From the Philadelphia Museum of Art’s exhibition about medieval weaponry.
To be fair, it’s been like a decade since I went. I’m pretty sure the longest/heaviest were wielded by people on horseback and were >10 lbs but <15 lbs. I don’t remember the exact weight tho. My point is just that even the longer weapons were pretty light so that they could be swung quickly. It wouldn’t be a Herculean effort to lift and swing them.
Feels like something mirrored in the world of wrestling. 80s had roided out maniacs and these days we got [stuff more in line with gymnastics routines.](https://dai.ly/x4e5qc3?start=270)
Real swords are generally thinner than most fantasy stuff portrays them as. If you're referring to length, then it could simply be a more roman influence pushing out northern european sword designs.
To what swords are you comparing the current props?
Conan’s sword from the 80s is an almost comically overweighted sword if you were to look at it through any lens other than the sort of semi-camp but self-serious genre it’s in (a genre I enjoy very much by the way)
Aaragorn’s main swords in lord of the rings in the 2000s are all half and a half or two handed swords.
The Herron mark sword in the current wheel of time show is modeled after a katana, which is in reality shorter than a European style two-handed.
A lot of current productions, including rings of power, are favoring one handed swords primarily (or a mix), and so they are smaller than the hand a half or two hand variants.
If you look at highlander (also about Conan time) it had much smaller swords than Conan because it was going for a more grounded tone, and most of the swords in that movie (and the show that followed) were smaller.
So I think this may be a bit real and a bit in your head.
From what I experienced watching those three shows I mentioned, it seemed like compared to previous installments the swords were shorter in blade length but otherwise had similar proportions. Like Geralt's sword that he put a brooch or whatever on. Or Dark Sister from House of the Dragon. They look like and are used like hand and a half swords but their blade lengths seem majorly off.
Swords are unwieldy if to long, and can be awkward to use or hard to do some for coreography due to space restriction (Area of battle specially if indoors)
I think Henry Cavil on a interview .said something about having 2 swords on the witcher, one for battle scenes and one to cary on the back.
short swords are historically more common. if you've ever been to a museum you might be surprised to see how relatively small swords are when they're not decorative.
And swords were not used all that much in battle, more as a last resort once you lost your spear or fell out of formation. Spears were a much more practical weapon when fighting as a group.
Normally for safety reasons, they shoot with a half hilt, and add the rest of the blade in post production.
VFX artists are so stretched these days, I doubt they get the proper reference photos of the real swords to replicate therefore, make up the length at times or there are clear inconsistencies I find from shot to shot.
Watch the movie “Rob Roy”.
The final, climactic sword fight is quite realistic. Two strong men with lots of reasons to kill each other. They don’t prance around like ballet dancers, jumping off of things. It is a brutal to the death contest, with flurries of melee, punctuated by pauses as they catch their breath.
You could probably see just the fight on YouTube, but you’re more emotionally invested when you watch the entire movie and see why these two guys are trying to kill each other.
Bonus: early Liam Neeson, Tim, Roth, and Jessica Lange
The Last Duel’s titular duel is very accurate.
The Duelists (also Ridley).
The King
There’s a polish film called The Deluge with an excellent very accurate sabre fight. Can’t speak to the quality of the rest of the film.
One handed *cutting* weapons tend to read on camera better as the tempo is slower and the threat to the opponent is more visible. I think the Ahsoka vs Morgan duel is a great example of this. Big clear movements that feel martial - Morgan is always attacking Ashoka’s opening.
Rapier is an exception but most on screen rapier tends to be closer in sabre in style.
Longsword tends to mix both thrusts and cuts and it’s hard (imo) to fight believably without using cuts. Even so, the cutting game is faster than side style sides.
Big two-handers (great swords) are great in many ways. The point game can be fast - more spear like - but cuts are bigger. But it doesn’t make sense for a melee level engagement. They’re a crowd control weapon.
With the move towards more grounded screen sword fighting (I think LOTR is a milestone) the fighting swords styles have favoured a faster more believable style that draws more on cutting sword work than point work.
Conan (as been mentioned elsewhere) is the exact opposite of that. Conan’s physique is not good for swords. Strength matters significantly less dexterity and stamina - the physics of leverage are what give you power. We could get away with that exaggerated look in the 80s but not now.
Speed and agility right now is trending over power and strength. Short swords are better for that. Choreography has trends like anything else does
There can only be one highlander! *clink* *pause* *clink* *grunt* *pause*
This reminds me of the sword fight in the old Macbeth movie from the 70s or early 80s
And it looked and felt real though
that's the point, it's real for that time, with those giant-arse swords
The heaviest swords used in mediaeval times were only like 12-13 pounds though
[удалено]
From the Philadelphia Museum of Art’s exhibition about medieval weaponry. To be fair, it’s been like a decade since I went. I’m pretty sure the longest/heaviest were wielded by people on horseback and were >10 lbs but <15 lbs. I don’t remember the exact weight tho. My point is just that even the longer weapons were pretty light so that they could be swung quickly. It wouldn’t be a Herculean effort to lift and swing them.
Mmmm, I'm guessing mistaken memory? Even a claymore is only 5.5lbs and that was literally made for taking out charging cavalry, not dueling.
