Naval Warfare Expert Rates 9 Sea Battle Tactics in Movies and TV | How Real Is It? | Insider
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- čas přidán 2. 08. 2021
- Naval warfare expert Evan Wilson rates nine naval warfare scenes in movies and television shows, such as "Pirates of the Caribbean," for realism. Wilson is an assistant professor at the US Naval War College and an expert in 18th-century naval warfare.
Wilson discusses the accuracy of naval warfare scenes in "Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl" (2003), starring Johnny Depp, Orlando Bloom, and Keira Knightley; "Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World" (2003), starring Russell Crowe; and "Game of Thrones" (2017). He comments on the reality of the combat in "Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End" (2007), "300: Rise of an Empire" (2014), and "The Adventures of Tintin" (2011). Wilson also analyzes which sailing battle tactics are most accurate in "Moana" (2016), "Admiral" (2015), and "Black Sails" (2016).
You can learn more about Evan Wilson here:
Website: www.evanwilson.org
Twitter: / wilsonevan
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Naval Warfare Expert Rates 9 Sea Battle Tactics in Movies and TV
Wood floats. Wind goes in one direction. Throw rocks. Dig ditches. All the important stuff I'm getting from this series.
ROFL exactly!!
In the Aubrey and Maturan series, the sailors are ALWAYS asking "Who had the weathergage?" or the benefit of the wind direction. They know that the only way to fight a sailing ship is to take into account the wind direction.
I yelled "dig a ditch!" at a the finale battle scene of Avatar Korra the other day... I may be watching too many of these...
Wind goes in one direction is from this video? And what about throw rocks and dig ditches? I need to know!!
@@zZE94 ancient warfare. Its hilarious imo
"It is a surprise....because it's dumb" - Jack Sparrow's battle tactics summed up.
But it did work, matey….
Technically jack wasn’t in control of the other ship, it was will and Elizabeth, though it caches barbossa of guard probably cause it’s, not a battle tactic.
'Captain' Jack Sparrow!!!
“This is the worst pirate I’ve ever heard of!” 😁
@@mats7492 Who's dumber if you actually fell for it
I like how historians are always the ones who seem the most fed up, never fails to make me laugh.
they are there to criticize the accuracy not the movie. I'm sure they enjoy the movie
When you put on your professional hat, you can't afford to simply "enjoy". Outside of work time, hopefully they are able to let go and just enjoy the show!
'Cause we all live in a reality in which we don't have any extra life like Mario. If you got one shot in a 17th or 18th century naval war, you were done. Anyway, those scenes are just fun to watch and we already know that they wouldn'y happen without extra luck.
My only wish would have been to see the guy talk about more about the corvus in GoT (it’s the giant claw thing that fell on the ship) because that thing is a real weapon. It was invented by the Roman during the first Punic War in order to even the odds against the Carthaginian navy.
@@florians9949 the romans only used it for a certain time though and only to compensate their lack of experience in naval warfare it was a crutch (although an effective one).
the iron men are an entirely naval based people, they don't lack experience in naval warfare and wouldn't need it
Most important thing I learned from this video was that "wood floats." Seriously...Of all these Age of sail battles I've seen in movies, it never occurred to me that it was hard to actually sink a ship because wood floats.
It is very overlooked. You look at the results of naval battles and ships being sunk is not that common.
You see captains scuttling them own ships more frequently that the enemy sinking them.
There is a reason wooden ships needed ballast.
@@DraygoKorvan This is not why though? Ballast stabilizes a ship. It's not there to keep it lower in the water.
@@XMysticHerox ...and what stabilizes a ship? Being lower in the water. They needed a ballast because they were too high in the water and it made them unstable.
@@literalantifaterrorist4673 Yes being lower in the water will stabilize a ship, however that is not the reason for a ballast. The ballast exists to change the center balance of the ship so that it doesn't flip over from being top heavy. Think of those toys that always pop back up when you try to knock them over. If they just need to make a ship heavier, then why not just add more guns/cargo?
'He got shot in the face because of course he did, if you saw that you'd be like ''oh your swinging on a rope, i'm going to shoot you... nowww.'' Love this guy.
Had to pause to come see if anyone commented on that, haha
I get the feeling this guy hates heroism and more just wants to Survive which is the perfect strategy. 👍
This guy would be great at CinemaSins!
@@amirmoezz there's a fine line between being brave and being an idiot
Dude this shi killed me im dying laughing at 6am
i like how he seems to get offended that ships keep sinking, and for good reason
"Wood floats"
I need to get the 'Wood Floats' printed on my T-shirt...
Except that's not why ships float, they float by displacing water (creating an air bubble in a hull) that's how steel ships float. Also wooden ships were full of powder, stores, cannon balls and 7000 pound guns and ballast which doesn't float and if you take the air out of the hull by poking holes in the wood and letting water in the weight of the guns and stores will be enough to overcome the buoyancy of the wood itself and the wooden ship sinks.
Wooden ships were sunk at the entrance to harbors and in channels to block shipping in many wars. How? By chopping holes in the hull and they didn't float anymore even though most of the time all the guns and stores had been removed from them first.
@@Mark-zi4dd thank you for lesson, professor Mark
Well, the Vasa Ship sank with ease
@@Mark-zi4dd he obviously is talking about the planks or pieces of the ship, because for some reason, when a ship is attacked and destroyed the entire ship and everything in it sinks.
"Well I'm done floating now, see ya" lol Prof. Wilson is hilarious. Also loved "I don't ...think I have to explain this, right?"
when I heard him say "I don't feel like I have to explain taht... but I can if you wan't...." I just had to check the comments because I was lauighing way too hard and wanted to know who also appreciated that wry humour of his
My personal favorite was “they’re coconut pirates. Let’s not get too carried away.”
😂😂😂
It makes me feel so satisfied seeing Master and Commander get that 10/10. Criminally underrated film that suffers only because it was released the same year as the first Pirates film
No it was because it was released when lord of the rings: the return of the king was released.
For me it was a pass because Russell annoys me
@@blacktimhoward4322 that’s weird
@@Johnlilly252 It actually makes sense. Why would he watch a movie when the main character is played by an actor that annoys him? Seems sensible.
