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in the third century B.C. Hannibal Barca, son of Hamilcar Barca, driven by hatred of Rome and devotion to his father, launched the 2nd Punic with Rome and made world and military history by traversing the alps with 45,000 men (including elephants) to invade Italy. After several initial battles on the Italian peninsula Hannibal faced at least 85,000 Romans(some historians believe it could have been more) at the battle of Cannae. Hannibal defeated them with a smaller force using advanced military tactics. For the next 9 years Hannibal would terrorize Italy, it's allies, and threaten Rome itself.
Despite the thousands of Roman battle deaths, the republic gathered its strength and realized that they had to stand firm in the face of terrorism or become its slave. General Publius Cornelius Scipio(Africanus Major) decided that the best way to rid Italy of Hannibal was to attack his home turf in Spain and in Carthage. After hearing news that Spain was now under Roman control and Carthage was under attack Hannibal finally retreated from Italy back 'home' to Carthage and never set foot on Italian soil again.Most modern historians show respect for Hannibal and military leaders have referenced his tactics for ages. But at the time the Romans despised him and did not have full rest until they burnt Carthage to the ground. To the people of Rome, one of the most civilized people on earth, Hannibal was a terrorist and the phrase "Hannibal is at the Gates" would strike fear into anyone's heart who remembered such a terrifying invader of their homeland.
Fast forward to 9/11 2001. Osama Bin Laden, driven by hatred of America and devotion to jihadist islam launched an improbable yet highly successful attack against the United States, the psychological effect which is still being felt 7 years later. Like Hannibals invasion and his victory at Cannae, Bin Ladens attack was a strategic surprise in a new kind of warfare and created an emotional scar that caused fear and anger for revenge among many Americans. Although Bush may not be remembered in quite the same way as general Scipion he was the one who encouraged America to stay the course and not give in. And also to advance the idea that in order to rid oneself of a terrorist you have eliminate his power base and pursue him wherever he should flee. Although Hannibal is revered as a great general he was cast out of his homeland and spent the rest of his life on the run until he was driven to suicide in order to avoid Roman assassination. And like wise although Bin Laden is revered by many in the middle east his fate will follow that of history and despite damaging america in the end Bin Laden will only have made us a stronger nation, better prepared for an uncertain future.
I think many comparisons can be made to the response of the people of Rome and the response of America after 9/11 and by consequence between Hannibal and Bin Laden. And although Hannibals death toll was far higher than Bin Ladens and Hannibals tactics are studied today and revered to some degree like Rommel, I think Bin Laden will be despised forever by all civilized countries because he represents barbarism and the destruction of civilization as opposed to a legitimate alternative (though not the best) such as what Carthage may have offered. And the comparison raises another question as to the definition of terrorism and civilization. Ultimately it involves the morality of the attackers and their goals. The 9/11 hijackers were terrorists. Bin Laden is a terrorist. Hannibal terrorized but for some reason he doesn't fit the definition completely. Maybe because his fighting methods were legitimate warfare although tactically ahead of the romans. Or that he recognized the Roman authorities and government and sought surrender terms from them. Its a difficult line to draw but i think it can be drawn if clearly thought through.
its to early to say that we are living through a CGI golden age but nothing lasts forever and this past decade with all of its comic book and sci fiction-films cannot last forever. eventually everyone will reach the point where they say, "been there and done that" and the budgets for these films will have to be cut or eliminated in favor of something new. i think its inevitable though as much as i hate to acknowledge it, that every theme will have been exhausted by 2010. think about it, what hasn't been done that people would be interested in seeing? will these movies just keep going making prequels and sequels and new trilogies until the DVD box sets are 9 deep? sci-fi is definitely on the brink of exhaustion i think. from 2001 to Blade Runner and Alien to Back To The Future to the 5th Element to Star Wars and Star Trek what hasnt been done? what could someone possibly imagine that is original? FPS video games are caught in the same cycle already.(WW2, Swat Team, Apocolypse, Virus, Governement Lab gone wild etc etc) In fact alot of them draw from films like Terminator, Aliens, and Star Wars. Im not even sure how original DooM was, it may have been a simple rehash of cheap zombie movies(which by the way have been exhausted thoroughly) .
at some point maybe like Moores law in computers directors are going to hit a barrior. a writers block of sorts thats made of steel from years of recycling the same ideas until they have popped out in ten different movies, 5 different books, and 15 different video games already. Maybe Electonic Arts (EA) or Blizzard have something brewing for video games. At least Nintendo had the courage to make the Wii, that was genius for sure, and its going to spawn a whole new of intereactive games i think.
