Historical movies you would like to see

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Lion_of_Narnia said:
The Battle of Hastings–the storyboard has alredy been done for 800+ years (the Bayeux Tapestry)–from both the English and Norman perpectives–and have the Association of Renaissance Martial Arts (www.thearma.org) do the fight scenes right
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I’m not so certain they would get Hastings right. It’s one thing to go flailing away with a bastard sword or a great sword and quite another to stand in a shield wall and face mounted knights on horse. If you look at the Bayeaux Tapestry you will see the Saxon huscarles are wielding battle axes and spears. It is a heckuva lot easier to move around in plate than it is in a mail hauberk with a round shield or a kite strapped to your left arm. And, like I said, you can’t underestimate the sheer power involved in a charged of mounted knights.
 
I would like to see a movie, not just about the fall of Granada, but of the life of Queen Isabella the Catholic, the greatest (earthly) Queen in history.

The Conquest of Cortes and his allies is a worthwhile project.

I want to see a movie about King Jan Sobieski and the Polish Hussars routing the Muslim Turks at the Battle of Vienna.

Another one should the “Miracle of the Vistula”, where the Polish Army, ed by Josef Pilsudski, defeated the invading Soviet forces that sought to plow through Europe spreading Communism.

Oh, one more - about Southerners getting over losing the Civil War. I would enjoy that.
 
JW10631 said:
Oh, one more - about Southerners getting over losing the Civil War. I would enjoy that.
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Hey! How 'bout one in which you Yankees finally realize that it IS a really big deal here.

Am I supposed to “just get over” the fact that the Federal Fleet shelled and collapsed the sanctuary of my Cathedral here in Baton Rouge? Or the extremes of Reconstruction? I’m not the least bit unusual in that the first of my ancestors came here in the late 1760s when were weren’t even a part of the US. Let me know when you come across a Polish Catholic church in Pennsylvania which was shelled by Confederate troops (hint: you’re not going to find one). Much less explain the Irish troops attached to a Michigan regiment that refused to burn St. Mary’s of New Roads across the river from Baton Rouge. Instead of just blowing off Southerners, why not take a look at the reasons WHY we remember?
 
celticcrusader said:
Did anyone see the movie a couple of years ago called BLOODY SUNDAY ? it took place jan. 30 1972 brit soldiers opened fire on unarmed demonstrators. should be available on DVD
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No, I haven’t seen it but I will look for it. I know an Irishman who was a young lad when that happened. He grew up in N. Ireland and remembers it but didn’t witnessed any of it. I find this part of Irish history interesting and tragically sad. And of course I love U2’s Bloody Sunday. That song took on much more meaning when I went to see them in concert and had read more detail about what happen.

Did you anyone ever see the movie Omagh? Also in Ireland about the the events surrounding the Omagh bombing? It was really good. Very sad.
 
brotherhrolf said:
I’m not so certain they would get Hastings right. It’s one thing to go flailing away with a bastard sword or a great sword and quite another to stand in a shield wall and face mounted knights on horse. If you look at the Bayeaux Tapestry you will see the Saxon huscarles are wielding battle axes and spears. It is a heckuva lot easier to move around in plate than it is in a mail hauberk with a round shield or a kite strapped to your left arm. And, like I said, you can’t underestimate the sheer power involved in a charged of mounted knights.
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Arma is far from just the study of Long swords/Bastard Swords/Great Swords–many of its members have worked out with shield and sword, referencing the Renaissance fechtbuchs (“fight-books”) with techniques therin that almost certainly relate to earlier periods (a cruciform sword and big shield will demand certain techniques as a result of physics and human anatomy)
 
brotherhrolf said:
I’m not so certain they would get Hastings right. It’s one thing to go flailing away with a bastard sword or a great sword and quite another to stand in a shield wall and face mounted knights on horse. If you look at the Bayeaux Tapestry you will see the Saxon huscarles are wielding battle axes and spears. It is a heckuva lot easier to move around in plate than it is in a mail hauberk with a round shield or a kite strapped to your left arm. And, like I said, you can’t underestimate the sheer power involved in a charged of mounted knights.
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The other issue being, the Norman cavalry charges did NOT break the shield wall–apparently from the Tapestry and the written accounts, after two prior charges that were repulsed, the Normans did a fake that worked–a third charge the Normans feigned defeat and fled from in disaray–and the English wall broke it exhaulted pursuit–and the Normans turned right back around and started hacking away–a Norman arrow probably hit Harold in the eye, then someone a few minutes later (Possibly William) hacked Harold down
 
The shield wall was broken because the Saxons believed the “fake” that the Norman knights arranged. Had they not broken the wall matters might be significantly different.

