Waterloo (1970/I)

Director:

Sergei Bondarchuk

Writers:

H.A.L. Craig (story)
Sergei Bondarchuk (screenplay) ...

Release Date:

28 October 1970 (France)

Genre:

Action | Drama | History | War

Tagline:

Waterloo.The battle that changed the face of the world.

Plot:

After defeating France and imprisoning Napoleon on Elba, ending two decades of war, Europe is shocked...

Plot Keywords:

Napoleon | General | Waterloo | Fate | Prussian

Awards:

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

Cast

Rod Steiger	...	Napoleon Bonaparte
Christopher Plummer	...	Arthur Wellesley, Duke of Wellington
Orson Welles	...	Louis XVIII
Jack Hawkins	...	Gen. 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	...	Soult
Ian Ogilvy	...	De Lancey
Michael Wilding	...	Ponsonby
Sergo Zaqariadze	...	Blucher (as Serghej Zakhariadze)
Terence Alexander	...	Uxbridge
Andrea Checchi	...	Sauret

Also Known As:

Ватерлоо (Soviet Union: Russian title)

Runtime:

Norway:134 min | UK:132 min | USA:123 min

Country:

Italy | Soviet Union

Language:

English | Russian

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.20 : 1

Sound Mix:

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

Certification:

Ireland:G | UK:U | Singapore:PG | Iceland:12 | Finland:K-12 | Germany:12 | Norway:16 (1971) | USA:G

Filming Locations:

Dino De Laurentiis Cinematografica Studios, Rome, Lazio, Italy

Company:

Dino de Laurentiis Cinematografica

Trivia:

Terence Alexander has said that The KGB were monitoring non-Russian cast members

Goofs:

Revealing mistakes: At least twice in the movie when French infantry are shown marching to the beats of drums that are played by young drummer boys, the tattoo beat by the drummer boys sounds clear and consistent, but close up shots of the drummer boys reveals that they are in fact just beating the drums randomly, if at all. As some of the boys seem to be barely able to march holding the drums let alone play them with such precision as heard in the movie's soundtrack.

Quotes:

Mulholland: [the Old Guard is surrounded by British cavalry] Brave Frenchmen! You have done all that the honor of war demands; His Grace, the Duke of Wellington, invites you to save your lives! Will you surrender?
Vicomte Pierre Cambronne: MERDE!
[Cavalry pulls back exposing ranks of artillery]

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Lost Kubrick: The Unfinished Films of Stanley Kubrick (2007) (V)

A timeless classic

There can be no denying that this is a great film to watch.

Pure historians may dispair at some inaccuracies, although in a previous review I notice that a reviewer has made a few mistakes of his own! Air burst shells were quite the norm in fact the RHA were firing over the heads of the British troops at Hugomont the shells exploding over the French, these balls were hollow in nature and fused, in addition to this (although not seen in the film) were the RHA's rockets, which although forbidden by Wellington, were also fired of lierally. A feature I like which is included but wrong are the cannons shown in infantry squares firing at the advancing French cavalry and the troops then closing rank again to fend of the attackers. At the time of making it was still widely believed this happened.

A fair chunk of the story derives from Victor Hugo's descriptions of the battle which in turn were wrong. Bottom line is that I was a much younger man when the movie first came out and it fostered a great interest in finding out more. I feel it is a timeless 'film of its time'. Naturally a re-make would be a wonderful thing in todays modern world but the original does convey some of the depth, noise and smoke of the day.