Guitar Hero is fairly original but somewhat of spinoff japanese games that have been out for five years already. maybe all the original ideas will come from asia. maybe the US has exhausted its cultural potential or will exhaust it very soon. i just dont think there is anything left imagine that is innovative or oiriginal in film. Batman? great movie but wholly derivative. only the acting by ledger was purely original i think. Terminator? not really sure, they are going on the 4th installment and people are eager to see it but it perform in a mediocre way like Hellboy and Underworld which had huge potential but couldn't capture blockbuster interest. why is that?
i almost walked out of Hellboy 2 it was so boring at points. and Underworld although it cool themes seemed like it was just the Matrix in another form. Was the Matrix original? the first one seemed like it had something going for it. it definitely spawned copycat themes thats for sure. Equilibrium was painfullly unoriginal. Ultraviolet...ugh!! I am Legend was fairly original in its atmosphere i think and in its acting but the zombie virus theme is a top 40 hit played a thousand times. whats new? whats worth seeing? im predicting a major shift in movie going attitudes within the next 5 years and a lot of high budget bombs(like The Hulk, Catwoman and Prince Caspian which were all underperformers to say the least), because movie producers didn't see it coming. the Watchmen movie just might be the first sign of the coming change because i cant imagine people being interested.
like baseball cards there are just to many heroes and end of the world scenarios to actually care about anymore on a wide scale. maybe Batman is ahead of the curve. when you think about it, if everyone has seen everything already what do you have left? ..... plot twists.... acting ..... character development. maybe the future is going to be dramatzing history like the "Titanic" or the "Patriot". or creating hybrids like "shaun of the dead" that realize that its all been done before. thats was the pattern for Mafia films it seems. speaking of which, thats a terribly exhausted genre, the whole gangster theme gets so old becuase you get tired of ending up in the same general area at the end of the film every time - people dead, in jail, betrayed....zzzzzzz credits roll. i think producers are going to have to look deeper as the well runs dry.
After all how did "Meet The Fockers" gross $280 million? "Home Alone" grossed $285 million! and the "Sixth Sense" $ 293 million. The budgets and marketing for these films were miniscule compared to Starwars, IronMan, or Batman. yet somehow they resonated with the audience. i would hate to be the producer of the X-files because i dont think people are in that kind of mood at this point. and the X-men? or the next Underworld? i hear the sounds of blockbuster budget bombs.
in the third century B.C. Hannibal Barca, son of Hamilcar Barca, driven by hatred of Rome and devotion to his father, launched the 2nd Punic with Rome and made world and military history by traversing the alps with 45,000 men (including elephants) to invade Italy. After several initial battles on the Italian peninsula Hannibal faced at least 85,000 Romans(some historians believe it could have been more) at the battle of Cannae. Hannibal defeated them with a smaller force using advanced military tactics. For the next 9 years Hannibal would terrorize Italy, it's allies, and threaten Rome itself.
Fast forward to 9/11 2001. Osama Bin Laden, driven by hatred of America and devotion to jihadist islam launched an improbable yet highly successful attack against the United States, the psychological effect which is still being felt 7 years later. Like Hannibals invasion and his victory at Cannae, Bin Ladens attack was a strategic surprise in a new kind of warfare and created an emotional scar that caused fear and anger for revenge among many Americans. Although Bush may not be remembered in quite the same way as general Scipion he was the one who encouraged America to stay the course and not give in. And also to advance the idea that in order to rid oneself of a terrorist you have eliminate his power base and pursue him wherever he should flee. Although Hannibal is revered as a great general he was cast out of his homeland and spent the rest of his life on the run until he was driven to suicide in order to avoid Roman assassination. And like wise although Bin Laden is revered by many in the middle east his fate will follow that of history and despite damaging america in the end Bin Laden will only have made us a stronger nation, better prepared for an uncertain future.
