Modern Good Reads discussion

Battle scenes seem to be a must in action and adventure. I’m always amazed how some authors can have battles, in continuous action for pages. My fingers give out long before my characters do. In the movies, my all time favorite battle scene is in the first Lord of the Rings. It’s when they were in the dwarfs’ mountain hall and they are attacked by the enemy with a mountain troll. Any thoughts about your favorite battle scene?

I would have to say that my favorite battle seen would have to be in Kill Bill Volume 1 when the Bride takes out the katana-weilding swordsmen by herself. It is so perfectly stylized that I always find myself watching it when it comes on TV. I don't know if that counts as "epic" per se, but it is definitely awesome.

Mine are in War and Peace and in Cornwell's Sharpe series (the books now the BBC series).

I love the action in Matthew Reilly's books. The scenes are so big that they scream 'Make me into a Hollywood blockbuster'.

Wow, lots to choose from. I like it.

No way you can talk about this without mentioning several Star Wars films, the Matrix and Lord of The Rings.

But in books, there are several phenomenally awesome battle scenes throughout the Dark Tower series. The best by far is in Wizard and Glass, when three teenage gunslinger boys take on a whole swarm of bad guys.

Everything about the Dark Tower series is epic, and there's some kind of epic battle in just about every single book of the series.

J. wrote: "I would have to say that my favorite battle seen would have to be in Kill Bill Volume 1 when the Bride takes out the katana-weilding swordsmen by herself. It is so perfectly stylized that I always ..." Hey J, the best katana fight scene ever filmed was in the Lustbader ripoff movie The Hunted - the fight scene on a bullet train will simply blow you away and also the end swordplay in The Yakuza was incredible.

Best ever battle scene was the end sequence in The Wild Bunch. 30 gallons of blood was used.

Simon wrote: "Best ever battle scene was the end sequence in The Wild Bunch. 30 gallons of blood was used."

Great film. If it had been 30 barrels of whisky, Peckinpah would have drunk the lot!

Hmm, you have me thinking now. In film, guns = city on fire (which Tarantino ripped off with reservoir dogs (still like that too though)), swords = Zatoichi: the blind swordsman and unarmed would have to be either Bruce Lee in The Big Boss or Tony Jaa in Ong Bak.

Books? As mentioned above, Bernard Cornwall's Sharpe series was epic for battles, as was David Gemmell's Waylander et al.

I must make a distinction between fight scenes and battle scenes. Kill Bill I would consider a fight, battle scenes like the 'Last Samurai" or "Platoon" are my idea of battle. But the greatest of all the ones I have seen was a news reel from the 'Tank battle at Kursk. It was the filming of the actual 'Tank Assault' on the eastern front.

Yes that was incredible over 5k tanks used in that battle. My father was a UK tank commander and fought in the bloodiest worst battle ever - Monte Cassino - if ever a war film needed to be made that would be it.

Simon wrote: "Yes that was incredible over 5k tanks used in that battle. My father was a UK tank commander and fought in the bloodiest worst battle ever - Monte Cassino - if ever a war film needed to be made th..."

Germany produced a war film in the early 70's"Die Schlacht am Monte Kassino' the Battle for Monte Kassino. It was a true recount of their epic battle with British & Pattons American troops.

Erich wrote: "Simon wrote: "Yes that was incredible over 5k tanks used in that battle. My father was a UK tank commander and fought in the bloodiest worst battle ever - Monte Cassino - if ever a war film needed..." Thanks Erich, I will have to catch it.

Some of these battles are used today in military colleges as instructors try to come to grip with the mental toughness of the men that drove tanks. It is not only strategy that is discussed, it is the steel coffin fear they have to overcome.

Not just that Erich, my father told me the interior of a tank could exceed 200 degrees he often cooked bacon and eggs on the tanks surface. Imagine that heat with the engine going, guns blazing and full Italian summer sun and 4 men stuffed in a steel coffin. As the US called Sherman Tanks - Corporal Cookers.

I know, I drove a Leopard Tank in the early sixties!

I don't often see many great battles in books. Though Naomi Novak had some good ones in her Temeraire series.

On the screen...

I'm partial to space battles, and of those, the Battle of Endor in Star Wars VI will always be my favorite.

Riley wrote: "I love the action in Matthew Reilly's books. The scenes are so big that they scream 'Make me into a Hollywood blockbuster'."

I totally agree and am a big fan of the Scarecrow series, beginning with Ice Station. Some of Reilly's novels, including Ice Station I believe, have been optioned to Hollywood, but no rumors about pending film releases that I've heard.

