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Actually, I wouldn't think a swordsman of Boromir's skill initially defeating a hundred Orcs strictly unrealistic. Unlike the movie, the book did not give an interpretation of how he fought, and I've always pictured it as a more fluid fight where he's running this way and that, engaging only a few Orcs at a time--not like the movie scene where he essentially stood his ground and tried to beat the Orcs off (which is not a good approach, as anyone who has tried tactical swordsmanship scenarios would testify). |
That is more how I picture the fight, though the pile of orcs by his feat could be considered support for the idea that he didn't move around too much.
Either way, I think it's a feat well beyond any warrior yet born. In serious texts, one man beating two or three is considered quite impressive. Musashi had one beating ten as a goal. I don't think it gets any higher than that, unless the one man has some overwhelming advantage in equipment.
In that sense, it's unrealistic. I'm fine with that; I like that. Boromir is a warrior of legend. He should be superior to the real warriors of history.
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Well it may not be realistic for a human, but Gandalf is not human. He has great powers, lest you forget. |
As noted above, I'm fine with superhuman skill and power. However, when it comes to fighting, I think that superiority should be established as extension of realistic martial techniques. I'd have no problem with Gandalf moving like the wind, striking down foes left and right while avoiding their blows. But spinning around with sword and staff just looks silly. I doubt enhanced strength or speed (which is quite physically possible, by the way) would make such a technique useful.
Of course, doing this in movies would require some sort of collaboration between computer programmers and living martial artists. Eventually, it should be possible to simulate combat fairly realisticly. Once you had such a model, you could then try to determine what techniques would be best for someone with superhuman abilities.
Needless to say, that type of thing is quite a few years down the road...
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I think the fact that Lord of the Rings takes place in an entirely different universe gives them enough leeway to make up for any unrealistic arms and armor. |
I don't agree. Fantasy doesn't many anything does. The has to be reason things are different from reality.
The worst example of Hollywood weapon design is giant flail the Witch-King used in one hand, while holding a big sword in the other. Oddly enough, the screenwriter, knew, consciously or not, that the weapon was unwieldy in the extreme. The movie Witch-King would have had trouble hitting the broad side of a barn. He missed Eowyn over and over again. In the book, using a simple, though probably fairly heavy, mace, he struck her with his first swing.