Or maybe it's just really boring.
“It’s easy, just shoot him”-me in every theater during a battle scene
Which is why that one scene in Indiana Jones is so good
@@maruner facts
Like that scene from Indiana Jones where he got bored and just fired his gun? lol.
@@kirara2516 my entire inspiration
@@kirara2516 If I remember right. Ford was sick that day, and really just wanted to get that part over with.
10/10 for Master and Commander again affirming its status as an overlooked masterpiece.
Simply the best
unfortunately, it is a really boring movie.
@@JT___TV One of my favorite movies as well.
@@User-54631 Boring?
Let me guess, Fast and the Furious fan @@User-54631 ?
My father met one of the people who worked on the ships in Pirates of the Caribbean once, who was some kind of naval historian they brought in to make sure it was as accurate as possible. He was apparently pretty pissed off at all the liberties they took and even more pissed off at how badly they treated the ships after all the effort his team went through making such accurate replicas.
tons of movies want to be historically accurate until they realize how much of the script they'd have to throw in the trash.
hollywood goes to cinematic action n tix,.
@@evelynsahoe8896 Real life was rather boring is the reality. Most people dont want to die and that shows through out any major conflict. Especially the gruesome death of being stabbed and bleeding to death.
Like the movie Titanic. 1st, they build. Then came the demolishing/sinking of it.
@@godturkey4098 It won't be boring to the ones who are fighting.
Wow this guy’s dry humor was hilarious! I loved his no nonsense humor throughout the video. Including his “I don’t need to explain this but I will if I have to” at the Tin Tin clip 😂
"Wood floats" and "Dig a ditch and then dig another ditch" are now my two favourite phrases on this whole series of videos. Honorable mention to: "Throw rocks. They hurt and don't have to be set on fire" (or something like that) 🤣🤣🤣
They hurt and they cost nothing
"Rocks take no preparation, cost nothing and they hurt people. They're great!"
Why to use good oil. Use boiling water :)
Seems, we all take the same valueable info👍🏻☺️
@@cieslik7564 Boiling water works, absolutely. However, there is no animal on earth that isn't afraid of fire. Well maybe fish but come on.. :D
Fire is that primitive threat that every animal is wary of. It's visible even during daytime and is clearly a threat to you when the men besides you are burning alive. It destroys morale more quickly than boiling water that just disappears immediately after it hit it target. Fire stays on and spreads, the smell of burning sweaty clothes and flesh makes everyone uncomfortable, the smoke from it puts tears into your eyes and could even make breathing difficult. All of that by just being close to that pile of burning men that used to be your buddies.
So yes, you can use boiling water and it burns those it hits. If you like your castle, use the oil. If the enemy takes the castle, you aren't going to be around to use any of good oil so why not give it to them in advance! :D
_Me furiously scribbling notes:_
...Wood...floats...
Turns out all those sunken wooden ships they keep finding aren't actually made out of wood.
@@Phyde4ux What he means is that *fresh* wood floats. So a wooden ship wouldn't sink immediately after it's knocked out. It would sink eventually.
@@khango6138 A ship of the line fully loaded with cannons and lead ballast absolutely can sink quickly. It's not the wood that keeps a ship afloat, it's the water it displaces. How "fresh" the wood is has nothing to do with how quickly it will sink. The only part of a ship that won't sink would be the wooden pieces that have broken away from the hull.
@@Phyde4ux One example is the Vasa.
@@Phyde4ux Yea, but the more ripped open a ship was (like in PotC) things would spill out and sink away from the wreck, causing the wooden parts of the wreck to stay mostly afloat.
(and the loose pieces of wood would float upwards, causing more and more buoyancy on the wreck they are inside)
"It is a surprise cuz it's really dumb." Love the historians in this series😆
Master and Commander is a masterpiece. Doesn't get enough love.
Deserved a sequel, or made into a series
It has superb source material. The author of the books did a LOT of research to get his facts about ship board life as close as possible to the real thing.
The bad guys should have been the Americans
True, it's a good movie. The biggest issue is that the movie was also released the same year as one of the greatest movies in history of film, LotR. So it was overshadowed. Would be great if more people would watch it nowadays.
@@GreenFalcon926 I agree. It had no chance against The Return of the King. Both movies are very nearly perfect, but you just can't beat The Lord of the Rings.
This guy's dry wit is fantastic. Wish I saw more content from him specifically. The breakdown of Moana just makes me wish I was there when he was explaining this to his kids.
Its Coconut Pirates, so let not get too carried away
History Dads are the best type of dad. So glad to have a war nerd for a dad, I’ll never forget when he took me to a reenactment of the Battle of Hastings at the actual battlefield on the 940th anniversary. A perfect day.
Well. I did learn today that wood floats.
@@ulture That sounds amazing. I'll have to take my father to a reenactment sometime. He and I are both history buffs and I love listening to him break down battle strategy and co paring it to how he did things in the Army as a 13F.
Haha he must be fun to going to the movies.
"It's really hard to sink a ship. Wood floats."
Hollywood: *No*
wood doesn't always float infact there are lots of woods that don't float. and there are plenty of example of ships being swamped in this era and just straight up sinking.
@@jackass123455 I agree. Sure wood floats in some cases but ship in the age of sail attend to sink. Sure the ship is made of wood but not everything on or in the ship is wood.
Wood floats, but not that well. Most types of wood will float mostly submerged.
The att fact that a ship floats has nothing to do with it's being made of wood. If you account for the ballast and all the guns, the average density of the material is higher than that of water.
It is the air trapped inside the hull that makes the ship float.
You punch enough holes in it, it will fill up with water and sink.
Yes, wreckage that has been disconnected from the ballast will float.
This historian isn't the best, to be honest. Yes, wood floats, but when it's lined with 10k lb cannons, and cannon balls, and hundreds of men and provisions, barrells full of food and fresh water, well, it becomes a weight. He stated men wouldn't use lines to swing across to other ships - yes they did. It was very often the fastest and quickest way of boarding another vessel. You can't just "shoot" people swinging on ropes with a musket that has very little accuracy and takes forever to reload one bullet. Swivel deck cannons were often used, small cannons loaded with shrapnel, to clear the top decks and dissuade boarders.