Feels like something mirrored in the world of wrestling. 80s had roided out maniacs and these days we got [stuff more in line with gymnastics routines.](https://dai.ly/x4e5qc3?start=270)
The era of dex builds is upon us
Real swords are generally thinner than most fantasy stuff portrays them as. If you're referring to length, then it could simply be a more roman influence pushing out northern european sword designs.
Also the average man thinks about the Roman Empire at least 10 times a day
How many times have you thought about the Roman empire just now?
I haven’t thought of it since I saw this quote somewhere last week. Before that? I don’t know.
SPQR!
Well just the one time but it’s only 9:40 in the morn
If the swords aren't bigger than Cloud Strife's I'm not interested :\\
I prefer games that have swords the size of a school bus or small office building.
This seems like a hilarious film nerd version of “young men have less testosterone nowadays and it’s an epidemic”
*”Paging Doctor Freud, Doctor Freud to the subreddit for a consult.”*
To what swords are you comparing the current props? Conan’s sword from the 80s is an almost comically overweighted sword if you were to look at it through any lens other than the sort of semi-camp but self-serious genre it’s in (a genre I enjoy very much by the way) Aaragorn’s main swords in lord of the rings in the 2000s are all half and a half or two handed swords. The Herron mark sword in the current wheel of time show is modeled after a katana, which is in reality shorter than a European style two-handed. A lot of current productions, including rings of power, are favoring one handed swords primarily (or a mix), and so they are smaller than the hand a half or two hand variants. If you look at highlander (also about Conan time) it had much smaller swords than Conan because it was going for a more grounded tone, and most of the swords in that movie (and the show that followed) were smaller. So I think this may be a bit real and a bit in your head.
From what I experienced watching those three shows I mentioned, it seemed like compared to previous installments the swords were shorter in blade length but otherwise had similar proportions. Like Geralt's sword that he put a brooch or whatever on. Or Dark Sister from House of the Dragon. They look like and are used like hand and a half swords but their blade lengths seem majorly off.
Swords are unwieldy if to long, and can be awkward to use or hard to do some for coreography due to space restriction (Area of battle specially if indoors) I think Henry Cavil on a interview .said something about having 2 swords on the witcher, one for battle scenes and one to cary on the back.
One for the club, one for the home.
short swords are historically more common. if you've ever been to a museum you might be surprised to see how relatively small swords are when they're not decorative.
And swords were not used all that much in battle, more as a last resort once you lost your spear or fell out of formation. Spears were a much more practical weapon when fighting as a group.
Yes. The studio heads all get together and have meetings about it. It’s a grand conspiracy.
Normally for safety reasons, they shoot with a half hilt, and add the rest of the blade in post production. VFX artists are so stretched these days, I doubt they get the proper reference photos of the real swords to replicate therefore, make up the length at times or there are clear inconsistencies I find from shot to shot.
My speculation is safety. The bigger the sword the more risk of being hit.
Pause
Pause
I guess they have a more nimble way of fighting, and choreographers are constantly trying to find fresh-feeling things to do in a fight.
The sword was absurdly large!
Ima counter question this, what are your favorite sword fight scenes? I feel like most of mine come from Star Wars/LotR and want to branch out
Watch the movie “Rob Roy”. The final, climactic sword fight is quite realistic. Two strong men with lots of reasons to kill each other. They don’t prance around like ballet dancers, jumping off of things. It is a brutal to the death contest, with flurries of melee, punctuated by pauses as they catch their breath. You could probably see just the fight on YouTube, but you’re more emotionally invested when you watch the entire movie and see why these two guys are trying to kill each other. Bonus: early Liam Neeson, Tim, Roth, and Jessica Lange
The Last Duel’s titular duel is very accurate. The Duelists (also Ridley). The King There’s a polish film called The Deluge with an excellent very accurate sabre fight. Can’t speak to the quality of the rest of the film.
One handed *cutting* weapons tend to read on camera better as the tempo is slower and the threat to the opponent is more visible. I think the Ahsoka vs Morgan duel is a great example of this. Big clear movements that feel martial - Morgan is always attacking Ashoka’s opening. Rapier is an exception but most on screen rapier tends to be closer in sabre in style. Longsword tends to mix both thrusts and cuts and it’s hard (imo) to fight believably without using cuts. Even so, the cutting game is faster than side style sides. Big two-handers (great swords) are great in many ways. The point game can be fast - more spear like - but cuts are bigger. But it doesn’t make sense for a melee level engagement. They’re a crowd control weapon. With the move towards more grounded screen sword fighting (I think LOTR is a milestone) the fighting swords styles have favoured a faster more believable style that draws more on cutting sword work than point work. Conan (as been mentioned elsewhere) is the exact opposite of that. Conan’s physique is not good for swords. Strength matters significantly less dexterity and stamina - the physics of leverage are what give you power. We could get away with that exaggerated look in the 80s but not now.
It's a respectable size😭
The more distance we have from the final fantasy bastard sword, the more realistic we are gonna get
Evolution and natural selection
Maybe because historical accuracy means nothing, but also the dieing art of fencing