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Napoleon
Posted: Wed Dec 13, 2023 10:21 am
by warshipadmin
Caught in a blood temperature(literally) heatwave we decided to escape from the camper-trailer and go to the air-conditioned cinema. So we saw this. Which made me realise how little I knew of Boney's story. As such i can't remark on accuracy. Somehow the music and Phoenix's unapologetic American accent put me in mind of The Godfather, and in the early scenes Josephine was unbelievable (in a bad way). But... it's a long film and it didn't feel too long. If the Waterloo segment is accurate, then I fail to see where his brilliance lies. Attacking an almost equal army, uphill, against prepared positions, seems daft, or I suppose, desperate, since once the Prussians turned up it was game over either way.
Re: Napoleon
Posted: Wed Dec 13, 2023 12:13 pm
by Craiglxviii
The Waterloo segment is many things, accurate not being one of them.
Re: Napoleon
Posted: Wed Dec 13, 2023 6:32 pm
by Calder
warshipadmin wrote: ↑Wed Dec 13, 2023 10:21 am
If the Waterloo segment is accurate, then I fail to see where his brilliance lies. Attacking an almost equal army, uphill, against prepared positions, seems daft, or I suppose, desperate, since once the Prussians turned up it was game over either way.
Shrug, if Napoleon hadn't attacked at Waterloo then Wellington's and Blücher armies would have combined and forced an engagement where Napoleon would have been massively outnumbered. Napoleon lost for the same reason in the end that Hitler lost. You can't declare war on the world and expect to win.
Re: Napoleon
Posted: Wed Dec 13, 2023 8:20 pm
by MFOM
warshipadmin wrote: ↑Wed Dec 13, 2023 10:21 am
Caught in a blood temperature(literally) heatwave we decided to escape from the camper-trailer and go to the air-conditioned cinema. So we saw this. Which made me realise how little I knew of Boney's story. As such i can't remark on accuracy. Somehow the music and Phoenix's unapologetic American accent put me in mind of The Godfather, and in the early scenes Josephine was unbelievable (in a bad way). But... it's a long film and it didn't feel too long. If the Waterloo segment is accurate, then I fail to see where his brilliance lies. Attacking an almost equal army, uphill, against prepared positions, seems daft, or I suppose, desperate, since once the Prussians turned up it was game over either way.
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You should watch the 1970 Film Waterloo, its free on Youtube, not perfect but better then the above in terms of showing the Battle
Re: Napoleon
Posted: Thu Dec 14, 2023 9:13 am
by Craiglxviii
MFOM wrote: ↑Wed Dec 13, 2023 8:20 pm
You should watch the 1970 Film Waterloo, its free on Youtube, not perfect but better then the above in terms of showing the Battle
And with a far better musical score… plus a 1:1 recreation of the charge of the Scots Greys in the form of a living version of “Scotland Forever!” by Lady Butler.
Re: Napoleon
Posted: Thu Dec 14, 2023 5:42 pm
by Craiglxviii
For those interested, I put up a video of Ney’s final disastrous cavalry charge in the Waterloo movie, up on our FB page.
Re: Napoleon
Posted: Thu Dec 14, 2023 11:21 pm
by DaveAAA
Mind you, Bondarchuk had a literal Army's worth of trained extras to reenact that campaign. That option wasn't available to Ridley Scott as the folks who provided Waterloo's extras are too busy badly re-enacting the Great Patriotic War to help out.