The 10 Best Fictional Battles

Popular Mechanics ^ | May 29, 2017 | Joe Pappalardo

[C19fan]

Endless internet lists examine the most accurate Hollywood battle depictions, ones that adhere to the actual battles they portray. The verdicts are unforgiving, measured with sympathy for filmmakers who bend the truth to tell a story. But what about when moviemakers can craft an entire battle from scratch?

Fictional battles created with realism, logic, and intelligence are hard to come by. The absurd military vehicles and small unit tactics of The Empire Strikes Back are even dumber to behold than the lack of armor on the Spartans of 300. Because of these accurate battles are such a rarity, they deserve a list all their own.

[Hugin]

“The Battle of Rorke’s Drift from “Zulu””

The category is “fictional battles”.

For a fictional battle I vote for the capture Dunholm fortress in season 2 of The Last Kingdom.

[MarkL]

Saving Private Ryan ... the opening sequence.

That may be the most realistic battle scenes ever filmed, at least according to a WWII vet who landed on Omaha Beach that I once spoke with. It's among the most horrific things I've ever seen in a movie, and I'm so glad that I never saw this movie in a theater, instead only on the small screen.

This list though, is for "Fictional Battles," which I guess the last battle was. But the D-Day invasion at Omaha Beach was all too real.

Mark

[MarkL]

Dune was pretty horrific from beginning to end... But then Herbert's writing of the book didn't really lend itself to a movie, given all of the characters' internal discussions.

Battle of Serenity Valley, however.....

Mal: They don't like it when you shoot at 'em!

What else is there to say? :-)

Mark

[MarkL]

The Cylons (original) taught the Stormtroopers how to shoot. and probably how to fall down.

Agreed, for the Original Series. The Cylons in the reboot though... They were bad-a$$es! The robots were tough, and the 7 models... Well, I'd sell out the entire human race to Tricia Helfer and Grace Park.

Mark

[MarkL]

The hill assault in “Hamburger Hill”

That was an incredible movie, but I think that the battles in that movie, as with the incredible battles throughout "We Were Soldiers Once" were non-fictional, so they didn't make the list.

Mark

[Hugin]

I would have put the opening battle of "Gladiator" on the list.

The first half hour of The Eagle was a good battle between Romans and British Celts. Unfortunately the rest of the movie is a predictable snoozer buddy movie.

[JimRed]

Oh, Hollywood. I was thinking of a war novel, Red Storm Rising.

[archy]

The Battle of Clermont from “Kelly’s Heroes”

Nope. The Rail Yard. All...for the Love Of Sunshine....All...for the love of a girl....

[archy]

And what strategic lessons can be taken from them?

Peace is a period of cheating between wars, but it's cheaper than fighting them.

[archy]

The American Buckley-class destroyer escort DE-181 USS Haynes, versus a German Kriegsmarine Type IXC U-boat, in the 1957 film The Enemy Below.

[archy]

Hollywood sucks... bunch of out-of-touch liberal elites.” With the exception of Captain Dale Dye whose ‘Warriors, Inc’ consultancy has at least helped give Saving Private Ryan, The Pacific, Band of Brothers and Platoon a look of authenticity.

Brad Pitt and his tank crew in Fury did pretty well without former Captain Dye's assistance. Though it didn't hurt that they had actual WWII tank crewmen and mech infantrymen as on-setr advisers. Likewise the veryknowledgable staff of the British Bovington Tank Museum from which many of the tanks, including several of the Shermans and the too-early Tiger I were sourced were not about to brook stupid mistakes. Director David Ayer was quite picky about the authenticity details.

[MarDav]

Saw that (Fury) last night...not bad.

[Pelham]

90 yr old set advisers? I suppose so, I know some WWII vets and they recall those days far better than recent events. Didn’t see Fury so wasn’t aware that it was any good.

[archy]

The Marine march from the Tangier Harbor port evolving to a foot charge on the Basha's palace in The Wind and the Lion may heve been fictional, but somewhere, I think President Roosevelt was smiling. Bully! That's the way to handle it!

Fire! Re.....load, CHARGE!

[Pelham]

+1 for Gladiator

[archy]

90 yr old set advisers? I suppose so, I know some WWII vets and they recall those days far better than recent events. Didn’t see Fury so wasn’t aware that it was any good.

Check out the Blu-Ray DVD version, which has both interviews, and cast interviews about the advice they got. Including Pitt, whose ego I don't think deals real well with being told how it really was.

[sport]

Only two licks were passed in that fight. The Democrats hit the Republicans and the Republicans hit the ground.

[archy]

King Kong vs the biplanes?

Giant graboid sandworms versus a couple of good ol' redneck down-and-out oilfield roughnecks, a pair of survivalists, a couple-three locals and a cutie college girl geologist. Them worms never knew how out numbered they were.

Hey, it's a good enough yarn to squeeze 5 films out of the series. The first one's still best, tho, IMHO.

[Jonah Hex]

Bun-bun at the Battle of Rabun Gap, from John Ringo's Earth-Posleen War book series:

"This is what you get for letting rednecks play with antimatter, boss."

[Pelham]

I’ll have to check it out.

I heard some interesting memories from my dad over the years. A bridge in Corsica where an obstinate farmer with a donkey cart was blocking a military convey in a hurry. The lead truck shoved him over the side when he wouldn’t move. The USS Nevada just offshore of the French coast firing broadsides in a prolonged gun fight with a German fort near Toulon harbor. The sky filled horizon to horizon with American bombers headed for Germany. Trying to get a bead on an incoming Luftwaffe plane with their 90mm gun only to realize it was moving too fast- their first encounter with a jet. That’s just a few. It was mostly later in life that he spoke of his memories of WWII. I learned to prod him into telling me what he remembered.