But I have looked at the ARMA websites. There is no doubt that they have the Renaissance techniques down. In movie terms it is like watching the 1970s Three and Four Musketeers as opposed to Braveheart. Having worn a 65 lb. hauberk, carrying a 30" round shield and a mace - there is no finesse in that. It is brutal and requires a different mindset. I was (and in a sense, still am SCA).

So, when we deal with Hastings, the huscarles are in hauberks and wielding battle axes. Some have kites strapped to their left arms. You have Bishop Odo of Normandy with a mucking great wooden club (mace) - which is a highly effective weapon to use against the dance and play, sword weilding Norman types (which some of the huscarles were). You rush them, slam your shield up against their chins, and suddenly that broadsword is not worth very much. I know. I’ve done it far too often.

Hastings was a brutal battle. Take a look at Stamford Bridge a few weeks before Hastings to see what the Saxon fyrd faces.

I applaud those guys studying the Renaissance manuals but I don’t think it applies to earlier eras.
 
brotherhrolf said:
The shield wall was broken because the Saxons believed the “fake” that the Norman knights arranged. Had they not broken the wall matters might be significantly different.
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Yup-disciplined infantry is almost never broken by cavalry–as long as they stay in formation and have effective weapons (to make up for the mounted guy’s height advantage) Infantry in disarray on open ground is Cavalry’s dream
 
Another historical movie I would like to see would be about Blackbeard, Edward Teach, and the pirate crew of the Queen Anne’s Revenge. I would like to see a truly historical look at the Golden Age of Piracy, without it descending into the wacky stuff Disney gave us in the Pirates of the Caribbean movies. I think a historically based look at pirates and some of the interesting figures, like Blackbeard, Black Bart, Calico Jack, Captain Morgan, etc., would be so interesting.
 
Another great thread, RomanCrusader! 👍

Although I’d like to see a Battle of Lepanto movie made, I think I’d rather see one on the Siege of Malta first. Also known as the Last Battle of the Crusades, The Siege of Malta is probably the most important battle that nobody has heard of.

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Siege_of_Malta_%281565%29

Written by a historian, this is the definitive book on the topic:
amazon.com/Great-Siege-Wordsworth-Military-Library/dp/1840222069/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1201236287&sr=1-3

A “historical fiction” version:
amazon.com/Angels-Iron-Nicholas-C-Prata/dp/1889758566/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1201235919&sr=8-1
 
I ordered the movie The Wind that Shakes the Barley, having seen it recommended in this thread. It was very, very good. I also ordered Bloody Sunday and Michael Collins, which are the next two on my “to see” list. That should cover the Irish theme for the moment. 🙂
 
irishmac said:
Another historical movie I would like to see would be about Blackbeard, Edward Teach, and the pirate crew of the Queen Anne’s Revenge. I would like to see a truly historical look at the Golden Age of Piracy, without it descending into the wacky stuff Disney gave us in the Pirates of the Caribbean movies. I think a historically based look at pirates and some of the interesting figures, like Blackbeard, Black Bart, Calico Jack, Captain Morgan, etc., would be so interesting.
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There were lots of pirate movies back in the 50s and 60s - swashbucklers. I don’t think any of them were particularly historic.

I would like to see a movie about Jean Lafitte and the Battle of New Orleans. He would never style himself as a pirate since he had letters of marque. But his character is fascinating.
 
The_Iambic_Pen said:
I ordered the movie The Wind that Shakes the Barley, having seen it recommended in this thread. It was very, very good. I also ordered Bloody Sunday and Michael Collins, which are the next two on my “to see” list. That should cover the Irish theme for the moment. 🙂
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I have seen Michael Collins but have yet to see *The Wind that Shakes the Barley *because it now takes a degree in electrical engineering to get the correct (name removed by moderator)uts/outputs for the cable DVR as opposed to my DVD and receiver and I have my second most favorite movie coming in shortly on DVD - El Cid.
 
brotherhrolf said:
I have seen Michael Collins but have yet to see *The Wind that Shakes the Barley *because it now takes a degree in electrical engineering to get the correct (name removed by moderator)uts/outputs for the cable DVR as opposed to my DVD and receiver and I have my second most favorite movie coming in shortly on DVD - El Cid.
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The Wind that Shakes the Barley is FANTASTIC and extremely sad. It’s not all that violent, but the f-bomb is dropped continuously over and over again by the British soldiers. Hope you get your DVR to work so you can actually watch it.
 
LilyM said:
The question wasn’t about good movies, it was about movies 🙂
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Well, maybe he wants an accurate depiction… We need a movie also about the victory at Lepanto. That’d be awesome.
 
LilyM said:
Russian director Sergei Eisenstein did a film about Alexander Nevsky.
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I would like very much to see that, but I have heard it is basically an anti-German Soviet propaganda piece.
 
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