Medieval Weapons Master Rates 11 Weapons And Armor In Movies And TV | How Real Is It? | Insider
Tobias Capwell is the curator of arms and armor at The Wallace Collection in London. Here, he reacts to 11 memorable scenes featuring medieval weapons and armor and rates them based on their historical accuracy.
Capwell looks at armor and weapons within fantasy franchises, such as Sauron's armor in the battle of Orodruin in "The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring" (2001). He addresses how helmets in "The Mandalorian" (2019) are influenced by Greek and Corinthian styles. Using artifacts from The Wallace Collection, Capwell addresses the realism of flails and maces as seen in "The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King" (2003). And he rates how realistic shields and swords are in "Vikings" (2014) and "The Last Kingdom" (2015).
Is it possible to reforge swords, as seen in "Game of Thrones" (2011)? And how difficult would it be to fight in mud in full armor, like Robert Pattinson and Timothée Chalamet do in "The King" (2019)? Does knightly combat look anything like "Excalibur" (1981), "El Cid" (1961), and "Tale of Tales" (2015)?
Tobias Capwell is an author, lecturer, broadcaster, and the curator of arms and armor at The Wallace Collection in London. He has been a horseman and martial artist since childhood, is a founding member of the modern historical jousting community, and has fought in major international tournaments all over the world. Capwell has written many books and articles on weapons, armor, tournaments, and knighthood, including "Armour of the English Knight 1400-1450," "Arms and Armour of the Medieval Joust," and "Masterpieces of European Arms and Armour in the Wallace Collection." In 2015 he had the honor of serving as one of the two fully armored knights who escorted the remains of King Richard III from the battlefield at Bosworth to their final resting place in Leicester Cathedral.
Find out more about The Wallace Collection here:
www.wallacecollection.org/wha...
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Medieval Weapons Master Rates 11 Weapons And Armor In Movies And TV | How Real Is It?
I like how he respects fantasy for what it is, but then becomes incredibly critical of stuff that's meant to be somewhat more realistic.
because point of sauron and witchking them being unbelievably powerful
That's a great point, it's really important to consider the rules of the world in which a film is set. If it's set in historical reality then make it historically realistic. If it's set in Tolkien's Middle Earth, then you follow Tolkien's rules, and so on.
True-too many of these experts discount the “Miracle exemption,” that you get in fantasy and things like superhero movies. It gets old hearing these guys try and discount the physics of Superman or an ogre’s fencing technique lol
@@Auriflamme what's there to respect, a medieval guy reviews a fantasy world? He just says how impressive it looks, sounds more like a Tolkien fanboy
@@jozaHC In terms of bait, that was pretty weak. But you're trying, so there's that I suppose. Au revoir.
“He walks onto the battle and you immediately know everything you need to know about this guy.” Best non-Tolkien description of Sauron I’ve ever heard.
Oo
Pretty much Just give up if it happens
Literally read this as he was saying it 😂
Also never new that the armor of Sauron was actual armor for the films. That just made my day
@@spacetacos7574 unless you are Luthien
I love that he included the bit with The Mandalorian about the armor being an expression of the person and the close relation of the both to each other. Such a perfect synopsis of the Mandalorians. Plus, his respect of fantasy metered by his criticism of it is to die for!
He'd go nanners over Sabine Wren. As she not only does the same thing, but she takes it to 11.
Word. Intelligent criticism _is_ respect. I doubt very much that he'd bother analysing stuff like ( _urrrrgh_ ) Dragonquest, which doesn't even try to get anything right.
He didn't say 'armor' he said 'armorer' when talking about the relationship.
makes sense a knight became famous or infamous in the minds of their opponents because you never 'knew' them, they just knew their presence, their armour, the way they moved etc
@@tcrpgfan although I'm not sure she's supposed to, does she have Beskar or Durasteel?
I've been a Smith for 20 years. Toby knows exactly what he's talking about, on every single point. This is a fantastic fact vs fantasy introduction for anyone who wants to know about the actual properties of historical arms and armor.
He's right on the armoring and smithing, but he needs a lot of work on his metallurgical skills. Cast iron is iron with a carbon content of over 2% up to typically no more than 4.5%, and silicate impurities typically in the 0.5% to 3% range. Taking good carbon steel, melting it, and reforming it won't magically add more carbon to make it cast iron. He's also wrong about steel manufacturing; the process he's describing is bloomery steel, which was done because they physically couldn't get the iron up to the melting point, not because it's somehow better. Later methods, developed in the 18th century and used to this day, absolutely do fully melt the iron and skim off the slag before mixing in the carbon and alloying agents. Sorry to drop that on you, but I saw your comment right as he was talking about it and I had to let it out.
@@Just_A_Dude the scene discussed plays in a fantasy world that corresponds to european middle ages (+ dragons and some magic), so wouldn't his description of the reforging process be adequate to what one would expect from the setting?
@@Hokum6 No, because he's not invoking fantasy tropes. He's talking incorrect facts about actual historical processes.
"You can be run over by a horse in full plate armor and you'll be just fine..... I've seen it happen" Cracked me up
The man he's likely talking about had an online lecture last Saturday😂
@@Velkan1396 Sauce please
@@Velkan1396 Thank you
Dude when he said that it was 15 century jousting and said he seen it happened, I was like "dude u time traveler?"...
Yeah I've accidentally driven my car over one of my helms and it was ok, so I can see where he's coming from. I've also fallen 3 meters in full plate and barely felt it (yes, I'm unco-ordinated and absent-minded).
"In the 15th Century, if you are wearing full plate armor, you can be run over by a horse and be fine, I've seen it happen" - Totally not a time traveler
Bad day at the Renaissance Festival.
totally not
he participates in a modern jousting competitions, obviously he is referring to them
Uhm yeah maybe if it is a lightweight pony, and you have an armour sloped like the T-34
Steel back then was very hard and brittle so you probably could as it wouldn't crush. Until crossbows came along armoured knights basically were teminators.
