Production Companies Warner Bros. Pictures, Intermedia Films, Pacifica Film, Egmond Film & Television, France 3 Cinéma, IMF Internationale Medien und Film GmbH & Co. 3. Produktions KG, Pathé Renn Productions
Miraculously, throughout the two-and-a-half-week-long filming of the forest battle, no injuries were caused by the elephants, nor were any animals harmed. “They were amazing,” enthuses Stone of his pachyderm thespians. “It really seemed as if they were enjoying themselves.”
Needless to say, the mayhem inflicted upon the elephants and horses in the course of battle onscreen was entirely fabricated by the special and visual effects departments, along with the prosthetics division, which was responsible throughout filming for providing extraordinarily realistic depictions of the cruel physical effects of war on humans and animals alike.
In preparation for the staging of the film’s massive battles between clashing armies, armorer Richard Hooper was charged with producing the vast array of weaponry utilized by the Macedonian, Persian, Indian and Bactrian armies. Hooper and his crew sometimes had to equip as many as 1,500 soldiers per day, necessitating the creation of over 12,000 functional pieces of equipment: approximately 1,000 sarissas, 2,000 shields, 2,000 swords, 750 bows and 9,000 arrows. Most of the weapons were tooled by Hooper from actual metal, with realistic plastic versions created for stunt and horse riding situations.
To outfit the soldiers and animals for the forest battle sequence, Hooper added 500 shields and the same number of swords, clubs and axes; 150 bows and 2,000 arrows; and livery for the Macedonian and Persian cavalry, as well as for the elephants. Art director Stuart Rose was assigned to create and maintain the elephants’ elaborate armor.
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