Those that love movies that deal with ancient warfare are either about to have their worldview rocked or are probably already well aware that what we see in the movies is, for the most part, made up and not as realistic as we want to think. But while the expert is wondering why the movies do things this way (he knows most likely) it’s best to remember that Hollywood creates this stuff because it looks cool and it has the effect of getting people to watch. From incendiary devices that may or may not have existed back in certain times to the manner of shield wall that was used in ancient wars, this guy sounds pretty knowledgeable about most of this stuff, and since it could make the channel look pretty dumb if they brought on people that talked a good game but were more or less just acting. Plus, it’s easy enough to fact check most of this stuff and find out just how it all went down, and the expert is easy enough to look up as well. But anyone shaking their head and still wanting to believe that Hollywood is delivering real history might need a heavier dose of reality since the fact is that a lot of ancient warfare is impressive when presented in the manner that a lot of us have seen, but in reality, things were hardly ever this glamorous or impressive. It’s a war, no matter how the poets, writers, and Hollywood attempt to glamorize it.
One of the most well-known movies since its release is the movie 300, which tells of the daring, freedom-loving Spartans who made the Persians pay so dearly that they lost all taste for battle. Well, that’s kind of true since they, along with their thousands of allies, did inflict so much damage on the Persian army that it was said that the Persian empire certainly felt the loss. For such a massive army it was something that had rarely if ever happened before, but the battle didn’t go quite as the movie would have us believe. For one thing, running straight into a wall of spears and shields isn’t a good idea, no matter how big your army is. Even with a press of bodies, this gives the defenders a little too much leeway as they can go hacking and slashing and stabbing away as the bodies begin to pile up. On top of that, there are other things not mentioned that are hard to buy into with this movie, which was obviously glammed up to the extreme for a purpose since the legend of the Spartans is one that many people still enjoy.
Another fun part to notice is the use of siege engines that are typically used to breach and even allow enemy soldiers to gain entry by going over a wall. Digging a ditch, when possible, is a pretty simple way to dissuade this action, as the expert explains it. One has to wonder why Hollywood doesn’t think this more often, since it has shown this in a couple of movies over the years, such as The Messenger: The Story of Joan of Arc with Milla Jovovich. But the manner in which Hollywood stages battles is kind of funny sometimes since even those who aren’t experts can take a look and wonder at what those behind the battle scenes were thinking. One might think it would be advantageous to bring warfare experts into the project just to make sure that things are accurate, but then the entertainment industry isn’t all about accuracy, they just want things to look impressive. That would be why in Gladiator there’s calvary running across wooded terrain that could easily snap the legs of the horses and send their riders flying into a tree or the enemy without any chance to defend themselves. Then there’s the idea of launching burning items into a damp forest where they might have a chance to create confusion and damage the enemy but are otherwise a waste of ammunition.
It was interesting to learn about the shield walls, which ones were common and which weren’t, especially considering that it does make sense to say that the Romans wouldn’t have been wasting time to create a shield formation every time a volley came their way. The Viking shield wall was a real thing of course, as this is actually documented, but the layered look does feel as though it might have worked, even if it wasn’t common. But one of the biggest and most amusing looks was at Braveheart since it feels as though Mel Gibson just ran through the history books and picked out things he liked before slapping it all together to create an impressive but massively flawed movie about a historical character that wasn’t anything like what he portrayed. If your illusions were shattered that’s too bad, but sometimes reality is a little more interesting.
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