I appreciate how he still keeps the moving intention in mind when they are deviating from history. The Sauron flail remove was excellent because it was vaguely historical but the intention wasn't for true accuracy, it was to display what a horrifying sorcerer warrior would be wielding.
That's the witch king of angmar not Sauron
@@ronankelly376 I stand corrected!
Its easy for an expert or "expert" to pick apart things in fantasy settings and get worked up about their unreality, but the way this guy appreciates fantasy creations for their story telling/world building value and reserves the technical criticism for stuff that takes itself seriously shows understanding AND taste.
"I'll give it a 2, because it's funny and it's Nicolas Cage" would fit 90% of Nicolas Cages movies
Without Nic it’s a -5 with Nicolas cage it’s at least a two 😂
I love how the most hilarious thing turns out to be not some outrageous inaccuracy, but Nick Cage's face reveal.
Gold!
Get in the cage!
bruh. his arms dealing movie was pretty legit. kinda like the biden family except the drug addict doesnt die (yet) and that revolver scene with the african warlord had me rollin also his drug addict brother didtn do parmesan cheese
"800 years wrong" to put it into perspective, it is like depicting the Fourth Crusade being fought with guided missiles launched from remotely controlled drones.
Hm, I’d watch this
Funny, but not very fair. The advancement in technology and science in the last 200 years is incomparable to anything before.
@@Vaqek Yes and no. While the last 200 years are impressive and "fast-paced" 800 years in any context is bad. Greeks from the antiquity would have been trashed by medieval advancements. 800 years of blacksmithing technique is the difference between crossing your fingers hoping the guy in front of you doesn't have anything better than a woodcutter's axe (which was a common levy weapon for the anglo-saxons) and giving your opponent a murderous glare after recieving a bash in the head.
@@k.v.7681 Yeah but the greeks would still be able to take alot of knights with them. Now we'd just press a button from 100km away while having some milk and cookies and BOOM no more greeks or knights... or anything.
@@muigetsu3629 Greeks at bronze, knights had steel im sorry but that aint happening
I love how he appreciated the witch kings flail for what it is, even though realistically it’s pretty stupid in many ways. They went through like 5 different models of the flail and Peter Jackson kept saying it needed to be bigger to have the right impact, and he was right
I don't know if it's true, but I would LOVE IT if the actress who played Eowyn never saw the flail until they brought it out. Her expression already screams "the f**k is THAT? You want me to WHAT? BlOcK THAT?" If she had never seen it before, then that would have been the best, most accurate reaction of the whole trilogy. If she did get to see it beforehand, then she sure pretended she hadn't.
Didn't they have to get a green screen guy to help lift it up because of how big and heavy it was?
@@mereenbeanz I think there was a guy helping lift it, but I don't know if he was actually green-screened. The first shot of the Witch King lifting the flail (the real close up shot) doesn't actually show the bottom.
... imagine getting to swing a washingmachine in a chain... yeah, that big...
20+ years later and PJackson and Weta Workshops' practical effects holds up. Betchu it'll still hold up well in 20 *more* years.
I love the "Stop that!" when they melted down the swords, said like he's scolding a cat scratching the furniture. 😆 Yeah, for a series that prides itself on "realism" in comparison to other fantasy series (book and show), there are some times when they bungled that "realism" when they didn't have to (see also Viserys' death, gold does not melt that fast).
So dragons are realistic and dothraki horseback Riders ?! 😅 I'm sorry, I'm a GOT Fan, but to say it's realistic in this sense is preposterous. In things regarding human psychology it might be
@@deri1432 I'm referring more to the aspects of life in the "middle ages" that the books and show attempt to mirror, obviously not the dragons lol.
@@Satellite_Of_Love Which is always ironic because both the books and the show have a completely inaccurate, inauthentic and ultimately extremely unrealistic depiction of medieval society (though the show is far more egregious when it comes to errors of basic logic, frequently showing ciivlisations that are not only inaccurate to the medieval period but inaccurate to reality itself), both in Westeros and in the cultures across the narrow sea (but ESPECIALLY the Dothraki). For a world that implicitly markets itself as being "fantasy but as it really was", it's a frankly insultingly poor representation of the middle ages, and it has done yet more catastrophic damage to the popular imagination of the period
Different kind of realism. They mean realism as in, "Yeah, they really did be murdering like that."
@@deri1432 The Dothraki are actually explicitly held up as being "based heavily on real horse nomad cultures, with just a dash of fantasy." Normally I agree with this attitude, but GoT marketed itself HARD on "medieval realism" so it's valid to critique that instead of waving it away as fantasy. If they wanted people to wave it away as fantasy (which, again, in 99% of contexts is totally valid) they shouldn't have insisted that it was totally historically accurate other than the dragons.
Mandalorian gets 10/10. This is the way.
He has spoken.
This is THE way
This is the way
This is the way
This is the way.
Me: What a nice armour!!! Toby: that armour looks like trash Me: Yeah definetly it's trash
That's me with any of these videos
@@Dymodeus1 It looks good.
I was so disappointed when I saw the king, so I'm glad it's not just me.
@@sergarlantyrell7847 I think if they’d just tell the story as best as they could, the end product would’ve been more entertaining. Edit: *historical event, not story, my bad.
@@tombingham7455 The whole "lets take off all our armour bar a breastplate and ambush them from the sides" thing they presented was ridiculous! If anything the English knights had heavier armour than the french ones (because they fought on foot while the French, on horseback could get away with less).
