Mel admits to openly cribbing Miller, who is great, but not quite on Spielberg's level. Seriously, Mel himself would disagree with you.
Realism? Mel? Which films are you talking about? Because you couldn't mean Braveheart or Passion. Lots of blood does not automatically equal realism.
>speilberg does it >with special effects and a dumb ass orchestra and hits people >over the head to get a response.
John Williams is dumber than James Horner? I'm not sure where you're coming from here.
If you have a hard-on for gore dressed up with pretentious historical ideas, Mel is your man. But that doesn't make him a better director of action or anything else.