Not only is it not accurate, it's also not very interesting. It means that the warriors only use duelling weapons, rarely halberds, spears, etc. because those aren't as good as swords in duels.
this post was submitted on 20 Nov 2025
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Berserk actually features multiple battle scenes with (seemingly, as I don't have much knowledge on the subject) good formation and tactics.
And in the middle of the pitched set of duels, most times an important character struggles, another one will show up just in time to save them, maybe exchange some words, and then split back up to wade back into the series of duels (to cover more ground).
Also everyone knows what's going on, who is the enemy and who is an ally, and orders are clearly yelled out and quickly followed with minimal confusion. There's a good chance that some characters are carrying out a conversation.
Bonus cool points if the two conversing warriors intuitively do a tag-team switch attack at some point (I attack your guy, you attack my guy finishing move)!
It's to do with visual style but also with logistics when filming. It's more manageable if you have stuntmen working in pairs.
Me and a friend were hired as extras for a big Hollywood film and saw some of this stuff.
I remember they had to cut at one point though because another extra thought it was just a big free-for-all and decked one of the stunt guys with a giant rubber crucifix.
I ~~love~~ hate how in movies and tv shows about old times warfare there are all of these maps everywhere and in depth discussions of how they're going to beat the enemy, discussion of battle tactics, etc. and the only real tactics we see in execution are when which side decides to charge in an undisciplined mass
Also the spinning. It was truly a sad day in history when weaponry and martial arts split from dancing. While ballerinas did master the art of spinning, its loss in warfare can still be seen to this day.
Edit: I should mention that spinning is a good trick.
HBO's Rome has the second one. But on account of their smaller budget, you only really see a very zoomed in section of it all. Still a great attention to detail, as most things in that show.
Great show. Name a more iconic bromance, I'll wait.
Achilles and Patroclus?
Such a pity that they had to compress two seasons worth of story into one and when they wanted to do more, their giant Rome set burned down (ironic though it is).
JD & Turk. Those guys can't be beat for bromance. "It's guy love between two guys"
The Last Kingdom did such a good job showing how
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Mundane medieval warfare was since it really wasn't often grand scaled. Post Roman Europe was mostly small skirmishes with occasionally large scale warfare, but it was few and far between until probably Charlemagne (citation needed. I am NOT a military history guy.)
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Brutal. There was no even match up. It was either a one sided slaughter or the battle didn't happen.
Point two is important. When your force is so small that a single pitched battle is pretty much it for either side, you don't really want to roll those dice unless you really like your odds
Contrary to what movies generally show, there's a time after battle, and most of the time there were more than two factions at play in a given region.
If you go all-in on one battle, and both factions battle to the last man then (a) you won't have anyone to do the next harvest and (b) you won't have anyone who could defend against any random third party to swoop in and easily take both factions' land.
I'll never forget going to see the movie 300 in the theaters. Cuz I was a huge fan of the book ~~The Hot~~ Gates of Fire so anything involving the battle of Thermopylae I'm there for. But I knew nothing about ~~Steven~~ Frank Miller, and of course I knew nothing about Zack Snyder. And admittedly things were looking bad when they were all you know not wearing armor, but there was a second right when the battle started that gave me so much hope. Because for that one second you know they say push and they all push forward together like an actual phalanx battle for a second. I was so excited . Finally a movie showing actual Greek battle . And then of course the rest of the movie 300 happens.
Now don't get me wrong as the movie progressed I realized oh this is something else and I was silly to ever expect anything different. I was able to enjoy it for what it was. But I'll never forget that crestfallen feeling for that one moment.
But I knew nothing about Stephen Miller
Do you mean Frank Miller, the writer and illustrator of the comics? Stephen Miller, the Nazi, would have been in college when the movie came out.
There might be more overlaps in that diagram than you would expect
Looks like Steven Pressfield and Frank Miller got blended together there
Oh no! I can imagine your state and even share some of it with you.
However the situation itself is quite comedic, especially if one checks all other Snyder's movies. You made my day :3
The Hot Gates by William Golding?
Oh you know what? I'm thinking of Gates of Fire by Steven Pressfield actually.
Thanks!
Sure, but that would be boring to watch
Hard disagree. It's a matter of treating it differently.
How would you know? We’ve never had a chance to watch it.
The defence rests, Your Honor.
Sometimes, a video is all you need.
This is indeed excellent, dramatic, intense. Not boring at all.
That makes me think: Game of Thrones also has excellent scenes of pitched battles.
Imagine a piece of the scale and scope (including of historical accuracy) of Waterloo (1970) done with modern techniques.