As a LOTR fan, seeing every LOTR clip be given a 10/10 that it truly deserves makes me happy 😁
Honestly one of the best guests they've had. He really knows his stuff as a historian and as someone with real experience. He respects that fantasy is all a bit silly and make-believe and that expressing story and character is genuinely really important in that medium. He understands when some mistakes are inevitable and when the movie makers just tried to do something cool and is more than willing to call them out on it. Wish we had more people like this coming on.
I love the way he looks at the Lord of the Rings scenes. Kind of describes that typically normal knight wouldn’t use these items, but takes the context of the villain into account for the weapons. Very open thought processes!
Yea, I really loved how he didn't Just simply compared those scenes to their historical accuracy but also involves if it makes sence in the moment
Except he says Methal metal instead of Mithril. Cringe
@@balthasar7282 He did say 'metal' because he meant 'metal'. He was talking about how the prop designers used real metal instead of painted plastic and really acid etched the decorations. He wasn't talking about the fantasy material.
He's far too generous with that ridiculous huge-ass flail; that's so over the top, it nearly ruined the scene for me when I saw it in the theatre.
@@ArkadiBolschek It wasn't even described as a flail originally. It was a mace, which was probably a conscious decision, since they are also seen as symbols of authority.
Mandalorian, Sauron and his minions: 10/10. Things trying to be historically accurate: Disgusting. And the funny thing is he's right
in the fantasy at least the armor does stuff
The sad thing is: a lot of the fantasy did more work at doing realistic armor. Doesn't matter whether it's Westeros or the Norman invasion: unless there's some magic/prophecy protecting you, a cast-iron sword, an ill-fitting helmet and and unprotected jugular gets you killed. And like armor, magic has to obey it's own rules - relying on prophecies with a loop hole is as unhealthy as relying on a shield with air vents. Let that be a lesson to you, Witch-king ;)
Tolkien and Peter Jackson took Lord of the Rings EXTREMELY seriously. Same with Lucas and Star Wars.
Well, the point is that these movies weren't even trying to be accurate despite supposedly depicting historical events
Good fantasy makes sense it its own setting. Badly made historical movies don't make sense in their own setting, which would be reality.
Toby is a really cool guy. I like that he can separate historical fiction from fantasy. I feel like he had to have had way more comments that got cut out. That dude is a legend
Toby is an absolute legend. Anyone not knowing who he is, I strongly recommend checking out the armours he made for himself.
He's in another video on this channel where he and David Rawlings of the London Longsword Academy comment on duels.
I really like that he's able to separate artistic license from historical inaccuracy. It's really refreshing for a guest on this show to do that. It's fantastic 10/10
So he did that with The King?
@@martineberhardt2205 Yes because badass hand made armour to portray the fictional Dark Lord Sauron = Crappy ill fitting inaccurate armour in a movie portraying the real life Battle of Agincourt
Sure doesn’t extend it to game of thrones which is a universe with magical swords and consistently impractical armor (because the point of armor in that universe is aesthetic over function and frequently gets characters killed).
@@Alphabunsquad Game of Thrones, while it is a fantasy story, is much more grounded when it comes to things like armor and weapons. It gives the impression that it is trying to portray a realistic word, that incorporates fantasy, more than lord of the rings. In the books the armor is far more aesthetic, but in the show it's a lot more practical. Just my take, anyways.
I’ve seen most of the historical warfare/ combat / weapon experts do that
Describing the Witch King of Angmar as having an 'evil Statue of Liberty aesthetic' is the most accurate thing I've heard in a while.
Petition to put the Witch King of Angmar on Liberty Island
@Jesus has given you all. Repent or die. I don't think it is a right place to preach sir
The funny part about the Witch King's mace is Peter Jackson kept telling the guys at Weta Workshop to make it bigger and bigger, and everybody was so embarrassed at how big it was they didn't want to take it onto set.
If anyone wants more of Toby Capwell talking about armour, I recommend watching or listening to one of his lectures online. Or if you’re a total nerd like me, you can read his thesis on English style armour
This guy reviewing movies reminds me of watching my highschool teacher grading my tests in front of me
The look of disappointment and frustration jajaj 😂
@@D-Z321 Ooh, damn. That's a hella quick and insightful burn. But validity is lost since you didn't even capitalize the one letter in the whole message that represents YOU.
Same thought! And a _nice_ teacher, too, because most of the time he seems to be genuinely hurt by the shoddy work his students / writers / costume & prop designers are handing in.
upon seeing Nick Cage, he laughed so hard that he cried
Lol
and because of that he give 2 score :D
To be fair thats how i react to nick cage too
What is so funny to see Nick Cage? I don't get it.
@@AndrewNiccol Because he take to much B movie role after his bankruptcy and made some funny/crazy performance.
0:34 First Clip: Mandalorian 10/10 4:04 Second Clip: Vikings 3/10 5:21 Third Clip: The lord Of Rings 10/10 7:38 Fourth Clip: The King 1/10 10:16 Fifth Clip: El Cid 5/10 12:57 Sixth Clip: Tale of Tales 7/10 14:04 Seventh Clip: Game of Thrones 0/10 15:32 Eight Clip: The lord Of Rings 10/10 17:10 Ninth Clip: The last Kingdom 0/10 18:45 Tenth Clip: Excullbur 7/10 20:37 Eleventh Clip: Season of the witch 2/10
You forgot the end of the clip where he’s crying 😂
@@steener5884 21:24 twelfþ Clip: Expert crying from laughing 7.8/10 too much water
9:35 “don’t take turns, he will kill all of you…” this made me cackle, idk why. Great video
21:19 *"I give it a 2 because it's funny and it's Nicholas Cage"* gold
Can't argue with that
Sounds like the ratings for most of Nick's films
Also crossbow does not fire fast? close to half speed of sound - that would be fast.
