Line #31 Main/BattleEpic


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6	[[quoteright:350:[[Film/{{Gettysburg}} https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/915kaycvwgl_ri.jpg]]]]
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8	This is a subtrope of TheEpic or EpicMovie in which the course of an actual military campaign in some combination of RealLife or traditional history is the main subject. Because of this, the plot, setting, and characters will come pre-constructed. This decreases flexibility but saves work for the author, though he still has enough to do. It is written from an authorial omniscience perspective and shows the viewpoint of one HistoricalDomainCharacter after another on both sides. It has the advantage that these are usually written about a real battle. This type leans heavily on special effects.
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10	If the title of a movie is the same as the name by which a campaign is recorded in historical accounts, that is a clue that this is a Battle Epic.
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12	This trope is OlderThanFeudalism. However it is most common in {{film}}s. Sometimes it can be a TV {{mini series}}.
13
14	See also the index MilitaryAndWarfareWorks.
15	-----
16	!!Examples
17	[[foldercontrol]]
18
19	[[folder:Art]]
20	* ''Art/TheBayeuxTapestry'': A 70-meter embroidery recounting the conquest of England by the Normans, culminating in the battle of Hastings. Its main characters are Harold Godwinson, Earl of Wessex (who subsequently becomes King of England) and William the Conqueror, Duke of Normandy (who also later becomes King of England, by defeating and killing Harold Godwinson at the Battle of Hastings).
21	[[/folder]]
22
23	[[folder:Films -- Live-Action]]
24	* ''Film/ThreeHundred'', and its sequel ''[[Film/ThreeHundredRiseOfAnEmpire Rise of an Empire]]'': an interpretative, badass retelling of two of the major campaigns of the Greco-Persian Wars - Thermopylae and Salamis, respectively.
25	* ''Film/The300Spartans'' -- Inspired the comic book that inspired the above film.
26	* ''Film/AlexanderNevsky'' chronicles the Battle on the Ice between the Republic of Novgorod and the Teutonic Knights.
27	* ''Film/{{Austerlitz}}'' depicts UsefulNotes/NapoleonBonaparte's first days as Emperor of the French and his greatest military victory, against a coalition of Austrians and Russians.
28	* ''Film/BattleOfBritain''
29	* ''Film/BattleOfTheBulge''
30	* ''Film/BattleOfMoscow'' is a two-part epic running nearly six hours in total, employing the proverbial cast of thousands to depict not just the climactic battle of Moscow, but actually the entire 1941 Barbarossa campaign from the prelude, to the German attack, to the Germans slowing down and stalling, and finally the Russian counterattack before the gates of Moscow.
31	* ''Film/BattleOfOkinawa''
32	* ''Film/BlackHawkDown'': About the Battle of Mogadishu.
33	* ''Film/ABridgeTooFar''
34	* ''Film/{{Gettysburg}}'' (1993): About one of the largest battles of the UsefulNotes/TheAmericanCivilWar.
35	* ''Gods And Generals'' (2003): Follows the first half of the UsefulNotes/TheAmericanCivilWar, focusing on the career of Thomas "Stonewall" Jackson, and featuring the battles of 1st Bull Run (a.k.a. 1st Manassas), Fredericksburg, and Chancellorsville. Based on the novel with the same name by Jeffrey Shaara.
36	* ''[[Film/HarryPotterAndTheDeathlyHallows Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2]]''
37	* ''Film/KingdomOfHeaven''
38	* ''Film/TheLongestDay''
39	* ''Film/Midway1976''
40	* ''Film/Midway2019''
41	* ''Film/{{Patton}}''
42	* ''Film/RedCliff'' (2009): FilmOfTheBook of ''Literature/RomanceOfTheThreeKingdoms'', directed by Creator/JohnWoo.
43	* Franchise/TolkiensLegendarium:
44	** ''Film/TheLordOfTheRingsTheTwoTowers'' builds up towards and features the Battle of Helm's Deep, between the besieged people of Rohan helped by the disbanded Fellowship of the Ring and Saruman's army of Orc hybrids, the Uruk-hai.
45	** ''Film/TheLordOfTheRingsTheReturnOfTheKing'' has the Siege of Minas Tirith and the Battle of the Pelennor Fields between Gondor, the allies of Gondor and Sauron's forces at its center, plus the Battle of the Black Gate at the end to serve as diversion to allow Frodo Baggins to destroy the One Ring.
46	** ''[[Film/TheHobbit The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies]]'' is about the Dwarf, Elf and Orc conflict over The Lonely Mountain, Erebor, and the treasure within left after Smaug's death, in particular [[MacGuffin The Arkenstone]].
47	* ''Film/ToraToraTora'' (1970): The attack on Pearl Harbor, told from both perspectives.
48	* ''Film/{{Waterloo}}'': Depicts UsefulNotes/NapoleonBonaparte's return from his first exile, his attempts to defeat the coalition of allies against him, and the climactic battle at Waterloo. Included the use of over ''17,000'' extras, (15,000 Red Army soldiers as infantry, and over 2,000 trained horsemen) to give the scenes the epic scope required. It is often said, only half jokingly, that during filming director Creator/SergeiBondarchuk commanded one of the largest armies in the world.
49	[[/folder]]
50
51	[[folder:Literature]]
52	* ''Literature/TheBattleOfMaldon'': Fragmentary Old English epic poem about a historical battle between Anglo-Saxons and Vikings in the 990s CE.
53	* ''Literature/TheCattleRaidOfCooley'': Ancient Irish prose epic about a war between the two enemy kingdoms Connacht and Ulster.
54	* ''Literature/TheIliad'': Possibly TropeMaker. It was thought to be essentially historical ([[SadlyMythtaken if not in every detail]]) by the listeners.
55	* ''Literature/RomanceOfTheThreeKingdoms'': Likely more close to history than Iliad.
56	* ''Literature/TheSongOfRoland'': Medieval epic around the clash of Franks and Saracens at Roncesvalles in the Pyrenees, 778 CE.[[note]]In actual history it were the Basques, not the Saracens, but it's exactly the kind of thing you can expect from those nasty Saracens![[/note]]
57	* ''Literature/TheTaleOfStyrbjorn:'' An exiled Viking prince battles his uncle for the kingdom of Sweden. A short tale thanks to its extreme condensation, but epic in scope.
58	[[/folder]]
59
60	[[folder:Live-Action TV]]
61	* ''Series/{{Masada}}'', about TheSiege of the eponymous fortress during the UsefulNotes/JewishRevolts, although it's more of a slow burn with few actual battle stuff happening.
62	* ''Series/SovietStormWorldWarIIInTheEast'': an 18-part documentary series focusing on the Soviet Union's role during UsefulNotes/WorldWarII.
63	[[/folder]]
64
65	[[folder:Video Games]]
66	* ''VideoGame/CallOfDuty2'''s single-player campaign is depicted this way, complete with documentary-style narrations over StockFootage during the beginning of each campaign and chapter.
67	* ''VideoGame/RedOrchestra2HeroesOfStalingrad'' has both single-player campaigns depicted this way, complete with {{rousing speech}}es and epic music during each cutscene.
68	[[/folder]]

Context Main / BattleEpic