The battle scenes in The Iliad and in War and Peace were certainly memorable and epic in scale. In War and Peace, Tolstoy makes you not only see, but feel each cannon ball as it hits the ground and explodes. In The Iliad, Homer proved himself to be the master of the battle scene in epic verse fiction, as he told the tale of the siege of Troy. There are some great battle scenes in Paradise Lost, in which John Milton describes the war in heaven, fought between the holy angels, led by the Archangel Michael, and the fallen, rebel angels, led by Satan. As far as films are concerned, there are some great battle scenes in the film released in the 1960's, called The Charge of the Light Brigade.

The 'Charge Of the Light Brigade' was less of a battle as it was the annihilation of the British cavalry. It paid credence to the stupidity of British Lords in the continuing slaughter of their men.
A true battle has the even matched or heroic fights of large contingents of men and weapons. Troy would fit, it exploits the modern way of subterfuge and clandestine wars. Recently I came across a account of Ghengis Khan and his horsemen destroying the middle east and attacking fortified Kabul. His battles consolidated the largest empire ever built. The Romans never reached the size in eight hundred years, Temudshin did it in thirty. One of the most memorable
battles to me is, Napoleons defeat at Waterloo... this is a subject to carry on for hours, not all of them are catalogued in books, many are just part of history.
Think of the Crusades, the taking of Constantinopel by Richard Plantagenet, astern Europe or Ottomans taking of eastern Europe. Or the Roman assault of Massada, where 300 Israelites held of 20,000 Romans.
Do I carry on, you bet I do, sorry but I will leave it with these words. "Old Warriors never Die, the dream of old battles'!

Wasn't there a great wizard and witches battle in the fifth volume of Harry Potter?

I think that the final battle scene in the movie, "Platoon", starring Charley Sheen and Wilem Defoe, was one of the most realistic and accurate ever portrayed by Hollywood.

Battle scenes...A few decades ago I visited the narrows of Thermopyle, remember the 300 Spartans and their King Leonidas. Five thousand slaves and lesser troops held Xerxes 200 000 men for a the time it took to save Greece, it allowed the Greek fleet to assemble and destroy the superior might of the Persian army. As history goes, this small battle at Thermopyle has no equal in importance. As a reminder today we stage Marathons to remember the run of one young warrior's run across the fields of Marathon that brings the message to Sparta. Those 300 Spartans stood their ground knowing they would never see home again. As Epic a battle as there ever was.

There are many amazing battle scenes in the James Clemens series "The Banned and the Banished." I loved reading through them, and thought that these books would make amazing movies!

Erich wrote: "Battle scenes...A few decades ago I visited the narrows of Thermopyle, remember the 300 Spartans and their King Leonidas. Five thousand slaves and lesser troops held Xerxes 200 000 men for a the ti..."

The Marathon run commemorates the battle of Marthon, which happened the First Persian War, not the battle of Thermopylae which happened during the Second. A nitpick, I know, but as they say "God is in the details".

Though personally, I'd say the Battle of Caen was the most epic battle. The 3rd Canadian Infantry Division held their own against the 12 SS Panzers and destroyed a full third of their unit. This happened immediately after the landings in Normandy, and ensured that the Germans were unable to throw the Allies in the Eastern Sector back into the sea.

And the month-long campaign in and around the city tied up four German Panzer Corps and allowed the US forces in the Western Sector to achieve a breakout, which led to the liberation of France and the beginning of the end of the war.

Then again, there hasn't been a decent movie made about the Battle of Kursk yet either. This was the greatest tank battle in history, and took place on the Eastern Front between the German and Red Army in 1943. The Wermacht was hoping to regain the iniative after losing the battles of Moscow and Stalingrad, and unleashed their best Panzer forces against the accumulated strength of the Russian war machine.

And after days and days of slow moving, back breaking fighting, it all culminated in two armored forces meeting each other in the same stretch of earth. A force of about 700 German tanks - including the new Tiger tanks - were sent in to break up the Russian defense while a force of 850 Russian tanks - 500 of which were T-34s - were deployed to break the German advance.

The two forces met up in at the summit of a hill, on a short space of earth just a few hundred meters from each other. Both sides came together in what was described as a "Clash of the Titans", engaging each other at near-point-blank range and destroying each other with single shots. After suffering heavy losses, both sides withdrew and prepared for another push.

But having realized that their plan of attack had failed, and facing an offensive by Allied forces in Sicily, Hitler cancelled the operation. The battle was not a decisive victory, but for the first time ever, the German army had been denied an advance. More importantly, their defeat in this battle led the German High Command to conclude that they were going to lose the war.

In terms of armored warfare, nothing approaching it has been accomplished since.

The Omaha Beach scene in the first 15 minutes of Saving Private Ryan. Intense.

A battle is composed of numerous co-ordinated small-unit firefights, occurring simultaneously in the same general area.

The realistic portrayal of a battle depends upon an author's ability to skillfully patch together the recollections of those who participated in the action, then link them all together; ultimately ending up with a cause and effect scenario, depicting the sum of the parts.