My uncle worked on the film Excalibur as a horse consultant, because they needed to source horses that could handle the weight of the riders in metal armour (so yes - it was "real" armour). The director, John Boorman, had a jack russell terrier that he'd bring with him on set. One day, the dog got loose and started zooming around the set spooking the horses. Boorman chased after it, followed by assorted assistants & crew, and eventually most of the fully armoured actors & stuntmen were all trying, in vain, to catch the dog. My uncle said it was one the maddest, most surreal things he'd ever seen.
Didn't they mainly used big ass horses back in the day to use their body mass as a ram or so? I wouldn't have thought the weight of the armor made much difference since its what, about 30kg for a suit of plate plus what goes underneath?
@@hernerweisenberg7052 iirc one of the big reasons why they started to breed “big” horses (aka normal horses today) was to support the weight of armored riders. If you look at breeds like Icelandic horses that are pretty much unchanged since the 10th century, they’re almost pony sized by today’s standards. That said, horses can’t run around all day with bubbas that eat their big Mac’s every day, smaller to average horses (mustangs etc) have a practical weight limit of around 250lbs rider and tack. Tack isn’t terribly heavy so if someone was utilizing 90lbs of armor/equipment, you’d be good to probably have a 150lb guy on there if you wanted to be able to ride all day, gallop, etc
@@HH60gPaveHawk 90lbs would be a *lot* of armor, that would probably have to include considerable horse armor.
@@briankearney5994 That was meant to include both rider and barding. Barding could weigh up to 90 lbs, so I figured 35 lbs for rider and the balance for barding would be reasonable for a well equipped knight.
@@briankearney5994 90lbs would be typical for full armor, including the gambeson and clothing underneath
The thing about metal having a unique look is what took Viggo Mortensen using his metalsword in most of the scenes instead of the plastik or aluminium one. Because he said it looked unreal using them.
I love this dudes attitude, unlike some people he actually knows about the content and takes it contextually while applying realism to it. Big kudos
I remember seeing something about how the props guys kept going to Peter Jackson with bigger and bigger flails and he just kept sending them back to make it even bigger.
And the hawaiian stunt guy named it "damned heavy" because it was damned heavy, lol. it was a behind the scenes footage of some sorts, you remember correct
@@bugrilyus yah I remember the actor barely being able to lift it up because the flair was just that ridiculously huge.
@@BaconBeast11 and in one of the shots they had to have a guy lying under it holding it up
yes I've seen this footage as well that flail was basically the max weight for the actor to swing it
Saw a clip of Peter Jackson trying to use it and almost falling over. 😂
Imagine a star wars movie is more accurate than other medieval style movie *This is the way*
Its not more accurate. Saying that is wrong. It has no accuracy at all and it never will because we have no real reference point. When it comes to fantasy you can only ever comment on the plausiblity in the given setting and effectiveness as a storytelling device. Meanwhile in a historical movie you always have actual history to reference in addiation to all the other stuff. That makes being plausible a MUCH MUCH MUCH higher bar to cross. Which is why Tobias Capwell here is clearly applying two wildly different measures depeding on if the movie has a fictional or historical context.
@@TheShowdown16 Yes they do have real historic reference in samurai outfits and armor and you can see that pattern in whole movie.There would not be star wars today if Akira Kurosawa didn't exist.
@@dado380 So you think just because some design elements in a fantasy movie have been inspired by real objects makes them historically accurate? (btw. We humans never come up with entirely new stuff we are always just recombinig existing knowledge or drawing conclusions. The only way we ever arrive at entirely new ideas is if our environment slams them in our face. So by necessity every fantasy story is entirely an amalgamation of the authors inspirations)
@@TheShowdown16 Yes because their take on inspired armor is more accurate, you see Mando using his armor like how an armor should be, then you see the knights on other movies where they get pierce on straight through the armor no matter how thick.
@@notashark5189 The hole point of what I'm saying is the armor may be plausible but we have no way of knowing how accurate it might be because the hole setting is made up, god dammit.
This guy or medieval weapons expert was the coolest and his explanations were the best of em all.. He was straight up and called out production failures etc.. His reactions were the best
I love the authentic reaction to the sword being taken apart.
There's a delightful amount of quiet intensity Mr. Capwell's commentary, especially at 9:19. "This knight is a person trained to fight and kill people since he was a child... don't take turns, because he will kill all of you."
For some reason the way he explained it just made it so much funnier.
The part I love the most is he craps on the age old troupe of 10 guys politely dancing around the hero and come up one by one.
I always crack up at the part where he says "Yeah he'd be dead. He'd... very dead. One man can't attack a shield wall like that."
I love his line about how you can be run over by a horse in full plate armor and youll be just fine. "Ive seen it happen"
As a Blacksmith I am so glad he talked about the melting and recasting of the GoT swords. oh how that scene irks me 😡 "I don't care if it looks good on screen, it's DUMB!" This guy 10/10!!
Definitely! It's a blatant homage to the scene in Conan the Barbarian film because the writers were lazy.
For what it's worth, melting and recasting are the only way to make new Valerian steel swords in the books because there is no way to get new Valerian steel, and this is what that particular scene was trying to reference, as that is what happens to Ned Stark's sword in the books. So, in this case it's GRR Martin's fault.
@@noctisocculta4820 Casting is how you would make bronze weapons, I think. It is weird how TV and movies keep showing those techniques for steel.
@@Arday60 It's also good to point out valyrian steel is magical in nature and doesn't really need to adhere to real world metallurgy.
To be fair, GoT is a fantasy series and that sword was made out of valyrian steel. Not saying you're wrong, just that you have to take the things I wrote into account
I wish we could get more Tobias. I love this man's demeanor and the way he explains everything in such detail!
