Ummm… what aspects are you referring to exactly? I’ve only read the first five Patrick O’Brian books from the series (so I’ve read Master and Commander, but not Far Side of the World - andI have to say that the action in the movie was very realistic.
The ships take a long time to close on each other (chases lasting hours, or all day from sunrise to sunset, are not unusual). The hand-to-hand combat in the final boarding action was very believable. The scene where they built the raft with lights to imitate the stern lantern and cabin lanterns was taken directly from the novel Master and Commander. Did you feel this was not realistic? Patrick O’Brian has a disclaimer in the foreword of the book that sometimes the action may seem over-the-top or unrealistic, but in fact he often drew heavily on accounts of actual historical battles, often in great detail. O’Brian said that, in fact, often the actual battles from the past surpass what he could have imagined.
A friend of mine said that the only aspect he found to be unbelievable was that the crew didn’t mutiny after Aubrey surpassed his orders and went around the Horn following a ship that so greatly outclassed his own. But this is not unrealistic in itself - when ships are away from England for years at a time captains were often given considerable latitude in how they could interpret their orders. O’Brian wrote several battles with Aubrey defeating opponents that outgunned and outmanned him. He was a brilliant seaman and tactician. That’s the point.
I also nominate Zulu. Actually, I was just watching the LOTR: Two Towers extended edition commentary, and Peter Jackson was saying how heavily he was influenced by that movie, and he consciously had it in mind when editing the build-up to the battle of Helm’s Deep. Jackson said that Zulu was the best example he could think of for how to properly building tension leading up to an epic battle. Often the best part of a battle is how the scene is set beforehand. You have to really get into the situation and feel the sense of impending doom. Even if the battle itself is fabulous, you need that prior emotional connection for it to really work.
An unbraced pike is next to useless against a cavalry charge. Even with Urak-hai strength handling it straight without any backing means its going to get knocked off target with little chance of penetration.
I have to agree with Boondock Saints, the falling through the ceiling and getting all those perfect shots off scene was great. But I really perfered when they took the last guy out, there was just something so…stylish about the prayers and two guns together.
I don’t think much about the traditional army battle scenes. I can see why people might be impressed by things in movies about war or in LOTR what with all the guns/swords/horses/cannons, but generally speaking the fights are from way too far away to give them the sense of intimacy I need to be wowed (although Ride With The Devil has a couple great scenes despite being war battles). I prefer scenes in which a few people really unrealistically take down a bunch of bad guys. The type you see in hitman (The Professional, The Replacement Killers) and horror movies (Resident Evil, Dusk Til Dawn, The Forsaken, Blade 2). Anything where a handful people fight shoulder to shoulder, completely out-numbered, surrounded, and not sure where to turn.
Hmmm, let’s see - I said his crew would have mutinied if he’d tried doing what he did. Why, then, do you feel the need to ask why I thought the action was unbelievable, when the only unbelievable bit of the action is the bit I’m quite obviously referring to?
It also shouldn’t have been a cavalry charge. The Uruk-Hai were right at the bottom of the slope, about fifty yards away from where the gradient becomes small enough to permit a charge. Building up the momentum for a charge in that space is impossible.
A satisfying battle can be found in The Wrath of Khan and The Undiscovered Country. At times more WWII submarine than starships in space, there’s still a real sense of big ships getting large lumps punched out of each other with big weapons Both are well directed but TWOK scene in the Mutara nebula is especially tense. The models of the ships work a lot better than modern CGI effects, warmer and more real somehow.
InDie Hard II, the final battle on the wing of the plane and when John McLane sets the 747 on fire and the mercenaries are toasted in a huge fireball. I always laugh along with McLane during that scene.
Quite satisfying indeed!
Well, I thought that you were referring to action sequences or battles that you thought were unbelieveable. This is a thread about satisfying battles. To my mind, your complaint about the mutiny (or lack thereof) is more a problem with a plot or with a specific plot point, rather than an unsatisfying battle. Sorry for any misunderstanding.
BTW, I think the reason the crew didn’t mutiny is because they had a handy scapegoat with making Hollum their “Jonah”. They focused on him as the cause of their problem, rather than the captain. And the ship’s run of bad luck ended shortly after Hollum died, so the crew’s anger and frustration - which could have been redirected towards the captain - was reduced.
S’OK. It’s not much of a misunderstanding, though. The battles occur because the crew followed orders that they would most likely not have followed in reality; Aubrey’s first officer would have warned him of the possibility of mutiny and talked him into heading for port in fair short order.
Spartacus – the final battle. The leisurely field-formation preparations on the Roman side (using 20,000 Spanish Army extras) really rachet up the tension!
Monty Python & the Holy Grail – here’s to Sir Lancelot, who took on Swamp Castle single-handed.
The Seven Samurai; The Magnificent Seven
WWII:
A Bridge Too Far
D-Day, the 6th of June
Midway – which used lots of actual aerial/naval combat footage Patton – the Battle of El-Gattar, in spite of these mistakes Saving Private Ryan
Enemy At the Gates – the suicidal human-wave attempt to relieve Stalingrad at the beginning, which benefited dramatically from the lengthy build-up sequence.
I really liked the fight scene choreography in The Transporter. Very original. I especially enjoyed the warehouse scene with the oil slick and the bicycle toe-clips.
Showing my geeky anime side, the End of Evangelion battle where Asuka snaps out of her depression, and goes beserker on the UN forces, then the mass-production Evas. Five minutes of brillant, raging combat; probably the best giant robot fight scene ever drawn.
Profanity redacted in the quote by me, not the author.
While your other other points were refuted already, let me additionally point out the the legions were not even in the woods. They were in an open field at the border of the woods (remember all those defesive works and open field of fire for the archers and war engines?). Yes, the Roman’s at that point had already learned their lessons about fighting Barbarians in close quarters in the woods- as the prior scenes had shown from the long dead remains shown of the fallen Legions of the past campaign when the Germanic tribes rebelled and attacked the Romans in the woods.
The Legions were shown in formation, and with sufficient defensive works, archers and numerous pieces of heavy bombarment equipment.
The mistakes made were by the Germanic tribes, not the Romans. The way they attacked they had 0% of winning. Then again, maybe they knew that. Hence the lines about would they have acted any different if the roles were reversed.
The only unbelievable aspect, if any at all, was the general leading a calvary charge against the Germanic tribes. Especially in this battle, where the outcome was never in doubt. While slamming the Calvary into the exposed flank of the attacking tribe was good- risking your field commander wasn’t. Still some dramatic license is to be expected.
All that mutiny talk is somewhat unlikely as well. Captains were the absolute masters of their ship, with the power of life or death over the crew. Punishment was quick, harsh and frequent on a warship. Reading a few historical pieces on shipboard life and discretion would help with enjoying the movie and understanding how many risks were taken. O’Brian did his homework.
Both are well directed but TWOK scene in the Mutara nebula is especially tense. The models of the ships work a lot better than modern CGI effects, warmer and more real somehow.