@@CFLsurfr yeah, they mainly used shrapnel or grapeshot from smaller cannons mounted at strategic points on rails to clear decks. And you wouldn't get a wooden ship to sink that fast? I believe there are a few documented ships from the age of sail that sank pretty fast. you blow up the powder magazine, basically shred the entire structure of the ship that is what actually keeps it afloat instead of what it is made of, and it is going to go down pretty fast. Wood floats, yes. But that only HELPS the boat float. It is more the way the weight is distributed across the entire hull, plus the air displacing the water, that keeps the boat afloat. That is also why they had skuttle cocks built into the boats, if you didn't want your ship captured or if it was too damaged to be repaired, you would knock those open and skuttle the ship by letting in all the water, overcoming the buoyancy of the ship. The only reason they didn't use metal hulls in the age of sail is they would weigh too much and you would never get them to move, but as soon as they had an engine powerful enough they started making ships out of metal and they floated fine.
Master and Commander was so realistic because they trained realistically. They, from start to finish, operated the crew like a true military vessel. You can watch the behind the scenes and it's magnificent. Only reason most people aren't familiar with Master and Commander is because of Pirates of the Caribbean which came out the same year.
"Wood doesn't take a nose dive and be like 'Well I'm done floating now. See ya!'"
I choked on my water hearing that. Absolutely hilarious.
The "wood doesn't take a nose dive and say well I'm done floating now, see ya" line got me. Officially my favorite quote to come from any of these.
Well, it's a bit more nuanced than that, because ships of the era did carry an ungodly quantity of ballast, as otherwise their tall masts would cause them to capsize with even a mild crosswind. As long as the hull more or less stays together, the weight of the ballast will exert a stronger force than the buoyancy of the wood, hence why there are a lot of wooden ships at the bottom of the ocean, and why most of the wooden hull of the Endeavour would probably disappear below the waves.
He's absolutely right that you should see a lót more debris though, for a ship that's just taken a broadside from both sides, had its hull blown in half by the magazine exploding, etc.
@@rjfaber1991 He did say it would sink, but over a longer period of time. This is way too quick.
@@rjfaber1991 interesting. I remember when they raised the Mary Rose in 1982. It had sunk in battle in 1545. Wikipedia says: _"the Channel 4 TV programme What Sank the Mary Rose? attempted to investigate the causes suggested for her sinking by means of experiments with scale models of the ship & metal weights to simulate the presence of troops on the upper decks. Initial tests showed that the ship was able to make the turn described by eyewitnesses without capsizing. In later tests, a fan was used to create a breeze similar to the 1 reported to have suddenly sprung up on the day of the sinking as the Mary Rose went to make the turn. As the model made the turn, the breeze in the upper works forced it to heel more than at calm, forcing the main deck gun ports below the waterline & foundering the model within a few seconds. The sequence of events closely followed what eyewitnesses had reported, particularly the suddenness with which the ship sank."_
Best line, definitely
Ships were also made of especially dense wood, and at least later during the American Civil War were often clad in thick metal armor. I think the issue is less that the ship sank at all, but that it happened so fast and there was clean water around with no debris.
"They're coconut pirates, let's not get carried away." Hahaha
*they're
Coconut pirates sounds like a euphemism for gay men
@@discman15
i find no usable connection with that euphemism and gay dudes
yet i will still use it lmao
nice 1
That line got me too
@@XCodes stop being such a coconut pirate
"Ummm....the two ships are about to be on fire. That would be bad."
I could definitely pass this guy's class.
This guy has no chill and I AM LOVING IT!
I would take this guy’s class on naval warfare, he seems like he’s a fantastic professor. 12/10 for the dry humor 😂
Reading and *understanding* the Aubrey/Maturin series by Patrick O'Brian is a good start to a naval hobby.
just my thoughts... he made all his comments on point and very interesting. He is an articulated man and his input is short and sweet on everything he says. Much to learn from him.
That's what I was thinking too! I would love to attend his class.
do you go to that school to become a naval officer?
@@stephenturner757 Thank you for the suggestion, I'll look into it!
I like how Pirates of the Caribbean scene got a 2/10 and the coconut army scene in Moana got a 6/10
Clearly coconuts are better seamen than skeletons.
@@Phoenix-Cloud well, of course they are, coconuts floats, skeletons sinks like rocks lol
@@lXlDarKSuoLlXl really? Ain't bones completely full of air bubbles?
@@Trasseurxd yes, but they aren't hermetically sealed, they sink like rocks
@@lXlDarKSuoLlXl That's not why bones sink. Bones sink, because despite having pockets of air, their still denser than water is. Even IF they were completely air tight, the weight of the bone would still out weigh the buoyancy of the air.
Black Sails is actually one of the most underrated series of all time. I've enjoyed my time watching the show and love all the battle and sailing scenes. The realism tends to be 8/10 imo and the fact that there are scenes where the moment they raise the black (Pirate flag) some ships ultimately just give up rather then fighting to the death is something that isn't seen in film. Large ships, large crews, good series.
Battles and sailing scenes are Ok but the script is really annoying, it's like a soap opera with pirates.
@@ikarusxv You don't know much about Pirates.
@@ikarusxv "The Battle and Dragons are Ok, but the script is really annoying, it's like a Medieval Fantasy Soap Opera". Same energy. Thats the point of the whole "Fantasy Drama" aspect...
@justinlast2lastharder749 Yes, same as Game of Thrones. What I don't like is when you notice the screenwriters trying to trick you: too many plot twists, sudden changes in the attitude/motivations of the characters, history changes direction every episode, etc. Same as a daytime soap opera.
It's corny AF
The one thing I wish he had touched upon when talking about the Game of Thrones scenes is the Roman Corvus from the First Punic War, which was obviously what that scene was modeled upon. And while the corvus did hinder seahandling by the Roman ships and did stick some ships together, it allowed the Romans to win a number of sea battles through boarding.
