Top 5 Historical Weapons from Movies

Weapons have been evolving with the evolution of humankind. From stone-trimmed daggers of the medieval age to the hydrogen nuclear bomb of the 21st century, humankind is increasing its dependability on weapons. The first era of weapons, based on historical facts, was the Bronze Age.

In the early stages of the human race, we used weapons for hunting animals for food or protecting ourselves from the wilderness. Gradually, with the development of humankind in different races, the scope of weapon usage saw a tremendous increase.

Historical weapons are still the talk of the town because of their craft, and they were unique yet deadly in every sense. Many movies and television series feature historically used weapons based on medieval warfare. Even historical weapons are still practiced in China, Japan, Korea, and the Himalayan region.

Movies and television series are focusing more on historical warfare day by day. Consequently, the public gets to the use of historical weapons in these action thrillers.

Some people still prefer modern rifles, handguns, and more, in action movies. If you are also a fan of modern guns, have in mind you can build rifles by yourself as a hobby. For ARs, for example, you can buy parts, upper, lower, barrel, grip, etc., and assemble at home.

Without further ado, let’s jump to our weapon choices. We have compiled a list of 5 historical weapons from recent movies for lovers of historical weapons.

Trebuchet

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Trebuchet is a more precise form of a catapult. It has a cart-like platform as its foundation. Trebuchet has two arms; one arm is fixed, and the other one is rotating. The rotating arm is used to throw the projectile towards the enemy.

The rotating arm has an elastic holder attached at its end. Large stones are put in that holder, and the projectile motion is directed towards the enemy. The range of this weapon is approximately 300 meters. The stones damage the enemy’s castles, and the major purpose of this weapon is pre-invasion destruction.

Trebuchet has been shown in many movies. Most recently, directors showcased its use in the action thriller military movie “The Last Castle.” In this movie, the actors used the Trebuchet to take down the jail administration.

Morning Star

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The name of this weapon might seem delicate, but the weapon itself is very deadly. Morning stars can shut the enemy’s eyes in just one blow. It was developed in the late 13th century and was widely used in Germany especially. It is known as Morgenstern in Germany.

Morning star is a pole-mounted steel ball having deadly spikes attached with it. The spikes on the top are the focal point of this weapon. They strike the finishing blow to the enemy. Warriors made it to impact the armor.

Leonardo DiCaprio’s famous movie “The man in the Iron Mask” featured the use of a Morning star. Morning star was also used with a chain variant. The chain variant of Morning Star includes a holder of about 2 feet in length. A steel chain is affixed with the holder, and the other end of the chain holds the spiking ball.

The chain variant of Morning Star was quick in action and also in impact. Less manual power was required to cause more damage to the enemy. Nonetheless, the name of the weapon remains the same in both variants.

Mace

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Mace is nearly similar in shape to the Morning Star. This historical weapon was not easy to use because of its weight. Only the most heavy-weight soldiers in the army were equipped with Mace. Mace was the primary weapon of front-line assault teams in the historical battlefields. Mace was used to break the defense lines due to its ability to penetrate and cause huge damage to the enemy in a single blow.

Mace is an iron rod with a wrought iron pentagonal ball on the top. This made it much heavier, and the rod had spikes too. Once struck with full force, the Mace even proved impactful on the body armors. Mace was the favorite weapon of a knight.

The use of Mace was seen in the big pictures in the movie “The Hobbit.” Some people confuse Mace with Morning star. Morning star does not have spikes on the rod as compared to Mace.

Bardiche

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Bardiche is the deadliest form of an ax. Bardiche is a long wooden pole with a very large curved blade attached at its end.  The curved blade is approximately 4-4.5 feet in its curvature. The law specifically used this weapon in beheading the criminals who were on the death penalty back in the 12th century.

Bardiche was not just a war weapon but also an executioner’s right hand. A single blow of Bardiche was enough to cut the head as smooth as a slice of apple. Iron and bronze were used in their making. It was a close encounter weapon and was equally impactful on armors. The blade was extremely sharp at the end of the curvature, thus penetrating the armor.

Bardiche used was seen in the 1986 action thriller “The Highlander.” Bardiche is a historical weapon that was transformed from an ax.

Crossbow

Source: wikimedia.org

While not a modern AR-15, the crossbow allows users to engage targets at longer distances. The crossbow was the modified version of the bow and arrow. If you can call crossbow a semi-automatic bow and arrow, then it won’t be wrong. The crossbow was designed to reduce the human effort which was required in bow and arrow.

Its structure is composed of a bow and arrow affixed on a horizontal shaft having a trigger. The users extended the bow to its full elasticity and put an arrow in the center. The trigger holds the bow. Once pressed, the bow lets go of the arrow. Crossbow made it easier to focus more on target without losing the grip on the bow.

Crossbow has a firing mechanism. However, the arrow had to be loaded manually in each shot. The crossbow was the most fierce weapon in ancient times, with a range of approximately 50 meters. Crossbow overtook the usage of bow and arrow.

The serial “Lord of the Rings” and many other movies showcase the use of bow and arrow. The crossbow arrow was dipped in poison, and the length of its arrow is relatively shorter than the length of the arrow used with a general bow.

No matter how much the science of weaponry has propagated, historical weapons remain the center of attraction for the film-making industry and the public.