. Uh, for instance if you remember from last week, the unicorn was stuck on the aircraft carrier and couldn't get off. That was very sad. " - Kids in the Hall
The two movies were shot at the same time, so you could say the 1974-75 movies "The Three Musketeers" and "The Four Musketeers" was a really good sword-epic. The best movie interpretation of Dumas' classic yet.
"Rob Roy" is also a great movie of this type. (Much better than Braveheart...)
"Rob Roy" is also a great movie of this type. (Much better than Braveheart...)
~...with a floating smile and a light blue sponge...~
They were meant to be one movie, but when they turned out to be too long, they decided to break itup into two movies. If I remember correctly, there were even some legal issues revolving around that, such as the actors were initially only payed for one movie, but obviously wanted compensation for the seconf movie - something along those lines...Usivius wrote:The two movies were shot at the same time, so you could say the 1974-75 movies "The Three Musketeers" and "The Four Musketeers" was a really good sword-epic.
"When you look into the abyss, the abyss looks back into you" - Nietzsche
-
kevinswatch
- "High" Lord
- Posts: 5592
- Joined: Sat Mar 02, 2002 2:46 pm
- Location: In the dark, lonely cave that dwells within my eternal soul of despair. It's next to a Pizza Hut.
- Has thanked: 6 times
- Been thanked: 5 times
- Contact:
-
Alynna Lis Eachann
- Lord
- Posts: 3060
- Joined: Wed Mar 20, 2002 8:23 pm
- Location: Maryland, my Maryland
True... I think I have a more positive attitude toward it because I read the book first, and the combined effect of book and movie is different than either on its own.dlbpharmd wrote:The first 30 minutes of Full Metal Jacket is awesome - the rest I can do without.
"We probably could have saved ourselves, but we were too damned lazy to try very hard... and too damn cheap." - Kurt Vonnegut
"Now if you remember all great paintings have an element of tragedy to them. Uh, for instance if you remember from last week, the unicorn was stuck on the aircraft carrier and couldn't get off. That was very sad. " - Kids in the Hall
"Now if you remember all great paintings have an element of tragedy to them. Uh, for instance if you remember from last week, the unicorn was stuck on the aircraft carrier and couldn't get off. That was very sad. " - Kids in the Hall
For the war movies, I am surprised that nobody has mentioned Saving Private Ryan.
It was based on a true story about 4 brothers serving in the military
and 3 were killed within a very short period of time.
The opening scenes were mind-blowing.
The graphics, the gore, the realism.
It was based on a true story about 4 brothers serving in the military
and 3 were killed within a very short period of time.
The opening scenes were mind-blowing.
The graphics, the gore, the realism.
Have you hugged your arghule today?
________________________________________
"For millions of years
mankind lived just like the animals.
Then something happened
that unleashed the power of our imagination -
we learned to talk."
________________________________________
If PRO and CON are opposites,
then the opposite of PROgress must be...
_______________________________________
It's 4:19...
gotta minute?
________________________________________
"For millions of years
mankind lived just like the animals.
Then something happened
that unleashed the power of our imagination -
we learned to talk."
________________________________________
If PRO and CON are opposites,
then the opposite of PROgress must be...
_______________________________________
It's 4:19...
gotta minute?
Didn't really care for SPR. I prefer The Longest Day, Highlander or The Big Red One.
"There is only one basic human right, the right to do as you damn well please. And with it comes the only basic human duty, the duty to take the consequences." - PJ O'Rourke
_____________
"Men and women range themselves into three classes or orders of intelligence; you can tell the lowest class by their habit of always talking about persons; the next by the fact that their habit is always to converse about things; the highest by their preference for the discussion of ideas." - Charles Stewart
_____________
"I believe there are more instances of the abridgment of the freedom of the people by gradual and silent encroachments of those in power than by violent and sudden usurpations." - James Madison
_____________
_____________
"Men and women range themselves into three classes or orders of intelligence; you can tell the lowest class by their habit of always talking about persons; the next by the fact that their habit is always to converse about things; the highest by their preference for the discussion of ideas." - Charles Stewart
_____________
"I believe there are more instances of the abridgment of the freedom of the people by gradual and silent encroachments of those in power than by violent and sudden usurpations." - James Madison
_____________
For the record, I did consider mentioning "Saving Private Ryan" - after all it is made by the same Speilberg/Hanks partnership that brought us "Band of Brothers", which I think as a whole is truly an excellent mini-series.cheval wrote:For the war movies, I am surprised that nobody has mentioned Saving Private Ryan.
It was based on a true story about 4 brothers serving in the military
and 3 were killed within a very short period of time.
The opening scenes were mind-blowing.
The graphics, the gore, the realism.
However, though the openeing scenes were mind blowing, for some reason "Saving Private Ryan" never really did it for me - even though it is based on a true story, somehow it feels contrived to me, though I can't back that up with exactly why...
"When you look into the abyss, the abyss looks back into you" - Nietzsche
SPR is one of my favorite movies of all time. I'll never forget the first time I saw it. I had been warned of the realism, and I had mentioned to my wife that I had heard that it was intense - but the first 30 minutes affected me like no other movie I've ever seen. Some of you know that my other great passion in life (other that TCoTC) is military history. I'd always been fascinated by stories of heroism and bravery, and in my mind at least I had glorified war. That's why one of my other favorite movies was "Patton" and my favorite scenes from that movie were the ones were Patton says "Compared to war, all other human endeavors pale in comparison" and of war: "God, I love it so." (I'm sure Syl and anyone else who's served in uniform is cringing right now - please excuse a young man's foolishness.) SPR showed me at least some small measure of the true horror of war. I still love military history, and I still honor the bravery of those who have fought and died defending their countries - but I no longer have any use for the glory of war.