Yes! Was looking for this comment. He's obviously being informed by his knowledge of 18C warfare, but I'm surprised he didn't mention the corvus, since that seems like one of the most famous technologies in ancient naval history.
Lol i was just looking for this comment its not a bowsprit
Dont know y he got that wrng but then again he is an a professor of naval warfare in 17 to 19 th century so maybe doesnt know much abt naval warfare of the antiquity period becz he even compared the ship of euron greyjoy with a ship from 16 to 18 th century or 19 th century period
@@SunKou7 yep that really helped rome level the playing field against much more experienced navies since rome was at the time a much more noobienplayer in the naval area
It’s because he is not watching simplified history CZcams videos like you do
@@s.t.5993 Who exactly r u referring to here
One thing Master and Commander does that I have never seen in any other movie, is having sound move slower than light, at the start of the movie the French frigate is seen in the distance and you see the flashes of the cannon and then after a delay you hear the sound. It's also the only movie I've seen that has actors of the right age and diversity (as the navy at the time was actually very diverse), it's the only time I've heard mention the standard practice of loading more than one cannon ball in the gun at a time, having the cannons fly backwards when fired and using the correct terminology throughout the movie.
What was the right age?
I’m curious to know and not familiar with a lot of those movies or the topic.
@@Carla-jd1ub In this case I think they are referring to the notion that there would be actual children on the ship. In old British navy ships there were junior officers called Midshipmen, basically apprentice officers and they were often young teens, 13 or 14 and the movie reflects that accurately.
Saving private Ryan did it.
@@Carla-jd1ub GhostEye31 got it in one, often midshipman are played by older people and I've never seen powder monkey's in any other movie. Also something I forgot to mention was the diversity in the film is spot on, the crews were extremely diverse back then.
Bro I do recommend the hornblower series(or mini series) same thing there, super good, and historical accurate, trust me
Professor in a “war college” has got to be amongst the most badass professions.
It's a place that many Naval Officers actually don't want to end up at 😂
@@9erMatthew Oh lol really why?
@@wheresmyeyebrow1608 Attending it is mostly a stepping stone in a Naval Officer's advancement. Working there isn't a bad shore duty. But it's painfully mundane for a lot of them.
it's history; history of warfare. interesting, yes. badass? ehm no, not really
@@9erMatthew Pretty much. In the Navy promotion past LCDR (O4) unofficially requires a masters degree and the Naval War Collage is easy enough to get and looks very good. Rhode Island is an awesome place to be stationed though. Even the enlisted I've talked to who went there were apprehensive about going to officer country at first but ended up loving it. Great for families.
Source: Me, a junior officer who knows very little and this just happens to be one of them.
‘Black Sails’ has the best naval warfare IMO - but they picked one of the more unimpressive naval fights for this.
Truly Amazing show
Best show ever
where can I watch it
This man's deadpan delivery and sarcastic opining is magical and could make any topic worth learning about.
Let's make him an expert on other topics so we can learn other things in this brilliant format.
Master and Commander does not get enough love imo. The battle scenes alone are exciting to watch and realistic enough to show you just how dangerous naval battle could be. I also appreciated that the wounds caused by cannonballs were due to the shrapnel of wood and debris (I felt so bad for that boy who had to lose his arm). I'll have to watch this film again!
The movie is fantastic, the books are pure gold. Be warned they are heavy with the naval jargon of the time (I had to buy a special dictionary, and I was IN the Navy LOL) but they are absolutely fantastic.
This is one thing he gets wrong -- MythBusters tested the splinter thing, it doesn't work.
@@gershonklapper5916 What?
No?
Shrapnel and Splinters kill and killed many many man all across the age of sail and later when Iron Clads and steam ships came along. Splinters and Shrapnel are not your friend
I did watch that movie in movie theather and is still like in top3 best movie theather experiences with The Bear with me family as kid and Deadpool with me best mate!
@@gershonklapper5916 Mythbusters did so many historical things wrong that's it ain't even funny... Like they did like 2 or 3 episodes about wooden cannon and failed every time because they didn't do the research right... It was fun when they did movie myths etc, but they did use like dyslectic blind chimp as their history research guy to fail that badly.
This guy gets a 10/10 for how visibly annoyed he is by some of these scenes 😂
"They're coconut Pirates, so let's not get carried away." Made me laugh.
“Do I even need to explain this?” Haha! Love this guy. Bring him back, please!
I want a video with this guy and the historical warfare guy a.k.a. the Dig a Ditch guy
When you're done digging a ditch, dig another!
@@abdusco Quick before the hyena's come? lol sorry, I couldn't resist.
We need the midieval weapons and armor guy too
yes absolutely!
Damn right we do
Master and Commander is my favourite naval movie, it's so realistic and the soundtrack and sound design is brilliant
yoyo mine tooo yo we besties
Mine is pirates of the Caribbean for the same reasons!
Farewell and adieu to you spanish ladies
@@ono446 I'd agree on sound design and of course the soundtrack, although as we probably both know it's not particularly realistic
@@Granza90 what a wonderfully true voice C G possesses
Really wish they had reviewed more Black Sails scenes. The show has so many sea battles using various different tactics, it would be really interesting to know how accurate it is overall.
Well you can judge yourself, there's a very historically accurate youtube channel Gold and Gunpowder (im not sponsored btw) that literally is only channel that talks about real pirate history and uses actual period sources and journals of pirates as sources. It can give you a good idea, for me, I'd give black sails a 5-6/10
I would watch an episode of this with only Black Sails scenes. Such an underrated show, regardless of realism.
“The wind has been disengaged from this scene.” Lmao
Lol I read this as he said it
Lol I read this as he said it
But that's the point where he is wrong. Sailing with the wind coming from the side is possible, even with these old ships. There you will use the sail as a wing, rather than just letting it catch the wind. Modern boats have more useful sails for that, but it's also possible with square rigged sails. In the Video that means that the wind is comin from the left. The Sails would however be tilted more than in the video.
@@UsoMerit It was still greatly inaccurate and the three ships are moving way too fast.
@@aurelian2668 In the context of the story it wasn't inaccurate.