I just love the blend of old and new in this Insider. One of the very best analysis videos of its kind. Just a joy to watch.
Loved how he is giving us a tips on how to fight an experienced knight with full heavy metal armor
The knight will probably start on a horse. Kill the horse with pikes or firearms, depending on the formation. Now the knight is on the ground, and probably stunned from the fall. Stab at the poorly armored places, because the joint must move. So stab into the armpit, under the chin, or at the crotch. This is how Swiss pikemen ground up cavalry and made infantry the queen of the battlefield.
50 cal ought to do it ;)
@@jeffreypierson2064 If you have firearms, dont bother with the horse... Plate cant hold a round being fired
Yea, I made my twin sister come watch with me, in case we ever got in that situation. Gotta be prepared!
@@Covac713 Actually it can if it is an early firearm. The term "fireproof" comes from smiths shooting in their own armor to prove the armour cold stop a bullet.
Can we please have more Toby Capwell? He's just fantastic. Critical without being overly rude and well-educated. Super!
Also hilarious
he is great, sure
you might like Todd's Workshop's Video: Arrows vs armor. He, Todd and 3 experts on Archery, Fletching and Armorsmithing are having a real blast seeing if a well crafted piece of armor stands up to well-placed and well crafted arrow from a 160 lbs warbow. Everything as historically accurate as possible (I think they took the Battle of Agincourt as a timestamp).
@@irotschopf7135 Seconded! Also, if you're interested in Dr Capwell's more academic work, there's several of his lectures here on KZhead - search his name.
I love watching Tobias Capwell, he knows his stuff and backs it up with practice. Great educator.
1:40-1:45 I love this quote because the word for armor in Mandalorian is Beskar'gam, literally translating to "iron skin." This perfect symbolism because the armor and the steel Mandalorian's use is a part of their identity.
I just love how he relentlessly rates LOTR 10/10 every time. That's our boy Toby!
He's got a point though. LOTR is fantasy. But it's also actually plausible within the 'laws' of that universe. The ordinary people don't have outrages gear or weapons. Only the mythical beings like Sauron and the Nazgul have those. And even then those weapons are armour, while being very dramatic and over-sized, are still plausible enough.
@@b.elzebub9252 Gondor had pretty robust armor and basically their entire army was outfitted in it.
@@sithlordzach8418 It plausible because it is in their culture to make fantasy looking like that. After all, they were once walking side be side with those mythical being in super fancy armor. You gotta make your forebears proud!
@@deviancepurplehaze6045 Yes, The men of Gondor are descendants of Neumanoreans, which is something those who only watch the films and don't take great interest in the background wouldn't really click with. They are literally descendants of a people that were given an entire mythical island to live on by the Valar. Men who were deeply in touch with essentially angels.
@@sithlordzach8418 It's something of a change from the books, where most armor seems to be mail of some kind. It seems to have been done to distinguish Gondor from Rohan, as well; Rohan wears mostly mail, while Gondor's soldiers wear plate. Gondor's soldiers also have basically the same kind of helmet he describes at 3:20.
"Don´t take turns, he will kill all of you". Every NPC in every game so far: "Nah"!
KDCD
it did happen in history, There are accounts of knights going against some peasants, who are so scared shitless, and have no idea WTF to do, so he just kills 10-15 and walks away
Not Mount & Blade. The AI may not be smart, but swarming is one thing it ain't afraid to do and you have to be on your toes to make sure you don't just get blitzed. Honestly, it's a good thing the AI isn't too smart, most players would be dead within minutes xD
*Laugh cries in Demon souls*
@@theunholycrusader517 right, they always pile up on you for crying out loud
Such a brilliant video! I really like Mr Capwell. He is really good at pointing out the goals of a certain weapon or a piece of armour. Very good at explaining why fantasy should be looked at through another lens as opposed to media depicting historical events.
I appreciate his awareness of how armor, and fighting in general, is a story telling element of movies and fiction. And to acknowledge the bad-assness of something like the Witch King’s flail while admitting that it’s inaccurate and implausible.
Toby knows a LOT about Agincourt. You could see his heartbreaking at that movie, The King.
Yeah he studied pretty much everything that is available on that specific subject.
Yes considering king henry the 7th goes into battle less amourd than his own knights is no helmet at all
It's typical Netflix, all show and made up. With a slight "nod' towards history.
It's based on the Shakespeare play, Henry V, not actual historical Agincourt.
@@hailthelost_ no not on the Shakespeare play but I think another play written around the time
I'm disappointed they didn't show Monty Python and the Holy Grail in the sequences...
'Ah yes, coconuts instead of horses. This is very accurate to the medieval times. I'll give it a 8/10 on account that they're historically mistaken about the Holy Hand Grenade of Antioch. It was definitely not a pineapple grenade, but a potato masher.'
just a flesh wound!
"The Black Knight must have really poor armor. That just shouldn't happen. I've seen guys in plate armor get hacked up by kings and they didn't get but a scratch, never mind losing limbs."
You can't rate perfection
Ni!
Best explanations ever - this guy knows what he's talking about. Like that so much
Definitely the best one of these I've seen. No disrespect to any of the other guests, but Dr. Tobias just has a level of knowledge and clarity that is unbeatable. Looking forward to the next entry in the series.
*watches The Mandalorian* "Oh this is great, very accurate". *Vikings starts in the video* "Ok, first of all, Vikings is a fantasy."
Well, Vikings tries to purport its self as showing historical events. The Mandalorian is not. The Mandalorian does an excellent job of showing how armor should be used and how someone that lived their whole life in armor would move. Whereas, The Vikings is roundly inaccurate in how it shows what kind of armor would have been used and how it would have been used.
