Since Sports Are Now On - What Are You Watching?
Nov 11, 2020 14:53:47 GMT
Jep Gambardella likes this
Post by Rey Kahuka on Nov 11, 2020 14:53:47 GMT
I watched Barbarians last week.
It was decent. The rare Netflix show where I actually think it could've been longer (only 6 episodes), but I'm a history buff so I think every historical epic should be 112 hours long, in order to give the proper context. Despite its generic title, it was focused mostly on Arminius himself. At the end of the day it did what it set out to do, though the production value wasn't the greatest I've ever seen. Of course they changed a few things, but hell, I'm sure the Roman historians changed a few things too. Certainly more historically accurate than Vikings for example, which is almost complete fabrication at this point.
It did give me hope that with streamers begging for new content, they'll start producing these historical mini-series on a regular basis. There are tons, tons of incredible stories throughout history, no matter how far you want to go back into any given culture. Let's start mining that stuff more often. Medieval Europe, hell England alone during the War of the Roses is better than anything Game of Thrones has to offer-- except magic and dragons, of course. Love, death, war, intrigue, betrayal, politics, shifting alliances. Whatever you're getting out of garbage reality tv was done much better by real people with much higher stakes in ages past.
Barbarians actually made me want to rewatch The Eagle (2011). Surprisingly great flick (it's legit in my all time top 25) that nobody ever talks about. The thing about Rome, as with any great empire of history, is that there's a moral argument to their very existence. They bring order out of chaos; a civilized, more advanced society. Of course to do so, they must strip the conquered people of their cultural freedom, which hardly seems like a fair prospect to those who are being conquered, even if the empire believes wholeheartedly in its own benevolence-- at least as an after effect.
The Eagle is more of a "one man's quest/historical buddy movie" at heart, but it does touch on the issue of indigenous peoples vs the might of Empire better than most movies that are explicitly about that topic. Ironic that they manage to pull this off in a film where everyone is white. It's oddly cast, with Channing Tatum and Jamie Bell as the leads, and a cameo by Donald Sutherland of all people, but it's expertly directed (by academy award winner Kevin MacDonald) and the cinematography and music are incredible. The story pulls you in, right from the jump. (I was going to post the trailer, but holy shit it gives away too much.)
Again, they take liberties such as giving a few of the wilder Brittonic/Pictish tribes a more African, Native American and even South Pacific islander motif, and they do things like having the Romans use the testudo as an offensive formation rather than defensive, but just enjoy the story and the visuals, don't deconstruct the proper history because that isn't the point of the film at all. In fact it was that testudo scene, which is early in the film, which made me lean over to my wife in the theater and say, "I love this movie."
Yet again I've started one of these posts talking about one show or film and segueing into another, but that's just how I roll, evidently. The old two for one deal, you can't go wrong with that! I recommend Barbarians to anyone who likes sword and sandals material, and I highly recommend The Eagle to anyone who appreciates quality filmmaking, good storytelling, and period combat on a relatively small budget.
It was decent. The rare Netflix show where I actually think it could've been longer (only 6 episodes), but I'm a history buff so I think every historical epic should be 112 hours long, in order to give the proper context. Despite its generic title, it was focused mostly on Arminius himself. At the end of the day it did what it set out to do, though the production value wasn't the greatest I've ever seen. Of course they changed a few things, but hell, I'm sure the Roman historians changed a few things too. Certainly more historically accurate than Vikings for example, which is almost complete fabrication at this point.
It did give me hope that with streamers begging for new content, they'll start producing these historical mini-series on a regular basis. There are tons, tons of incredible stories throughout history, no matter how far you want to go back into any given culture. Let's start mining that stuff more often. Medieval Europe, hell England alone during the War of the Roses is better than anything Game of Thrones has to offer-- except magic and dragons, of course. Love, death, war, intrigue, betrayal, politics, shifting alliances. Whatever you're getting out of garbage reality tv was done much better by real people with much higher stakes in ages past.
Barbarians actually made me want to rewatch The Eagle (2011). Surprisingly great flick (it's legit in my all time top 25) that nobody ever talks about. The thing about Rome, as with any great empire of history, is that there's a moral argument to their very existence. They bring order out of chaos; a civilized, more advanced society. Of course to do so, they must strip the conquered people of their cultural freedom, which hardly seems like a fair prospect to those who are being conquered, even if the empire believes wholeheartedly in its own benevolence-- at least as an after effect.
The Eagle is more of a "one man's quest/historical buddy movie" at heart, but it does touch on the issue of indigenous peoples vs the might of Empire better than most movies that are explicitly about that topic. Ironic that they manage to pull this off in a film where everyone is white. It's oddly cast, with Channing Tatum and Jamie Bell as the leads, and a cameo by Donald Sutherland of all people, but it's expertly directed (by academy award winner Kevin MacDonald) and the cinematography and music are incredible. The story pulls you in, right from the jump. (I was going to post the trailer, but holy shit it gives away too much.)
Again, they take liberties such as giving a few of the wilder Brittonic/Pictish tribes a more African, Native American and even South Pacific islander motif, and they do things like having the Romans use the testudo as an offensive formation rather than defensive, but just enjoy the story and the visuals, don't deconstruct the proper history because that isn't the point of the film at all. In fact it was that testudo scene, which is early in the film, which made me lean over to my wife in the theater and say, "I love this movie."
Yet again I've started one of these posts talking about one show or film and segueing into another, but that's just how I roll, evidently. The old two for one deal, you can't go wrong with that! I recommend Barbarians to anyone who likes sword and sandals material, and I highly recommend The Eagle to anyone who appreciates quality filmmaking, good storytelling, and period combat on a relatively small budget.