Both ships in question are magical.
Bronn even points out at the Battle of Blackwater what a bad idea it is to have fire/wildfire inside your own walls, let alone on your own ship. The series develops a terrible case of amnesia after season five.
I guess they sorta forgot that the fire was there...
That’s because Martin writes battles with historical sense, using historical battles, tactics, and concepts. The show writers were just ignorant fan boys who didn’t grasp the true themes of the books.
I wasn't a huge fan of the earlier seasons, but that is just personal taste, I will admit it was clever and well written.
The last few seasons though, especially the way it ended, was laughably ludicrous.
@@factbeaglesarebest They aren't fans. If they were they wouldn't have butchered the show in season four and onwards.
It's called lampshading. You have a character mention something that the audience might think of, and then consider it resolved without actually doing anything with it. GoT is full of those in the last seasons.
The worst offender is Tyrion and Davos's mention of the Battle of the Blackwater, and then they are best buddies. Davos's oldest son was literally incinerated by dragonfire because of Tyrion! It should've been a huge deal.
4:40 That's actually supposed to be a "corvus". During the Punic wars the device was developed by the Roman's to board ships and was placed towords the front so when you ram into other ships you can quickly snap down and allow boarding parties to cross over. In reality that is a pretty accurate representation
But the Roman ships were galleys, no? Not an Age of Sail-style ship that needed a bowsprit.
@@henryhill4289 GoT is Medieval not Age of Sail. Bowsprits are only if you have jib sails which Euron's ship doesn't have.
One of the things that I like about Master and Commander, was that they explained the importance of the weather gage, having the upwind advantage.
8:07 I'd like to point out that for the entire final conflict, Calypso gave both sides "favorable wind". Before the battle between the Black Pearl and Dutchman, both Gibbs and Becket comment on how they have the wind on their side.
That, and the Dutchman can sail direct into the wind with no issues. One of its powers as a ghost ship, although this is only mentioned in the novelizations (in the film, it's just, "against the wind the Dutchman beats us, that's how she takes her prey)
Loved the video, just thought I'd point these out.
Realistic within that magical universe but not realistic within our seemingly non-magical universe.
Favorable wind for both sides would mean it came from the side (beam). This would mean just a single wind direction and the ships would actually be able to move faster than running with the wind.
@@alwaysdisputin9930 I like that you said "seemingly", that's a nice piece of nuance there!
That'a why Evan said - on Pirates universe is 10/10, but highly unrealistic.
The point of the video is realism, not verisimilitude (realism within the rules of a fictional universe);
I like the fact the he is supposed to be a 18th century warfare expert and he explains the naval battles of ancient greece with persia and cartoons at the end 😂
"It's really hard to sink a wooden ship...wood floats." Well that answers all my questions, good day sir.
They must think of this stuff before scene production is underway. They must not care.
Still, you go to a movie and try to enjoy it. And Will & Jack hide under an inverted rowboat. And they take it for a walk, and cut to after they've descended along the seafloor to the point they're fully submerged, still just walking along.
Still, you just might manage not to see the problem because your focus is on enjoyment, not analysis. And Jamie & Adam of Mythbusters fame probably knew it would never work, yet they tried it anyway.
DITCHESSSS!!
All the wooden warships on the bottom of the ocean beg to differ.
4:40 I'm surprised this man missed this, he was pretty spot on everywhere else. The boarding device being used is not a bowsprit, it's a corvus. A boarding method used by the ancient Romans against Carthage in the first Punic war. It involved what was essentially a bridge fixed by ropes with massive spikes on the bottom being dropped on the deck of an enemy vessel for the purpose of boarding. The Romans knew that their heavy infantry was their primary advantage and the way they implemented them in naval combat was to essentially drop spiked bridges between ships and storm them with legionnaires.
thanks, thought i'd be the only one
@@rainerzufall5741 Appreciate it. Shocking how many people never studied the Punic wars. Fascinating stuff.
Yeah agreed. Kinds ridiculous an "expert" isn't aware of the Corvus. I get that he's talking about the more frigate design shown but a boarding ram that drops onto the other ship is not only Well known but also well documented in history.
And result in the Roman's losing a whole fleet and abandoning the project
@@dstblj5222 The corvus had mixed success. Some battles were won because of it, others were likely lost because of it. It was an innovation born of desperation due to the massively inferior naval capabilities of the Romans (in combat, not logistics) in comparison to the Carthaginians. It boiled down to Rome depending upon their legionnaires to do the heavy lifting (because most Roman generals would attempt to force a pitch battle and had little naval experience). The Romans viewed the navy as a way to get from one fight to another, not a separate military profession in itself.
Definitely a favorite! This was one of the most articulate & informative episodes in this series. Also hilarious, and made more hilarious by imagining this guy as an actual pirate, explaining logistics calmly to fellow crew mates.
At first I thought this guy gonna give Masters and Commanders 6 or 7 out of 10... but he actually give 10/10... a perfect score so far 👍🏿
They worked really really hard to get the details right for Master and Commander and the books the movie was based off of are very well researched. I've read them multiple times and it's hard for me to take most movies like this seriously anymore because I know they are such nonsense compared to M & C.
Pirates of the Caribbean is the one set of movies I give a pass on this because it is so obviously stupidly unrealistic that it's just part of the experience. Trying to apply reality to a PotC movie is like trying to apply it to a Star Wars movie or a Matrix movie. Because I know that going in I just ignore most of the BS. I mean there is a scene in the movie he is reviewing where a ship falls over a waterfall and all of the crew survives. Enough said right?
One thing I like about a lot of these is that the experts often understand artistic intention, if a film appears to go for realism its going to have a different rubric to those that aren't trying to portray anything technical.
"In the pirate universe this is a 10/10."
Those guys are talking "how real it is", not "does the artistic value hold up"
@@MrAxsoon Well i mean he gave the Moana pirates a 6 out of 10, it’s obviously not meant to be realistic so that’s probably why the score is higher than some of the others. I Think that’s what he means
@@MrAxsoon if the movie is obviously not trying to be realistic then a lot of these experts will instead talk about if the scene gets the "vibe" right.