Viking is a verb not a noun You go on a Viking you are not a Viking
@@juggalox1000 Edit: "Vikingr" is a noun and a better choice to identified those raider who are going on a Viking
Come on...You HAVE TO be more demanding from a series that's supposed to be historical..I mean how many featurettes theve been on how Viking are supposedly true to the times? And well...Narratively they are pretty close, but in terms of arnms and armor they are PURE FANTASY.
FAILkings
I love how he always gives Lord of the Rings scenes 10/10
Especially after explaining all the reasons why the flail is wrong.
Because he’s a fan of it
Agreed, after he gave GOT a 0 for being totally wrong, he goes on to say how wrong the frail was wrong, from being a common mans weapon, long chain, and not practical, then giving it a 10/10 because it fit the theme of the movie
@@austinworkman260 well, in that description, he misses that flails are incredibly effective when it come to by-passing a shield or blocking motion of the enemy (since the force transfering part is on a chain or rope and therefore can bend around barriers). Of course the sheer mass of this perticular one is totally off but then again, it is swung by THE WITCHKING OF ANGMAR xD ... and just like saurons mace, this flail is, judging by its size, supposed to mow down enemy lines with horizontal swings as shown in the prologue of "the fellowship of the ring" and should not to be used as a primary weapon in a one-on-one fight with vertical blows which just digs the spiky head into the ground ^^
@@rumpelpumpel7687 Then again, if you're flailing something like that around, and you can actually use it, just getting near that while it's moving is insurmountably dangerous, whether it was against one or several opponents. No one would really want to fight you or approach you. If your opponent[s] screw up, one clean hit and they're probably down the entire rest of the fight, if not dead.
This has definitely been my favorite of these "Weapons Expert Rates" videos. I love that he discusses the armor and weapons' historical contexts, but rates them based on the context of the world they inhabit.
I only wish someday I could be so knowledgeable as these people in a given topic as to simply pull out great information from watching 10 seconds of a movie scene. Mad respect for these incredible experts that come on the show, I could listen to them for HOURS. So addicting. Great job on the series concept and production.
His description of the medieval diving gear sounded absolutely terrifying.
pretty sure current diving gear wouldn't sound nicer either, you are one mistake or faulted gear away to explode under water
if you ever have the chance, check out out the History of Diving Museum in the Florida Keys. Fun road trip stop and incredibly eye opening.
one of the best critisizers ive ever heard so far in this frenzy of it ! just relaying information to the best of his knowledge !
Hurray! Someone who knows about the process of making these types of weapons who calls out the melting and recasting of swords in movies. And it's nice to see how he evaluates based on the environment context of the video he's evaluating.
"Don't take turns! He will kill ALL of you!" We see this SO many times in films. Single warriors fighting against a MASS of opponents are shown winning because their opponents are basically taking turns coming at them. Edit: Wow. I had no idea my comment would get this many likes. Thank you very much, folks!
We should see poeple being overwhelmed more it's realistic
That was the premise of the cattle raid of cooley
Oh you mean like batman Arkham haha
Not very cinematic though.
Bruce Lee slinks off.
I so badly wanted to hear him talk about A Knight’s Tale when Heath Ledger walks onto the field in his new armor and everyone laughs at him until he mounts himself on his horse.
Yeah i was baffled when A Knight's Tale was not amongst this clips. It literally screams about armors and jousting
they need to bring him back and show it to him!
I enjoyed A Knight's Tale, until I took History of the British Isles class in university and my professor gushed over all the things they got accurate, played the film for anyone not lucky enough to have seen it, and kept pausing to scream, "Look at that armor! Look at her dress!!!" Then I loved A Knight's Tale.
Best review I have seen of these. Embraced the idea of Celina and fantasy but harsh on the ridiculous aspects it's used in, while tough on things trying to be very realistic. A fun watch also
This is the best one of these, this guy is very well spoken.
I do like how he levels his criticism. The Mandalorian is a space fantasy series that is trying to ground itself as much as it can. The actor is trying to use his armor in ways that make sense and build in the story, which adds a feel a realism to a non-realistic theme. Vikings on the other hand presents itself as realistic and historically based. Thus how inaccurate it is earns and deserves more criticism. No helmets, armor that does not exist yet, overuse of leather, even the timeline of historical events are all wrong. The show is strangely more of a fantasy than The Mandalorian.
I also like the scene where he get's shot in the shoulder and the impact does make him flinch but it doesn't do any damage. If you get shot in one of the strong points of your armor it shouldn't do any damage, otherwise the armor is pretty pointless.
@@MrMarinus18 I think the writers of Mandolorian learned that from everyone making fun of Stormtroopers' armor getting easily beaten by everything including most infamously, Ewok arrows. Yeah those ugly Care Bears used guerilla tactics, but ONE arrow shouldn't be able put down an armored soldier if it doesn't hit a joint.
@@HoodWeegee practically armor in fiction is useless against anything
I mean I know why Vikings did that. It was cheaper. It was a TV show after all, and made by not biggest TV station there is, but still, they could try more.
@@ShingenNolaan "it was a TV show" is slowly no longer becoming an excuse. Shows are gaining more popularity than movies, and they're getting bigger budgets.
"I'll give 'em a pass on that cause the wouldn't have known what good lance technique is." Savage.
Some breakthroughs of our understanding on premodern warfare are made in the 21-century so it makes sense that the movie Excalibur did not match our current theory.
9:36 that is such a badass line, really speaks to how dangerous a knight was for the average person on a battlefield back then.
"Nobody ever used rectangular shields, that's stupid!" Ancient Roman Legions: *looks down in sadness*
Hello darkness my old friend.
Scutum, if that's what you're referencing, weren't rectangular like tables as those shown in the scene. They were heavily curved inward.
