Roman gladiatorial events - Hollywood - a billion bucks - what would you do?

[Stand_watie]

**Important Caveat** your moral issues, for the sake of this discussion, are out the window. Your values are all about making a production that will be sensually gratifying to you.


Just an idea. I watched part of a Discovery channel production tonight. I think the name was something along the lines of "Rome, the power and the glory". They kept cutting away to  either a very early (circa 1920 - 1935) film, or they kept cutting away to a new film that was deliberately made to look that old to try and give viewers the impression that they were watching actual video of Roman events.

One of the most impressive scenes of that film was a 'Christian/versus lion in the gladiator ring' clip that was quite stunning.

Obviously my friends on the forum know I don't like to watch anyone be murdered, nor do I like to watch lions be killed, and yet I genuinely like to see a lion at it's full potential in attack mode. And a human at his/her full potential in defense mode. And a combination of the two. For that matter zebras and hyenas, giraffes and hippos, crocodiles and rhinos, and bison and alligators.  Or humans juxtaposed against any of the aformentioned.

So. Here is my question posed to the forum.

The caveat is that you don't have moral values that prevent you from abusing humans or animals. The intent is to create an incredible visual spectacle that will greatly titillate viewers of your moral persuasion. The theme is Roman gladatorial combat. The technological capability is modern Hollywood, and the budget is a billion bucks.

So, what do you do?

[drewtam]

Watching the carnage from the center of his line, a position now known as Lee's Hill, General Lee was quoted as saying, "It is well that war is so terrible, or we should grow too fond of it."

With the love of paintball, boxing, ultimate fighting and such I think it is obvious that we love the exhilaration of battle. In a scenario with morality our the window. Nothing short of large scale war would top the headliner.

Drew

[Stand_watie]

Watching the carnage from the center of his line, a position now known as Lee's Hill, General Lee was quoted as saying, "It is well that war is so terrible, or we should grow too fond of it."

With the love of paintball, boxing, ultimate fighting and such I think it is obvious that we love the exhilaration of battle. In a scenario with morality our the window. Nothing short of large scale war would top the headliner.

Drew

Be thankful Drew, that most humans have moral codes that substantially restrict their behavior.

I have to agree with General Lee's sentiments.

War as visual art is incredible. As reality it is (I believe, having never experienced it firsthand) utterly horrible.

[Snowdog]

There's some evidence that the Coliseum was flooded to recreate historic naval battles.  I suppose that's what's I'd go with if the funds were there.

[drewtam]

Be thankful Drew, that most humans have moral codes that substantially restrict their behavior.

Absolutely, it is the cases where this is not true that we find man at his most debased. The ruthlessness of real empires of centuries ago and today: from Egypt, Persia, Rome, Moors, Teutons, Mongols, English, French, Spanish, Turks, Ottomans, ...
And I don't mean the brutality of conquest either, bear in mind the thwarting of rebellions, and oppressions, repent or die, convert or die, and subjugating taxation placed on peoples throughout the ages.

I can't think of a single ethnic group, nationality, nation, race, or culture that hasn't at one point been enslaved as the defeated, sometimes being completely wiped out.

Live free or die!

Drew

[stevelyn]

So. Here is my question posed to the forum.

The caveat is that you don't have moral values that prevent you from abusing humans or animals. The intent is to create an incredible visual spectacle that will greatly titillate viewers of your moral persuasion. The theme is Roman gladatorial combat. The technological capability is modern Hollywood, and the budget is a billion bucks.

So, what do you do?

A billion $$$ will get you a state of the art stadium/collesium with high security, box seats, awesome camera angles, a satellite channel PPV only with production and broadcast staff so that it will be profitable and self perpetuating.
Recruit those from the prison system that are on deathrow or serving life sentences for violent crimes and espionage and..............................



























LET.......... THE.......... GAMES......... BEGIN!!!!!

Call me Caligula of the north.

[HankB]

The intent is to create an incredible visual spectacle that will greatly titillate viewers of your moral persuasion. The theme is Roman gladatorial combat. The technological capability is modern Hollywood, and the budget is a billion bucks. So, what do you do?

I would stage a REAL "Survivor" game.

I'd make it a TEAM sport.

I'd START by taking a remote island somewhere, with some interesting terrain, and put video cameras all over it. (Think along the lines of Arnie's movie The Running Man.) I'd put spears, swords, slings, all kinds of weapons around the island, and make the constestants search them out, just like in the video game Doom.

I'd put Aryan Nations types, Klansmen, and skinheads on one side of the island, and Black Panthers, Hanafi Moslems (Farrakhan's bunch), and black street gangs on the other side of the island. Then I'd let them fight it out. Maybe the survivors could face winners of a Latin Kings/MS-13 vs. Tong/Yakuza preliminary bout for the championship.