Master and Commander is probably the best movie that shows what life was actually like for sailors during the age of sail. Another phenomenonal movie is Admiral or Michiel de Ruyter. It's a Dutch film and it's absolutely worth a watch.
Have watched both and Master and Commander is definitely my favourite film ever. I definitely liked the second one, but I must rewatch it at some point now that I have more comprehensive knowledge on the Anglo Dutch wars.
After this I binged as many recordings of Evan Wilson’s lectures I could find. He’s got some really great stuff!
Thanks for this comment, didn't know his lectures were online.
I loved in Pirates how the ships could maintain a pretty good speed even when there was no wind at all.
In-movie logic says that the Pearl and Dutchman were magic/ghost ships that had unnatural forces propelling them.
@@MattWeser yeah Pirates of the Caribbean movies are just absurdist fantasy based in magic and not to be taken seriously. If you go into one with that expectation it's like a fun carnival ride. It's different from something like Black Flag for instance that tries to take itself seriously and just comes off looking stupid to anybody that knows anything about the time period, the ships or sailing and naval warfare in general.
Magic
When it comes to Pirates of the Carraibean just throw logic out of the window. I mean you have a roten ship that can go submarin at will and dimensions crossing.
“Wood Floats” is the new “People die when they are killed”
i love how factual and unemotional this dude is. LOVE IT.
Your sense of humor is... Let's say very humorous to me. And I mean it! Thank you ❤️
“ They’re coconut pirates, let’s not get to carried away.” Not sure why a laughed at this.
Thank you! I find myself being very offended by this comment. I didn't know that the level of a crew's talents was judged by their current assignment!
@@trueself56 ???
Try island pirates or Pacifica pirates still the kind of pirates they're doesn't matter when it comes to skill
I would love to see this guy do a full breakdown of Master and Commander!
17:41 so "bang bang bang bang bang bang bang bang, NOT kabooom" thank you professor
Master and Commander was one of the few naval war films that got a lot of it right. You really got an idea of the danger presented by the splinters, although targeting the main mast the way they did was not realistic. There was a thing called hot shot that was effective at starting fires on an enemy ship but it was also dangerous to use.
This man is great to listen to. You gotta love his sense of humour.
Finally someone who discussed Admiral Michiel de Ruyter!! I love that movie because I'm Dutch as well!
More people need to talk about it.
" I mean it is a Suprise because it's really dumb" that burn.
I wanted to see him rate "The Admiral Roaring Currents". It's a Korean movie, and was inspired by a real naval battle from the Imjin War.
Oh that would have been sick! I love that film.
The hero is Yi sun shin isn't it?
@@cb41503 yes he is. And it was the Battle of Myongryang
@@Mr_Winster I figured, I just wanted to make sure I was right
I was in the Navy for 12 years as a Gunners Mate. Best vid I've watched so far
Naval warfare lesson number 1: WOOD FLOATS
Wonderful
"So...if she weighs the same as a duck...SHE'S A WITCH!"
(Non-sequitur, I know. It just sprang to mind. 🤗)
I so much love this *SERIES* 🙌 🔥
J
I feel that you made that grammatical mistake intentionally
I love the guests. Most of them seem like great experts/professionals and overall interesting people.
Good job, producer people!
@@cdxst3968 lol, I so much agree
Excellent content! Really nice to see the things that could actually happen in movie naval battles. Since I was a child, when I saw the scene of the Pearl and the Dutchman firing at Endeavor, realized something wrong with the position of the sails in relation to the winds.
To be fair, the Pearl does have the ability to completely ignore wind direction and I wouldn't be surprised if the Dutchman could do the same.
It does just pop out of the sea randomly, so I'm not sure how much the dutchman really cares about wind and whatnot.
@@sadies8100Dead Man's Chest points out that the Dutchman isn't affected by the wind, making it able to outrun the Pearl if they're going against the wind. Gibbs even mention that the Dutchman could sail through a hurricane without losing speed.
I've found the PotC movies are better if you imagine that they're based on someone's DnD game. Yeah, dropping an anchor off the side of the ship to make it drift is super dangerous and could seriously damage your ship and just generally isn't really a useful tactic in real naval warfare. But it's exactly the kind of thing that a group of PCs would do
When the PCs somehow keep getting Nat 20s and not once get a critical 1 failure.
Makes a lot of sense, Jack is a critical success/failure only PC :D
I'm ok with them simply because no one makes pirate movies anymore. Only other good ones where made in the 1940s and 50s
@@dominic6634 yeah there were a few pirate movies that bombed so hard Hollywood just stopped touching the genre for a while
They are based on amusement park rides so what do people expect precisely? Not that pirate movies have ever been much into realism.
Watched this video hoping for Black Sails and I got it!! Such an underrated tv show, it genuinely has some of the most amazing moments and I feel like it got overlooked because it was first advertised as "produced by Michael Bay" and "~sexy pirates" when yes, sexy pirates, but mostly sexy depressed pirates dealing with existential crises and politics with really good fight scenes
I was expecting him to say how completely fantastical was the size of the ship of the "east india trading company" in pirates of Caribbean, it practically had 4 in build decks with perhaps an additional 5th open deck on top. Even the santisima trinidad, the only 4 decker ship of the line to have ever existed was originally build as a 3 decker in design, the 4th deck was accomplished by linking the forecastle and quarterdeck together later on to create 4 decks which just by looking at an illustration of the ship you can tell it wasn't actually a 4 decker. There was never any ship in history that was layed down at a shipyard with the intention to be built as a 4 decker by design and if there ever was, such ship would have never been operating under a private ownership like the EIC which would mean they would possess the largest naval vessel than any government in Europe.
I feel like they were trying to create the Duke of Kent in the Movie since the real one was never built.
HMS Warrior - the ship at Portsmouth Naval Museum - was obviously the model for it, and it's a 4 - decker. Same coloration, even. Of course, it was the flagship of the Royal Navy, so .. unlikley to be used by the East India Company.
