NoFlyBoy's "Gladiator" thread made me think about Ridley Scott's directorial career and more specifically all of the films he's made that were based on a major historical event or took place during a major historical event. He's done quite a few besides "Gladiator":


The Duellists - Napoleonic wars.

Kingdom of Heaven - Medieval crusades in the Middle East

Exodus: Gods and Kings - Ancient Egypt

1492: Conquest of Paradise: - 15th century European exploration of the New World

Robin Hood - 13th century Britain

Black Hawk Down - Somalia 1993

Yep... most were enjoyable to watch, but when I see him on screen spouting historical accuracy it just makes me think 'do you really believe the stuff that has come out of your mouth, really?'

Prometheus is historical too. The movie first scene shows how Humans were created and not from monkeys or by you know who.

Nice sarcasm. I didn't fall for it this time.

+1

However, His version of Robin Hood was a bit of a chore to watch and the climax with a fake invasion of England using impossible wooden drop front landing craft similar to the LCVP Higgins boats used at Omaha Beach on D day was just too ludicrous to watch. Not only that but charging at the head of the English defenders was Cate Blanchett as Maid Marian wearing her own custom fitting gold suit of armor. Of course, she got her ass kicked early in the battle and had to have Crowe as Robin Hood come and save her.

It was even worse than the Kevin Costner Robin Hood and that one was pretty bad. I know that Robin Hood is mostly a fictional character, but there's just no justifiable point in going all anachronistic with the treatment of the time period.

Cheers

All excellent points FO but before I allow myself to get too depressed or enraged, I realize that these are conscious decisions by directors and writers to make their movies as entertaining and as accessible as possible to mainstream audiences. I would also make an educated guess and say that the great majority of the mainstream audience doesn't even notice these inaccuracies or at the very least they don't care. I have to keep reminding myself that those of us on SimHQ are part of a very niche group.

When I saw "Kingdom of Heaven" years ago it was so so at best. Is it worth trying to watch again?

I actually love Costner's Robin Hood. Great writing and story construction. I haven't seen it in a couple of decades, but I saw it dozens of times back in the day, so that's enough for me to give it a 3.5 out of 4 stars for being timelessly rewatchable but not quite a masterpiece like Aliens/Top Gun/Terminator/Star Wars/Indiana Jones/etc. Definitely was better than a 3, though.

And no, he can't speak with an English accent, but who cares? The film was entertaining. "Robin Hood: Men in Tights" was pretty fun, as well. But not a 3.5. Maybe a 3. "Spaceballs," "History of the World," and "Blazing Saddles" were better Mel Brooks films.

Oh, this is a Ridley Scott thread...


I think he's a better director when he sticks with fiction--but his handling of Promethius and beyond is questionable because the characters were such morons. Black Hawk down was intense, and 1492 was pretty good.

Kingdom of Heaven works better with the Director's Cut Roadshow Version that is 45 minutes longer at 194 minutes.

Was going to say the same - Kingdom of Heaven director's cut is great.

I enjoyed his Robin Hood, (the Kevin Costner one made me wanna shoot myself in the head, repeatedly. I far more enjoyed the other two that came out at the same time (Men in Thights - one of Mel's best and the other 1991 "Robin Hood").

I also think 1492 is a greatly underrated movie - it also has one of the best soundtracks ever made.

The duellists I haven't seen, need to rectify that. (Exdus I've only seen parts of, don't need to see the rest)

+1

It was also one of Gerard Depardieu's best performances in my opinion.


I'm 99% certain you will enjoy "The Duellists". Harvey Keitel and Keith Carradine have an incredible on-screen chemistry.

I am embarrassed to say that I have not seen The Duelests, but a friend of mine who is older was telling me how good it was back when it was first released.

Costner's Robin Hood seemed very much an '80s movie to me, and I didn't really care for the witch aspect. I saw a review that referred to his "accent" as making him sound like Robin of I-70 .

I also felt that Scott's Robin Hood was a chore, and that the landing sequence was just a bit too much like a WWII landing. It's like he was frustrated he didn't get to do something like Saving Private Ryan and this was his way to get something like that in a movie.

Black Hawk Down is probably one of Scott's best movies, in my opinion. There's a lot going on, and I think he effectively tells the story, and in a very intense way.

+1


I was also very impressed by all of the UK actors who managed to do a convincing American accent. Jason Isaacs, Ewan McGregor and Ewen Bremner come to mind.

BHD is my pick of that bunch as well although i also haven't seen The Duellists so it's added to my list. I only recently, finally, caught the directors cut of KoH, but i must admit i put it off for a few years as i wasn't too flash on the original version.

Robin Hood didn't do much for me, none of the versions of Robin and his merry men ever has though. 1492 was a movie i had on my list for years and really enjoyed.

Exodus i know i've seen but for the life of me i cannot remember a single scene from it

All you need to remember are the two Anglo-Saxon guys (one from the UK and one from Australia) who were cast in the main roles to play Middle Eastern guys.

If the movie ever pops up in conversation i'll just use that as my critique

Do strive to watch the 'Duellists', one of the most perfect films I've ever seen. Each frame like a Old Master painting, with excellent fight scenes and great acting. I seem to recall that Panzer our film guru here concurred with my view!

Was it this version of 'Robin hood' in which Costner exclaims something like 'tonight we will be in my Father's halls in York,' some 277 miles distant!

Rickman though, brilliantly OTT as the Sheriff of Nottingham!

Rickman was one of those gifted actors who always turned in a great performance even in sub-standard films. Morgan Freeman also did a great job in Robin Hood as a Moor warrior.

I think that Rickman was the only good thing about that film.

I really like the part in the Director's Cut when they remove Ed Norton's mask. I dunno why I did but I do.

v6,
boNes

PS Fun fact: My son is loosely named after Ridley Scott