For man vs. animal matches, maybe I could capture some Iraqi/Iranian terrorists, and set them loose on an island with some genetically engineered wild boars (!) with a taste for people . . .

[Perd Hapley]

I'm thinking the three black groups you put together might not cooperate that well.

[Cosmoline]

With the reality TV shows getting more and more extreme, we're headed back to the gladiator days for sure.  How far is it from the bumfight videos to combat with weapons? 

As far as animals, unless you starve and torture them ahead of time they generally don't WANT to fight.  Why would a lion fight a bear?   There's nothing to gain from the conflict, and even the winner will probably be fatally wounded.  The exception comes with males who are fighting over breeding rights, but again unless humans throw the fight the males generally don't kill each other.  Male dogs in their natural state have a ruff of fur around their neck to protect them in this combat, plus an ancient and complex system of pecking order and body language that enables the one who is losing to bow out without getting killed.  Humans screw this up by breeding dogs who fight to the death no matter what, and encourage them by starving and torturing them.  I don't mind watching natural contests like this, but when they're staged for human gambling or sadism they sicken me. 

I wouldn't have as many objections to a human gladiator contest if the gladiators had the option of slaughtering annoying audience members.  But when the audience is protected they become sadists.

[Antibubba]

The events of real life are rarely as dramatic as what is portrayed in the movies, so I'd get the finest CGI techs and equipment and bluescreen it.  Then I'd spend a lot of money encouraging "rumors" that real animals were used, and that several actors actually died during filming, and their deaths were left in the film.  If I have no inhibition about killing human or animal, then lying about it should be even easier.   

[mfree]

What I think? Swords and shields, pikes and nets.... nah. They were fighting with the war weaponry of the time.

What's the war weaponry of the time now? Too advanced to use, really. But if we turn back the clock a bit, we get....

....

A new reality show. You take a bunch of people who are average joes, and you sit them down and train them to be pilots. Then you train them to be dogfighters. Then, you split them into three teams and over the Nevada desert, you pit them all against each other in.... oh.... let's give them some Sukhoi aerobatic aircraft modified with IR sensing equipment to simulate machine guns and automatic ejection seats in case anyone gets into real mechanical trouble, mid-air collision, etc.

Now *that* is a show I'd watch start to finish

[charby]

A sea battle in a arena would be the cats butt to see. Don't have to kill/hurt each other but use well played out acting and special effects.

[Werewolf]

I would set up:

1. 1000 acres of varied terrain containing the equivalent of a small village in the center. All parts of the area would be wired for sound and video.

2. Four teams of 30 persons each. No team member could have military, police or any other formal form of combat training. Each team would have it's choice of man portable weapons ranging from ancient to modern as they choose with the caveat that at least one team member must have chosen weapons from each major historical period. One crew served weapon per team would be allowed. After forming each team would choose a team leader and a 2nd in command. Further organizational structure would be determined by the teams. Each of the four teams would be isolated from the others and have 3 weeks in which to train and work with each other. 1 week off at the location of their choice and all expenses paid before the big event.

3. Teams would start at each of the four Major compass points in the battle area with their chosen weapons and a small supply of appropriate ammunition. The small village in the center would contain one very destructive weapon as well as food, medical supplies and large stocks of things like ammunition, arrows, bolts, grenades etc.

4. The winning team would be the one left after all the others are dead. Any team member trying to leave the area during the battle would be shot instantly after leaving.

5. The reward for the survivors would be a lifetime of all expenses paid up to some reasonable yearly maximum like $5 Million or so. The families of the deceased would receive say $100 grand a piece.

6. Show would air monthly.

[Joe Demko]

Small unit combat doesn't film well.  Too much footage of guys hugging the earth and shooting at other guys far away with neither side getting too many clear glimpses of each other.

No, I'd go with one-on-one combat in the arena with old fashioned hand weapons.  Think of how immediate a present-day boxing match looks on a high-definition screen.  Good clear lighting.  Multiple camera angles.  Microphones that pick up each thump and grunt.  What will sell this will be the close-ups where the audience can watch the life go out of the loser's eyes.  Over and over.

[Brad Johnson]

The technological capability is modern Hollywood, and the budget is a billion bucks.

I'd buy an HD digital handi-cam for 10 or 15 grand, shoot some vid of grass waving or some other irrelevant drivel, hand the tape over to the studio for distribution as a "modern expressive art" film, pay myself a 999,985,000.00 consulting fee, and retire.

Brad

[Perd Hapley]

Ground Rules
1.  No ranged weapons - all others welcome.
2.  Fight will be to death or surrender.

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