I was also surprised he didn't mention how it would be a terrible idea to have two ships on either side of the target ship at once. It's very likely that a large number of shots would over penetrate the ship in the middle and end up hitting the ship on the other side.
@@Chad_Thundernuts Not really. The ship shown is a first rate ship of the line, with three gun decks, and carrying about a hundred cannon - and most importantly, designed to duke it out with other, similar ships. It would likely be carrying 32lb long guns in the lower deck, 24lb longs in the middle, and 32lb carronades in the top (like HMS Victory). Per movie info, the pirate ships were apparently carrying 9lb guns. In fact, it's pretty likely they wouldn't even penetrate the 1ft thick walls of 1st rate, let alone going all the way through.
The pirates had a sea monster and you are complaining about a couple of extra decks.
I think the bow sprit thing was supposed to recall the romans against the carthaginians with the corvus.
I was just writing that when I saw your comment. Well said, friend.
thank you
real expert
Master and Commander is, in my opinion, one of the best war movies ever made and it is nothing short of criminal that a sequel was not made (granted, the movie works perfectly in isolation, but it would have been nice to see more of...well all of it; everything about it was great)
Totally agree, there should have been more, it's not like there weren't anymore books to base it off
No lies were told this day
That and saving private Ryan. Imo.
@@sethhowerton1489 Well, if you want to watch a long series of nearly-an-hour episodes that take place all through WWII in Europe then watch _Band_ _of_ _Brothers_ .
Sequel was just announced a few weeks ago.
His assessment of everyone's general intelligence after reviewing pop culture depictions of older ship warfare, that we all just watch and take for granted ... ok, one thing to remember - wood floats. Ouch.
Wood floats. Wooden ships sink.
9:45
Nice cinematic touch to give Cutler Beckett, there, a final few moments of acceptance of his dramatic death. Seems like it wouldn't have lost anything if he kept his eyes shut and held his breath.
"Wood floats." Yeah unless it's a wooden warship with ballast, cannons, ammo, etc., weighing tons. Cause then it sinks. Unless all the wooden warships you can dive down to were bolted to the seafloor or dragged down by a kraken.
@@Nyx_2142 If you watched the video you would have seen he explained that too at around 11:00. It will sink SLOWLY over time and not immediately nosedive to the bottom of the ocean
He needs to do just black sails, there are quite a few scenes I can think of off the top of my head that I would enjoy hearing about!
10:55 "Well, I'm done floating now. See ya.."😂😂😂😂😂😂
Master and Commander: Far Side of the World is one of my most watched and favorite movies. I love every bit of it, and have for many years, even before I started regularly learning more about naval history (thanks to Drachinifel’s videos).
One of my fondest memories of it was watching it on a home theater big screen TV at a house we rented, with surround sound.
Do you know what "come up on the wind" means? Is it the ship being turned despite the wind being in Acherons favour? Because the master replies "on the wind sir?" or basically he has no choice? Is that what he tries to explain to the doctor afterwards? And just before they engage Jack screams "on the up roll, FIRE" is it because the ship was about to roll up on the waves or is it some advantage in firing your guns when "higher" up? Sorry for the questions,. Also want to point out that the sound is amazing EVEN with headphones. Closing your eyes you can almost feel to canonballs wooozing past you..
Having a naval warfare expert break down the inaccuracies of Pirates of the Caribbean is like having a physicist break down the inaccuracies of Star Wars.
Hate to be a nit-picker, but POTC depicts an actual period of human history (there were such things as pirates, the Royal Navy, and the East India Trading Company). Star Wars is purely science fiction.
@@PunksloveTrumpys Or is it?
I would think any movie with a squid man named Davey Jones would put that firmly in the "fantasy" category, much like SW would be.
(Assuming I remember the squid man part right)
I love this program. Always interesting and educational.thx!
No matter how you might feel about the movie/franchise itself (especially now….)
9:38 still holds up as one of the most visually epic, beautifully cinematic and thematically badass death scenes ever created!💖
Would have liked to see him talk about the Korean film _The Admiral: Roaring Currents_ about Admiral Yi Sun-sin and one of his most famous battles. 13 Korean ships forced a fleet of over 300 Japanese ships to retreat.
Does it have English subtitles? If it does, I'd be keen to watch it
@@ctakitimu yes it does. Amazon has it to rent if you have that service. It was also on Netflix for a time but it might have been removed by now.
@@Johnny-rx4hs I'm acquiring it as we speak :)
Thanks in advance for the suggestion
The scene in question is pretty inaccurate. It shows hand to hand combat as well as involvement from civilians, neither of which happened in real life (if the koreans had tried to go hand to hand with the japanese, they would have gotten spanked which is why Admiral Yi went out of his way to avoid it in almost every battle he fought). The battle of myeongnyang is one of the most stunning victories in military history and in my opinion they didn't have to embellish it as much as they did (particularly with the civilian stuff, that just read as nationalistic pandering to me (I'm half korean)), but I gotta admit, it's still a pretty cool scene
Always wanted a long, huge budget movie about Leyte Gulf. Maybe a series so there’s a movie specifically on the Action off Samar, the single most miraculous Last Stand in naval history.
This guy could do an entire show on black sails. Imo an absolutely amazing show. His mistake on the black sails swimming across to the enemy ships is the enemy British ships were anchored so they weren’t moving away from anyone. Having said this I did think the range the pirates swam was way too far to be of any use during the battle. It would have taken them an hour or two to get there I figure.
Also, they'd be bloody exhausted. You ever swim a mile? I have: it's freaking tiring. Unless you have an army of trained triathaloners, and at that point, when are they learning to fight?
@@calummcconnell7313 That and good luck not being seen on the way.
@@calummcconnell7313 now try to do it in your boots and dragging a pirate cutlass. This whole scene is just such nonsense!
That's why it's a bit of a disappointment he chose to rate this particular scène..
Black Sails has many battle scènes, also more grounded to reality, at least so it seems..
I would've loved his opinion on those where specifically Flint is supposed to be a naval mastermind..
Mind .. all major captains have battle scène with a few tricks up there sleeve ... Flint as mentioned but also Blackbeard and Rogers as well
To pick the one that with just common sense could be judged as too far fetched is a bit of missing the purpose of his expertise...