I love how he also takes into account how well the armor fits and reflects the narrative themes
Love the fact that, he not only gives his critic on the films but also takes time to teach us on how its suppose to be
Yo, ma man gave two straight round ZEROS!! He's ruthless! Bring him again, please!
Absolutely fantastic review. We need that (specially for armor). Thank you!
Vikings comes up on the screen Me: *Oh, no*
It's such a pitty... Vikings is a really good show (or was until season 6) in terms of story, characters and all that stuff, but for God's sake they couldn't have picked worse costumes lol. It's complete rubbish when it comes to that. But the Viking age is always screwed up in pop culture unfortunately.
@@henryviii2091 Also i find it funny that the crossbows French were using could be drawn like sling or something, with two fingers
I stoped watching Vikings after I saw some video about making the serie. One guy there said, that the ships were made in Czechoslovakia. Which does not exist since 1993. How the hell do they want to make a serie about Vikings if they don't know what happened like 30 years ago.
Oh no, oh no, oh no no no no no
@@henryviii2091 To be fair EVERY historical age is screwed up in pop culture unfortunately.
“You can’t melt metal down and make armor, that’s dumb!” You tell them Mr. Capwell!
Dr. Capwell. But yes.
I believe most if not all modern smelting techniques involve completely liquifying the iron/steel so that statement is obviously wrong. Of course you would not cast a steel sword tho.
Yeah he shouldn't be speaking about blacksmithing with only some formal writing but he is correct in the statements as you would not have exactly the same material properties and couldn't craft something similar with out adding in a new metal to make up for the loss and then you would have to work in such a way to get a similar product so as far as the laymen is concerned you simply can't do it at all
@@wildcrocus careful if you call a non MD a dr. these days you get angry ppl on Twitter calling you out lmfao (in reference to the prez's wife)
You COULD. But not as portrayed in this scene. Melting the sword ruins the metal, you'd be back to square one and would have to work the metal into the right kind of steel all over again. Which makes the scene in the show look even more ridiculous. Valyrian Steel in Game of Thrones is irreplaceable, the knowledge of how to make the alloy has been lost. So by melting the sword you'd destroy it's unique properties. Congratulations, you just destroyed an irreplaceable, priceless item.
I like this guy, he isn't overly concerned with the realism of fantasy shows/movies and understands the value of visual narrative.
Thank you for the entertaining and informative video!
Pay attention nerds, Toby is one of the most knowledgeable guys of our age when it comes to arms and armour.
I'm kind of disappointed they didn't pick clips of historical movies that shows historical armor so be can bring his expert criticism on them. Like the Mandalorian? Really? Like even the jousting scene from Game of Thrones would have been a better choice if they wanted to do fantasy.
Dallas The Tree Molester He has. He's not very kind about GoT.
You do not need to convince me of this
I noticed immediately that his knowledge breadth is crazy wide. Gotta get in on some of that movie consulting work.
@@Gearhead49d Well it's pretty popular and fun so heh.
YEEES Dr Capwell getting it done Couldn't have a best guy on screen.
You are good damn right!
Eyyy Velkan, ello
@@penguasakucing8136 IDENTIFY THYSELF, STRANGER.
I was preparing myself to be disappointed with who they brought on when I saw the title of this video but I couldn’t have been more wrong.
Oh, It's you... :P
This channel rocks! So glad I discovered it!
I really appreciate the articulation of concepts and descriptions he uses
"Nobody is allowed to be left left-handed in the medieval ages" RIP me
It's not that u would be killed or anything. U would just be raised right handed. We lefties are a very new thing. Even nuns on my school's mom tried to make her right handed. But my grandfather was stubborn.
Nadal is naturally right-handed but was forced to practice left-handed so much he got better with his non-dominant hand. It would be a pain to learn but basically everyone back then did do you'd be alright.
@@xhall0910 that's more of a religious thing that a political one. It's a practice that extends itself beyond and afaik before the Middle Ages
@@sergarlantyrell7847 That's interesting about Nadal and supports something I've experienced. My big bro is naturally ambidextrous, chooses left for writing & most stuff. I'm very right-dominant but wanted to be like him so I try to use my left as often as possible, especially to maintain physical strength balance (it cracks me up when folks doing tedious tasks stop and rest/massage the sore side while a perfectly fresh whole half of their body is just along for the ride). So, relating to Nadal, I noticed long ago that when trying something new with my left, I'm slower at first but much more accurate. Even doing the same task right handed and focused, my right is kinda like the spoiled kid that doesn't appreciate what's important.
even in german army ww2, left handed soldiers were taught to shoot their rifle with right hand.
This guy is just brilliant..... I'm really disappointed that they didn't show him a knights tale
Really great insights and he has a wealth of knowledge. Great video!
"There is almost no historical evidence for leather clothing" Shadiversity likes that.
MACHICOLATIONSSSSSSSS
It kind of gets broken by the "No one used rectangular shields"... The Romans would like a word.
@@PufflesDaViking but he's talking about mostly the medieval period, not ancient times, and in medieval times they either used round shields or variations of the iconic "shield" shield.
Has Shad talked about leather clothing, at all? Leather armour, certainly, but clothing is a completely different thing. Also Shad is a moron. Scholagladiatoria, Knyght Errant, Tod's Workshop… those are good. Shad? Metatron? Lyndybeige? No. Just… no.
@@ZarlanTheGreen Question out of genuine interest: What's your problem with the creators you named?
I absolutely love this guy. He respects the fantasy side of things and considers the importance of storytelling. I need to see more of him!
Dude know's his stuff and not afraid to give a clear opinion. Excellent video.
My favorite insider commentator. Thanks for being awesome 👏🏻
As Czech, I really appreciate the mention of "Proti všem" movie, which is set in a Hussite period and of course it's full of weaponized agricultural tools.
