Ancient-Warfare Historian Rates 10 More Battle Scenes In Movies And TV | How Real Is It? | Insider

Roel Konijnendijk teaches ancient history at Lincoln College, University of Oxford.

He rates 10 battle scenes in movies and television for realism. He discusses the accuracy of ancient-warfare battle scenes from "The Northman" (2022), starring Alexander Skarsgård; penning enemies in "The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power" (2022); and swords and buckles in "House of the Dragon" (2022), featuring Matt Smith. He also comments on "The Last Duel" (2021), with Matt Damon and Adam Driver; bolt artillery in "The Wheel of Time" (2021), featuring Rosamund Pike; bow and arrow precision in "Robin Hood" (2010), starring Russell Crowe; and walls of flame in "Barbarians" (2020). Konijnendijk analyzes the chariot tactics displayed in "The Eagle" (2011), starring Channing Tatum; pavises in "Knightfall" (2019); and ditches in "The Messenger: The Story of Joan of Arc" (1999).

You can find him on Twitter at:

Watch him rate other ancient-warfare scenes here:

WATCH MORE HOW REAL IS IT VIDEOS:
Ancient-Warfare Expert Rates 10 More Battle Tactics In Movies And TV
Medieval Weapons Expert Rates 7 More Weapons Scenes In Movies And TV
Sword Master Rates 10 More Sword Fights In Movies And TV

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Ancient-Warfare Historian Rates 10 More Battle Scenes In Movies And TV | How Real Is It?

[Matticusism]

I dug so many ditches in anticipation of this man's return

[madsmadstm]

"You gotta give points for a good ditch. 5/10."
Man I've missed this guy

[meredithcarroll]

I just love that he keeps his sense of humor despite having to watch so many, many, *many* battle scenes where they didn't dig a simple ditch.

[smaller_cathedrals]

"He's basically wearing sort of premium-grade plot armor", delivered in absolute dead-pan manner, as if talking about some actual kind of armor.
God, I love this man.

[soul-omid]

I love this historian. He is absolutely savage to these "historical" movies. I love the brutal honesty that he brings. Keep bringing him back to rate movies.

[christiaanvandenakker]

This guy always kills it. He understands why something is done because it looks good on film, but he is still rightfully merciless in scoring.

[RoboCharged]

Someone needs to make a medieval movie with this guy as the historical consultant, would be epic!

[Bloodark]

Also dear Insider - he's probably tired of reviewing bad depiction of ancient war battle scenes. Perhaps change it up a little bit and get him to hand pick some of his favourite on screen battle scenes and have him give some in depth and less known truth about ancient battles and tactics so that we can learn more than just building more ditches and let archers shoot at will after order lol.

[borna]

If anyone´s interested, he is a regular contributor to the AskHistorians subreddit! I´ve been following him for years and the quality and depth of his answers is never less than astounding. If anyone wants A LOT more from where this came from, head over there!

[magr]

If I were a studio boss and plan to make a very good historical battle movie, first thing I would do is hiring this expert..Best guest in this channel by far.. I love this man

[davidjustice]

I'm so happy that this guy is back, and that he got to evaluate a movie with a ditch in it

[junezhang]

"You goatta give points for a good ditch."

I never thought I could hear such a quote one day and here I am.

This guy is just so funny, plz bring him back more!

[Reqwulf]

"They are doing everything they can do to lose this battle". I love it 😆

[OtterThunder]

I feel like Roel Konijnendijk is the only History Academic(Professional Nerd) I'd be happy to be corned by at a party and forced to learn about history.

[Ishkur]

I love this guy. Every time I watch an ancient battle scene in a movie now I'm like "where's the ditch? Why didn't they dig a ditch?"

[hossinania]

The real love in his eyes when he talks about ditches 🥰😂

[Yora]

I first got interested in medieval warfare when I was thinking "How would medieval soldiers have run face first into walls of spears? How do you defend yourself when there's more enemy soldiers fighting right behind your back? I don't think anyone would agree to fight in the first row when getting killed is absolutely guaranteed..."

20 years later I agree with this guy: Almost every ancient and medieval battle scene deserves a 2 or a 3 at the most.

[antoniousai]

He's one of the best history speakers I've heard, and I've followed some podcasts that had him as a guest. I like him because he explains why certain things aren't accurate from a point of view of convenience and simplicity, for what was possible at the time.

He was present in a podcast where he spoke about the preparation and military life in Ancient Greece, which is his specific field of study. It was impressive, especially with the explanation of the etymology of every greek term related to soldier life, equipment, and social organization.

[calebwee]

"you have a spear, they have a hammer, just poke them"
I don't know why but this is funny

[TheNorthernWall]

I could watch an endless series of this man explaining and going in-depth on this sort of thing. It's super interesting!
Hopefully he's back soon.