Which would be better used where his specific knowledge would be needed instead of what we all could've figured out..
There's the battle with
- the andromachea
- the man o war Urca de Lima ..
- the destruction of Charlestown
- the battle with Nassau
- Teach vs Woodes
- the breakthrough the barrier
And still many more Naval Warfare that I just wished he chose his scène more carefully, a more interesting one
It's one of the greatest shows, a complete package of storytelling, dialogue, character development, action etc ... it has got it all covered
@@ppvk2610 I wanna say the break through the barrier was based on actual events. I love how the show integrated the real life pirates with the ones from Treasure Island.
Would've liked to have seen 'Hornblower' (TV series) included in this. Lots of interesting battles in that show.
Would be good to finish the series with the same actor
Yes! Bring it on.
First time watching Evan Wilson, I think he's great and I hope to see him in more videos!
Loved this guy, please bring him back ! Also have him or other experts look at naval warfare through the ages in TV & movies !
Was so happy to see Master and Commander! One of my favorite movies of all time.Wish they showed more than one clip of that cinematic masterpiece
Fantastic film.
This guy is great! Love his enthusiasm and way of explaining....
In the game of thrones scene, I believe the walkway that swung down onto the enemy ship is called a corvus, and was invented by the ancient Roman's in order to be able to board enemy ships. Though it did weigh down the ship, it had a good purpose, and was actually the very first invention that allowed the boarding of enemy ships.
It was the ultimate Unga Bunga tactic in all of history.
Q: "We suck at sailing, all of our ships are powered by slaves, and the commander of the force - by election to consul - has literally zero naval experience by mandate of law. Any ideas?"
A: "We put a big bridge on the boat, and when they try to strafe our paddles, we just drop it on their deck so they can't escape and board them with fully armed and armored soldiers."
Given that he's an expert of 18th century naval warfare, I'm not surprised he wouldn't know about it. By that point in history, the Roman invention would have become 1) outdated, 2) obsolete with gun powder giving range fighting greater priority over boarding.
@@dreamtrance9892 he definitely knew about it, he knew about triremes for example
I think he was applying it to ~16th century naval warfare and saying it’s ridiculous in that era which it obviously was or it would have been more common
That only worked because ships in the ancient world were crap. In GoT these are sophisticated ocean going vessels. Nothing with that absurdity hanging off it would survive a storm out there, let alone catch well built ships.
@@dreamtrance9892 'expert' riiight 'wood floats'...an ex is a has been, a spert is a drip under pressure, so hes a has been under pressure as an 'expert'...and i can guarantee at his age he prolly didnt live through the 180-0's and thus cant say for absolute certainty what actual tactics they COULD used because 'history' doesnt take every single action into account...also you try shooting someone with a musket whos flying at you, with a limited range gun with 1 shot before hes on you, if you miss your probably dead
"The wind has been disengaged from the scene" is killing me🤣
But that's the point where he is wrong. Sailing with the wind coming from the side is possible, even with these old ships. There you will use the sail as a wing, rather than just letting it catch the wind. Modern boats have more useful sails for that, but it's also possible with square rigged sails. In the Video that means that the wind is comin from the left. The Sails would however be tilted more than in the video.
@@UsoMerit Go back and look at the clip again. The wind is clearly behind all three ships. Just look at the way the sails are billowed.
@@vederianl9723 The Sail should be angled more, that's right, but they are both pointing in the right direction for that course (the sails just would have to be a bit more angled). So they seemed to know, that the wind should be coming from the left. They probably just thought that it woul look weird, if they angled the sails more.
It is completely possible to sail 90° true wind direction with a square rig. Later square rigged ships can even achieve angles of less than 60°.
@@vederianl9723 Also the arrows are wrong even for the showed sail positions. In that sail position the wind probably would be coming about 45° from behind, and not straight from behind. (so in Becketts case coming from the left-behind )
It is usually not coming perpendicular to the sails, because, even when you don't use tha sail as a wing profile, you want to minimize the "sail shadow" of the Sails behind. (if you would use the sail completely perpendicular to the Wind, your Front Sails wouldn't do anything.
Captain: Scotty!!!! Engage the Wind!!! and make it a 20mph wind.
This guy’s delivery is what sells it for me:
"Someone saw this at a carnival and was like: 'let’s do that'"
I keep coming back to this because I love this guy's dry humor.
Really luved this one!! Confirming alotta things that were suspicious in the first place in some of those movies and series.
Such a pleasant surprise to see one of these experts actually being knowledgeable in most of the movies he's being shown, having clearly watched many if not all the movies completely.
Man I'm just excited to see one of my favourite shows finally being featured. Black Sails is criminally underrated!
No surprise Master & Commander got a 10/10 from him, damn I loved that movie.
'Historical fiction' done correctly!
Master and commander is such an underrated masterpiece!
I still remember watching it for the first time as a kid with my father.
"Its a suprise becuase its dumb"
Like anything in the pirates of the caribbean
Parley?
@@thatfanboygamer ,
What's there to talk about?
@Nobody I think we can sort this out with an accord
They are fantasy movies. Dude doesn't even know that I guess.
@@ameybirulkar7503 ,
*Sigh* He knows that, he even said as much with "that's pretty good for a pirate movie".
I feel like a good analogy for turning the wheel is like trying to steer a car without power steering,
If your car weighed a few thousand tons and the wheels were immersed in water, to boot.
The latter isn't so terrible if the car is moving, but turning a big, flat piece of wood submerged in water? Yeah, that's tough on any day.Try it at home in the pool with a piece of plywood. You have to muscle that thing... lol
If you've not sailed before you may think ships come with power steering. Spoiler alert: they don't.
I had a 1988 Fiero with no Power Steering, and let me tell you, this is 100% accurate. That tiny little 1900lb car felt like an oil tanker when I tried to turn the wheel below 10mph
Master and Commander is one of my top 10. I read all of the books and was amazed at how well the movie followed the books. Only a very few "mistakes" but none took away from the story
I learned so much knowledge by watching this video!