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 (as Sergei Bondarchuk)

Writers:

H.A.L. Craig (story and screenplay), Sergey Bondarchuk (screenplay collaboration) (as Sergei Bondarchuk)

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	...	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 Zakariadze	...	Blucher (as Serghej Zakhariadze)
Terence Alexander	...	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:

prussian soldier | napoleon | battle | napoleon bonaparte | costume drama | 

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Taglines:

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

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Genres:

Action | Biography | Drama | History | War

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Certificate:

12

Did You Know?

Trivia

"The first co-production between an American studio and what was then the Soviet Union" according to website 'The Spinning Image'.

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Goofs

The final sequence of the battle, depicting the destruction of the (apparently) last Old Guard square by artillery, is pure invention and Cambronne (who responds: "Merde!)" was taken prisoner.

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Quotes

Duke of Wellington: Next to a battle lost, the saddest thing is a battle won.

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Alternate Versions

All UK video and DVD releases are cut by 22 secs to remove horse falls. The B.B.F.C have cut 'Waterloo' in accordance with their policy of censoring scenes showing actual (or what appears to be actual) cruelty inflicted upon animals during filming. For instance, in the British DVD release the scene where the French Cavalry charge the red-coated British squares has lost a few seconds where a horse and rider topple forward after being gunned down. This was cut because of the scene's apparent use of the 'Running W' device, a notorious (and illegal) technique in which a stunt rider charges a horse into a 'W' shaped trip wire to make it fall forwards head over heels on-cue. All horse falls can be seen uncut on the American Region One DVD release.

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Connections

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

User Reviews

Greatest War Movie ever made.

I only discovered Waterloo a couple of years ago and that was after buying the DVD for £4 in Asda! What a bargain buy it turned out to be, a true classic in every sense of the word.

The two main protagonists Napoleon and Wellington are portrayed superbly by Rod Steiger and Christopher Plummer respectively, as we get a really detailed insight into both men's characters. These 2 generals had a special rivalry in 19th century military history and the way real quotes are dropped in at certain points during the movie is top class. Napoleon was the man to beat in 1815 and Wellington had his eyes very much set on that prize, this is well exemplified just before the battle commences when a soldier asks Wellington to fire a cannon shot when Napoleon rides into range, to which Wellington replies somewhat aghast "Certainly not, commanders of armies have something better to do than to fire at one another". Wellington knew this would be the battle that would make or break him, and he wanted Napoleon there operating at his best.

Another quote from the movie which embodies the respect and honour associated with this period of military history; Wellington is observing the French preparations for the commencement of battle, watching over the pomp and ritual somewhat contemptuously but also in admiration, "Dramatic fellows, these French, music and banners, quite beautiful."

As far as I am aware the historical attention to detail is second to none with all the main areas included such as the lead-up to the battle at Ligny and Quatre Bras. Furthermore the battle appears to go exactly how historians would have wanted with plenty of emphasis put on every area of the battlefield. Sometimes in Britain and among Anglo-Saxons the battle is simply described as the Brits beating the French, however the movie sticks to historical facts and shows it was very much an Allied army that won at Waterloo with only something like 20%-30% of it comprising of British soldiers. The rest of the Allied force was made up of Prussians, Hessians, Hanoverians, Dutch, Belgians, Danes. This was very much a broad European coalition.

Another great thing about this film is that even though Bonaparte was essentially the 'tyrant' we get such an insight into his character and into Bonaparte 'the man' that you feel sorry that he loses the battle in the end up.

The battle scenes are truly lavish, a real epic of a film.

Top top drawer.

For me its a 10 out of 10 !

Details

Country:

Italy Soviet Union

Language:

English

Release Date:

28 October 1970 (West Germany)

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