Hi everyone,
As a huge Napoleonic enthusiast this is officially one of my favourite films of all time and I watch it on a regular basis. I'm also a huge fan of the Sharpe series and to a slightly lesser extent the Hornblower series as well.
What other Napoleonic War-era films would you recommend I try and see? Also, are there any that focus on the French?
"The Duellists" absolutely. Unreservedly recommended.
The Russian "War and Peace".
I am proud to own The Duellists on DVD. A truly meserising film from a director who hails from my home town.
I have long debated on whether to invest in Bondarchuk's War and Peace. I have heard reports of "spectacular battle scene" which really takes my interest, having loved the epic depiction of Waterloo in, um, Waterloo. I also like plenty of drama to go with it as well. I really ought to visit the film's IMDB board for more information, but can you tell me a bit more of hat it's like please? What does the five hour length contain? (Like, how many battles are there and are they spectacular, as reviews have suggested?) I only ask because of the DVD's high price. Thanks. :)
Hi!
In War and Peace you get the skirmish at Shoengraben, very good. Nice build up as well.
Austerlitz, which is good but short. You see the Russian/Austrian army drawn up before the battle commences with The Tsar critisizing Kutuzov for not attacking. Kutuzov replies they are not ready. But agrees to start the battle anyway, realising that they have lost the battle before it commences. Then you get a bit of battle montage and its all over. The Russian army in full flight.
But the highlight is Borodino. I think the reason so many people mix War and Peace up with Waterloo is because they both have a massive battle scene which at times does look similar! Borodino is about half an hour long and you get the lot. Massive cavalry charges, French infantry assaults on the Russian redoubts, thousands of extras in every scene. To top it off Bondarchuk has a tracking shot where he takes you right through the battlefield. How they organised that I don't know!
Finally there is the Retreat from Moscow where in one incredible helecopter shot you start at the head of the coloumn and track back to the rear where the stragglers are and you see the whole formation just disentegrate.
I think that they are the battle highlights - but there is plenty more besides for Napoleonic War buffs!
Also - you get a ballroom scene where two of the main characters meet for the first time and that too is just incredible. Bondarchuk filmed the Duchess of Richmond's Waterloo ball in a similar way but this is far bigger!
As a bonus disc there is a documentary on Bondarchuk and a making of feature which is extremely interesting.
The only thing I would say is that there are a lot of horse falls which are clearly illegal so although I bought the Ruscico version I would imagine that the R2 version would probably have the cavalry charges trimmed slightly. The BBFC trimmed 22 seconds off the R2 Waterloo for this reason.
I saw War and Peace after Waterloo and I was not disappointed.
Hope this helps decide it for you!
Monsieur N
Colonel Chabert.
shareNapoleon by Abel Gance is a great silent film. It's way ahead of its time, absolutely mind-blowing. It portrays Napoleon as a hero, it's about his earlier career moreso than his defeats (it doesn't show those at all). The version I've seen was about 5 hours long, so it's a long one, I think an 8 hour version exists somewhere. It's well worth it, though.
shareI'd also recommend ,even though the movie is flawed by time constraints, the DVD set 'Napoleon' with Christian Clavier playing Napoleon from the A&E network. It is a good film though not as good as 'Waterloo'. 'Napoleon' is based on Max Gallo's four novels on the emperor and its running time is around six hours. The film came out in America in 2003. The DVD box set has as a extra a documentary on the Battle of Waterloo that is quite good.
Also there is a good PBS documentary from 2000 called 'Empires: Napoleon'. It has plenty of good interviews with historians and makes for a good companion with the movie depictions. It running time is around four hours.
I love the movie 'Waterloo' and think that Rod Steiger IS Napoleon and Christopher Plummer really knocks his depiction of the Duke of Wellington out of the park. One of my favorite historical/war films. I'm glad to see fans of the film.
Frank: Just a man.
Harmonica: An ancient race.
Clavier's Napoleon was for me hit and miss - there were many great moments but those only highlight the poorer choices, particularly with regard to cast and dialogue scripting, and make them even more egregious. The movie could also have done with fewer massive shots (unless one was prepared to spend for CGI) and could have made do with close in battle shots for the majority as well as maybe battlefield maps. But it was pretty good and Clavier is an awesome Boney.
"It is not enough to like a film. You must like it for the right reasons."
- Pierre Rissient
I agree. I thought it was good but ,as you said, the battles should not have been filmed on a grand scale if they were not going to spend much money for CGI to make the battles have that massive effect. Maybe they should have tried to hire the Russian army gain to help with manpower.
It was long but could have been much longer. I had many likes and plenty of things I disliked. But overall I would recommend to Napoleonic Buffs. And Clavier is quite good as you say. Malkovich is also a hoot as Tallyrand and Rossellini was a good Josephine especially as Josephine grew older.
Frank: Just a man.
Harmonica: An ancient race.
I would strongly recommend THE MASTER AND THE COMMANDER (2003)!
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