@Mom - Watch it again. All the knights were in front of the vehicles, and Itami had vehicles right beside and behind him. If he ran while shouting for retreat and entered a vehicle, they would've been able to escape, especially because those knights seem to have incredibly slow reaction times.

And remember, the knights didn't even flinch when he turned around and started shouting, causing the vehicles to suddenly move around. Running away is not much different and actually gets him out of danger. The moment he enters a vehicle, it's a done deal. It's definitely safer than becoming a hostage.

In any case, I wasn't arguing that he should run. I was illustrating how badly the animated scenario was done. It's like the makers knew what had to happen but didn't care about how it should happen. If you read my alternative scenario, this could all have happened in a better way but result in the same thing.