MovieChat Forums > Night at the Museum (2006) Discussion > Attila the Hun Error

Attila the Hun Error

posted 16 years ago by gourlegr
35 replies | jump to latest

In the movie, Attila the Hun is portrayed as being Oriental/East Asian. However, this is an absurd historical inaccuracy, since Attila the Hun was was from the Hunnic Empire, which predominantly ruled Eastern Europe and Russia. Apparently the movie confuses Attila with Genghis or Kublai Khan, East Asians who are remembered as bloodthirsty warriors. Before you say "It's a kid's movie, who cares about historical inaccuracies," do you really want to confuse kids with obviously wrong historical depictions? How hard could it have been to maintain factual accuracy in this case?
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[–] aris009 16 years ago

Honestly, if the kids care they'll look it up. It's just a fictional representation. And speaking of "an absurd historical inaccuracy"... well,it's an absolutely absurd notion that Attila the Hun could come back to life, in New York in the twenty-first century. Allow your intellect to relax during a 90-minute kid's movie, for pete's sake.

[–] gourlegr 16 years ago

Look, I realize it's just a kid's movie, and you'll see I didn't criticize any other aspect of the movie. I don't expect a History Channel documentary, just get basic facts right. It would be like casting a Korean as the Roman commander--just very silly.
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[–] sandefjord3230 16 years ago

"...like casting a Korean as the Roman commander..." In fact, they did what every other director for the last 50 years has done: they cast a Brit as the Roman! Generations of Americans have grown up thinking Rome was peopled by upper-crusty Brits, given everything from "I, Claudius," to "Gladiator."

The half-Japanese actress chosen for Sacajawea isn't historically accurate either, but gee, she's pretty. I have a feeling Asian actors were cast as Huns because it made them more "other" than yet more white actors would have been -- truth has never been a barrier to movie producers doing whatever the heck they want. I'm not sure we can even say for sure what the Huns looked like, given how much ethnic populations have migrated in the intervening centuries.

At least give the director credit for hiring an actual Italian to play Christopher Columbus!

[–] albradle 16 years ago

(You should watch the commentary by the writers to further investigate this issue. It's hilarious.)

[–] actionmanrandell 16 years ago

dude the huns were a eurasian tribe being of europian and asian decent. they were not white nore were they completly asian

[–] BloodySloth 16 years ago

I agree that the "it's just a kids' movie" excuse is getting taken a bit too far. If anything, the creators of the movie should be more responsible with their fact-checking if they know the film is meant for a younger audience that doesn't know any better than to take this stuff at face value. Obviously the whole set up of the film is a fantasy, but I don't remember the part in the film where Attila the Hun magically turns into a Mongolian. There are allowances in a work of fiction that must be made for the fantasy to take place, but that doesn't mean anything goes.

To be fair, however, Attila the Hun and Genghis Khan are often confused in real life as well, even in some more educational settings, so it isn't a unique blunder on the part of the filmmakers.

[–] edamahun 16 years ago

I get why you're peeved, and I do find it annoying, but as far as I'm concerned it's the parent/guardian/school's responsibility to educate children, not a Ben Stiller film. xD

[–] Trigger78 16 years ago

Lets cast Chow Yun Fat as Theodore Roosevelt in the next one if historical accuracy doesn't matter

Singles on the dancefloor doubles at the bar! GO 'ED!

[–] 16 years ago

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[–] kurt_wagner-1 16 years ago

yeah yeah, and Leslie Nielsen as Kim Jong-il X-D

[–] peter1-8 16 years ago

I don't think he looks THAT East-Asian. I could describe him as looking Russian.

[–] french1313 16 years ago

Regarding the ethnicity of Attila the Hun, who was actually born in what is present day Hungary, he looked a lot like the actor Peter Lorre except taller. Attila had a sense of humor and said he did not believe what was written about him in the newspapers. When being told by one of his generals that they were totally lost and had no conception of where they were whatsoever, Attila said: " Show me on the map." It turn out that Attila actually was 'Oriental/East Asian' as his parents were foreigners from the East vacationing in the region when Attila was born.

[–] silesius-1 16 years ago

No wonder Peter Lorre had an urge to play Chinese characters ...

[–] 16 years ago

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[–] boogadaboogadaboogada 16 years ago

Wow! Wait until the OP finds out Liam Neeson is playing Abe Lincoln. He/she is going to be writing to congress!!

[–] bogwart-1 16 years ago

That's quite droll coming from someone with your sig.

[–] Uncyclopedia 16 years ago

Just to be fair, the origin of the Huns is still debatable. While most believe them to be of Eastern European, I have to say there is a good chance they are immigrants from the Central Asian nomads, especially China's Northern neighbours, Xionglu (not to be confused with the Mongolians these guys are different). I don't want to go through all the little details and because it's very obscure. Please forgive me if your view is different or that you find my idea strange, but that is my thought.

[–] voicutu 16 years ago

So the actors are a problem, but the fact that a 19th century cowboy and a Roman commander know how to deflate a tyre and that the same cowboy knows how to drive a car is not a problem.