Kedy to spomenul a co je to za film? Dik
@@kudLo6 16:05
The full movie is here on KZhead ( /watch?v=T8r4ei7RWrs ), it is in Czech with no subtitles. Would not have known of it's existence if it had not been for your comment.
Normally, when it's something like that, a "master reacts", especially when it's a subject I know, I'm very sceptical, and often can find some problems. Not here, Dr. Capwell is a very respectable gentleman with heaps of knowledge, it would be hard to find someone more competent than he is.
@@khamjaninja. Whilst you are somewhat correct in your examples, his generalisations are just that - generalisations. It was meant as a short video, which includes correcting the most common misconceptions in a digestible manner, and to comment on the clips. This means that some shortcuts had to be made, some details not mentioned, and some are context specific. For instance, IIRC here we see mostly nobility and/or other high born individuals, that would have the armour well fitted, so expanding that "there were, however, passed down armour or second hand ones, that a person could buy, and in a completely different era in a completely different place, it would all be completely different" would be a bit pointless (and my comment is already a short version, since I believe you imply that he should discus all the different periods and places. I'd love to see that too, but this video is not the place nor the time for it, sadly). As for clothing - apart from wool, there was also hemp and linen, while leather was used mostly for belts and shoes (and maybe jerkins for the richer), BUT, what's the point of discussing different parts of the world in a video about medieval Europe (albeit with a bit of sci-fi and fantasy)? Not to mention that even then, I can't recall a culture that used leather clothing extensively. Leather armour - well, yes and no. Yes, there was some leather armour, yes, made from boiled leather, but with no surviving examples other than art and some text records, it's hard to judge how common it was. Again, looking at art from the period, it seems it was not common. Cuirass origin - I wouldn't be so quick to say that since it originates from the word leather, that it means it was made entirely out of it. Looking at late medieval art, we can see cuirasses covered in coloured non-metallic material (fabric or leather), similar in style to brigandines of the time. This also brings into question (since I don't know the answer of the top of my head) - when the word "cuirass" started to be used referring to a breast plate? If it was after the "widespread" adoption of the iron/steel version, it could be that it was referring to the leather covering. I'd need to see some art or written evidence, of leather cuirasses in medieval Europe, and I'm currently unaware of any. Tl;dr - it's a short youtube video, not a dozens of hours long lecture on worldwide history of arms and armour, generalisations are to be expected.
Well, I don't know - he reviewed one scene from GoT and gave it a zero without looking at any of the other weapons and armor. At the same time he gave Excalibur a 7/10 despite that they have full plate armor in the 6th century. At the same time we have to consider it all might have a lot to do with editing - we don't know how much material they recorded, it could be two hours and probably many valid points were edited out.
I love watching these shows. The one thing about Excalibur is that the big fights were not choreographed like most of the bigger shots they just told them to go at it. Which made it more chaotic, but it looks so good on film.
Tobi is amazing, always love to hear him talk!
I haven't seen "The King" but that scene with Pattinson looks like something out of Monty Python 😂
Its a good scene tbh
Great movie, regardless of what he said
the scene is so symbolic, best part of movie
It’s quite a well made film, I liked it a lot but by God it is absolutely not realistic to history
ok guys thanx for replies, I guess I'm not getting the scene because I haven't watched it and I'm seeing it out of context. I will check out the movie.
For those that don’t know much about Dr Capwell, he’s an absolute legend in the Historical and HEMA world.
That was interesting, fun and educational. And I want to visit the Wallace collection now.
Well done. Capwell's videos are always superior.
It's not just any Armor it's... BESKAR ;)
I was running to the comments when he started talking about the blaster bolt cuz I thought he was gonna say something bad about it 😆
yeah it's a bad idea when people don't know about star wars talking about how star wars combat
Exactly what I was thinking
This is how plate armor works and how they stop arrows and blows .
I'm just disappointed that he says chest, when the bolt clearly impacts the right shoulder.
"Vikings is a fantasy, it should be treated as a fantasy" Finally!! someone said it!
i never got ppl who don't, it's not based on history, it's based on the tale of Ragnar Lodbrok. and the tale of the sons of Ragnar, Odin literally comes in some of the episodes, Aslag has premonitions, Sigurd has a snake eye, cus his grandfather killed a dragon... all parts of the tale, non is history
@@abalogan A saga.
@@datkhornedog899 The Saga is called, The tale of Ragnar lodbrok. Saga is the literary genre, the name is Tale of Ragnar Lodbrok. True that in Norse,the word Tale is Saga, so it would be 'Ragnars saga loðbrókar'
@@datkhornedog899 And the most useless correction award goes to
@@secondcoolestyoutubechanne2123 The fact that you made the effort to do this highlights that it is more than useless.
@16:00 'They need to take whatever hurty things are to hand...' Thank you for this, you are a super educator!
I love the way this guy breaks things down and makes each aspect of armour make sense. I would LOVE to hear his take on videogame arms and armour. 😂
Hell yeah. Y’all should have this guy on again, he’s legit.
For the LOTR clips they should show the gondorian and rohirrim armour as it is more numerous and being worn by humans
Personally im not sure why they bothered to show any lotr stuff because its fantasy. I mean one sure for the views but 2 is just cringy fanservice.
@@Jebu911 agreed although both the gondorian and rohirrim armour is loosely based on real examples of armour so it would've been interesting to see his opinion.
@@matthewhotston4287 Yes the costume design is superb in lotr but this video just seemed like it was missing the point of the expert. This guy was supposed to be armor expert but video seems to only care about aesthetics
@@Jebu911 isn't that part of the point though? Armor was often used, especially in later years, as a fashion statement so exploring the design choices of armor isn't out of line.
@@techbeef Well depends this guy was specialized in middle ages then the armor would have been used for protection and that should have been the point of the video and historical accuracy.