Waterloo (1970)

Facing the decline of everything he has worked to obtain, conqueror Napoleon Bonaparte and his army confront the British at the Battle of Waterloo.

Director:

Sergey Bondarchuk

Writers:

H.A.L. Craig (story), Sergey Bondarchuk (screenplay)

Stars:

Rod Steiger, Christopher Plummer, Orson Welles

Won 2 BAFTA Film Awards. Another 1 win & 2 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Rod Steiger	...	Napoleon Bonaparte
Christopher Plummer	...	Arthur Wellesley, Duke of Wellington
Orson Welles	...	Louis XVIII
Jack Hawkins	...	General Sir Thomas Picton
Virginia McKenna	...	Duchess of Richmond
Dan O'Herlihy	...	Marshal Michel Ney
Rupert Davies	...	Gordon
Philippe Forquet	...	La Bedoyere
Gianni Garko	...	Drouot
Ivo Garrani	...	Marshal Soult
Ian Ogilvy	...	De Lancey
Michael Wilding	...	Colonel Sir William Ponsonby
Sergo Zakariadze	...	Blucher (as Serghej Zakhariadze)
Terence Alexander	...	Lord Uxbridge
Andrea Checchi	...	Sauret

Storyline

After defeating France and imprisoning Napoleon on Elba, ending two decades of war, Europe is shocked to find Napoleon has escaped and has caused the French Army to defect from the King back to him. The best of the British generals, the Duke of Wellington, beat Napolean's best generals in Spain and Portugal, but has never faced Napoleon. Wellington stands between Napoleon with a makeshift Anglo-Allied army and the Prussians. A Napoleon victory will plunge Europe back into a long term war. An allied victory could bring long term peace to Europe. The two meet at Waterloo where the fate of Europe will be decided.

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Plot Keywords:

napoleon | napoleon bonaparte | costume drama | year 1815 | napoleonic wars | 

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Taglines:

One incredible afternoon Napoleon met Wellington . . . at Waterloo.

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Genres:

Action | Drama | History | War

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Certificate:

G

Details

Country:

Italy Soviet Union USA

Language:

English Russian

Release Date:

28 October 1970 (France)

Also Known As:

Battle of Waterloo

Filming Locations:

Royal Palace, Caserta, Campania, Italy

Box Office

Budget:

$25,000,000 (estimated)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Dino de Laurentiis Cinematografica, Mosfilm

Technical Specs

Runtime:

134 min

Sound Mix:

Mono 70 mm 6-Track (Westrex Recording System) (70 mm prints)

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Actor Christopher Plummer, who portrays the 1st Duke of Wellington Field Marshal Arthur Wellesley, would go on to play the character again about four years later in an episode of Witness to Yesterday (1970) entitled "The Duke of Wellington" [See: Witness to Yesterday: The Duke of Wellington (1974)].

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Goofs

Mountains can be seen in the background during the battle. There are no mountains in this part of Belgium.

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Quotes

Napoleon Bonaparte: [in pain from the early stages of stomach cancer] My body is dying, but my mind is still good!

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Connections

Featured in Pauw & Witteman: Episode #6.78 (2012)

User Reviews

Exquisite for its focus alone

The problem most war movies have, especially if they depict one battle, is the addition of extraneous sub-plots. I suppose the film makers think a broader audience will appreciate a movie more if there's an ordinary fellow shoved in that we can follow, and a love interest . . . Perhaps this view is valid. "Waterloo" comes dangerously on the brink of that pitfall in an early scene, but quickly backs up and focuses on who we really need to know to understand the battle: Napoleon and Wellington. Christopher Plummer was born to play Wellington, and he underplays the part beautifully, so that you know what he's thinking by the flick of an eyebrow or the corner of his mouth. Steiger looks like the older Napoleon, and he tends to chew the scenery, but Napoleon flew into unrestrained rages.

The movie does an admirable job of doing what so many lesser war movies don't: it gives you a good idea of what's going on in the field. If you pay attention, you won't be at a loss for the strategy or tactics.

Furthermore, the way it was shot has kept it from aging. It doesn't look like a "spectacle" from the '50s or '60s -- and though it employs a few of the poor film-making choices of its time that late-sixties film makers thought were so cool but which turned out so confusing and easily dated -- it doesn't seem dated at all.

The script has a peculiarity that might well have destroyed it: the writers seem to have excavated every famous quote from Napoleon, Wellington, et al, and shoved them all into the dialogue; and, amazingly, it isn't a distraction.

The worst problem the film has as a whole is its tendency to try to duplicate famous paintings by Meissonier, Lady Butler, and others; sometimes this works, giving the color tones we have come to expect of the period from those very artworks. Occasionally, it's distracting.

There are a few very rough cuts that look pretty bad. But the movie originally was more than four hours long, and the American release suffers from somewhat poor editing and splicing. Surely it's time to bring a full (and wide-screen) release to home video?

However, if you like your historical war movies diluted with love stories and fictional characters, rather than having the real brains behind the battles at center stage, you'll probably be bored to tears by it. If you want as good a recreation of a famous battle as you can probably get, this movie's for you.