Hey all

Here is my YA adventure book, full of action to the very end, plus a bit of banter. I have a small sample below for you to come to an understanding of The Day Trip. I hope you enjoy. If you wish to add me, please feel free to do so. (sample below)
S W Cheshire
“Come on,” Max said, seeing where Bradley was looking. “She’s dead.”
The woman overheard them speaking and slowly opened her eyes, coughing up small drops of blood. She felt the blood pounding in her head. Police sirens wailed through her ears into her brain. She took a deep breath and felt her chest push out against the strong material of the seat belt. “Help!” she yelled. “Help me, please!” She feebly struggled to open her door.
“Shit!” Bradley gasped. “Come on.”
“Bradley, no,” Mr. Knightsbridge yelled. “Come on, we have got to get out of here.”
“We can’t just leave her,” Kevin said. “What would you want in her situation?”
Mr. Knightsbridge shook his head as Bradley led Kevin, Max and Eric over to the car. Then he followed close behind. Bradley dove to the ground to get a better view of the woman. The engine was smoking.
“You okay, miss?” he asked.
Blood was running down her face and mixing with her straight white-blonde hair. “I, I, I’m okay,” the woman gasped. “Get me out, please!”
“Okay, stay calm,” Bradley said to her. He got up and ran to the other side of the door, carefully army-crawling in the broken window. He winced as glass dug into his forearms and legs, but he had to release the woman’s seatbelt if she was going to get out. The smell of gas was overpowering.
“Kevin,” Bradley yelled.
Kevin leaned down and looked into the car. “What’s up?” he asked.
Bradley took a deep breath. “Remember that smashed up fire truck? Go and get me something like the jaws of life,” Bradley ordered.
“Got it,” Kevin said and left.
“And an extinguisher!” Bradley yelled as Kevin ran across the road towards the fire truck. “Just in case.”
Kevin ran inside the truck, but called out, “Eric, watch out!”
“For what?” he replied.
Kevin rolled his eyes as he searched every compartment he could find in the truck. “I don’t know, the green things?”
“Oh, right,” Eric replied. He walked around the truck to get a better view of where the Armazoids were attacking people a few streets away.
Kevin finally found what he was looking for and hauled the jaws of life and extinguisher over to Bradley, who was now standing outside the driver’s door assessing where he should cut without harming the woman. As Kevin passed over the jaws of life, he heard Eric scream. He whirled around to see two of the Armazoids coming towards him from the fire truck.
“Shit!” Kevin gasped. He pulled out the tiny plastic pin and activated the extinguisher. He pulled the silver hook and blasted the Armazoids away from him. As they were blinded by the foam, Kevin delivered two beautiful head kicks, knocking them out cold.
Bradley looked at Kevin and then the extinguisher. “Not what I had in mind,” he said, “but there we go.”
Thicker smoke started to billow from the hood of the sedan, and the woman began to wail. “Shit!” Bradley gasped. “Kevin, spray now.”
Kevin sprayed the car engine, struggling to find the source of the smoke. Bradley started cutting through the material—it wasn’t easy. “Come on,” he started to groan.
The thick black smoke started to fill the car, the lady finding it harder and harder to breath. Finally, the last of the material was cut. Bradley pried off the door and took the woman’s outstretch hands, helping her to avoid the sharp metal edges of the car frame.
Kevin watched Bradley help the lady until he saw some flames licking the inside of the engine compartment.
“Bradley, we gotta move.” He sniffed the air, the gas smell thick in the smoke. “This car is gonna blow!” He took the woman by the other elbow, and together, they ushered her out of harms way, followed closely by Mr. Knightsbridge, Max, and Eric.
The fire slowly crept into the engine, igniting the gas and fumes. The green sedan was thrown up into the air from the explosion. Bradley fell forward as the explosion rocketed through the street blasting other car windows out. He looked up at Kevin, who was helping the woman stay standing. They all turned their heads around and looked at the burning car.
“Jesus Christ!” the woman said. “Thank you so much.”
“No problem,” Bradley said. He lay back down on the ground.
“Come on,” Mr. Knightsbridge yelled. “We have to go.”
The woman continued to look at Bradley. “Name’s Amelia,” she said.
“Hi Amelia,” Bradley said. “Nice to meet you. We must go out for a drink sometime.”
“Hello,” Amelia replied, shaken up. “I think I am a bit too old for you.”
“After today,” Bradley said, “I think people will have a lot more on their minds than a younger man and an older woman dating.”
Bradley saw movement behind Amelia and quickly rose to his knees, looking behind her at a group of Armazoids charging towards them. “Move it, people,” he cried, shoving Amelia behind him. Mr. Knightsbridge and the other boys started running down the sidewalk, away from the aliens.






https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B01MR0HIU...