"Your Favorite Napoleonic Movies?" Topic

What are your favorite movies that would give me a good feel for the era and combat? Land and naval is fine. I'm looking for films in English I can rent, buy, or at least watch on youtube.

The Duellists!

Intense, moody, character-driven film.
Ridley Scott worked wonders with a modest budget, and the two protagonists – Keith Carradine & Harvey Kietel – are outstanding.

The action scenes are all personal combat rather than mass battle, but where the movie really shows a feel for the period is it's portrayal of the 'Code of Honour'.

There are many, if you have TCM keep a look out they play many of older films.War and Peace (1956 w/ Henry Fonda), gives a good feeling for the period,

The Duelists, Master and Commander and Waterloo. Realistic in their own ways. Entertaining and all provide elements of the feel of the era. All available in English.

The Emperor's New Clothes.

Waterloo with Rod Steiger and Christopher Plummer has some great battle scenes.

Waterloo and Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World. There were others? War and Peace – Not really. The Duellists – Hardly. I guess if your talking about movies that took place during the period, yeah maybe. But if you are talking Napoleonic War movies then there are only two I know of and they happen to be good movies.

Waterloo and Master and Commander for me as well. I have the Duellists and like it but didn't think it was great.

For myself it's Waterloo Rod Steiger did a GREAT performance as Napoleon,War and Peace(the Russian version),Austerlitz and Damm the Defiant.

Captain Gideon

Waterloo is the best. It really does a good job of depicting the ebb and flow of battle and the use of combined arms tactics.

I can't remember the title but it's a french flick about a cuirassier officer played by Gerard Depardieu , it has the charge at Eylau which was pretty cool.

The Depardieu movie is Colonel Chabert. Seems he, the colonel of the 1st Cuirassiers, disappeared during the Eylau charge only to reappear 10 years later after Napoleon was deposed. But did he or was he an imposter? Based on a true story.

Foremost, the Russian remasterd "War and Peace," with subtitles.

Next, Gance's Napoleon and the Revolution.

Third, French TV's Napoleon. Some excellent scenes, most available on Youtube. The Whiff of Grapeshot is a corker and so too is the bridge at Lodi. John Malkavich plays a properly decadent Tallyrand.

Then in no particular order:

Billy Budd written by Herman Melville – Peter Ustinov
Damn the Defiant
Horatio Hornblower – Gregory Peck
Waterloo
War and Peace with Henry Fonda
Passion in the Desert – Egypt 1798 – nice little skirmish with Mamelukes.
The Scarlett Pimpernel with Leslie Howard
The Duellests
Deseree – Period soap opera with Audrey Hepburn, Brando as Napoleon and Michael Renee as Bernadotte
Danton – in French with subtitles. Excellent political drama.

Finally for fantasy:

The Emperor's New Clothes

Bob Coggins

War and Peace, Sergei Bondarchuk, 1968 Academy Award Winner. And honorary best supporting cameo role -- the Russian army!

Waterloo got me started in wargaming and painting, so will always have a place in my heart.

Duellists because Carradine looks great in my favourite hussar uniform, the glorious 3rd.

Outside the period, but with many of the same values (great uniforms, fighting in serried ranks, German troops, tricorns) would have to be The Crossing, with Jeff Daniels as Washington at the battle of Trenton.

Love and Death. Woody Allen

Ratisbon.

The Depardieu movie is Colonel Chabert. Seems he, the colonel of the 1st Cuirassiers, disappeared during the Eylau charge only to reappear 10 years later after Napoleon was deposed. But did he or was he an imposter? Based on a true story.

What an interesting story. I want to see that movie.

Le Colonel Chabret includes a rousing charge by a regiment of Cuirassiers at Eylau. Very well executed but for some reason they are carrying a Revolutionary era standard.

I understand that Stanley Kubrick had always wanted to do a movie on Napoleon's life but abandon the idea when the Waterloo movie came out. The script is available on line. I wish someone else like Spielberg and/or Hanks would pickup the project.

link

link

"The Duelists", best one ever. I have watched it over and over and will watch it again.

Looks like I have may good movies to keep me warm this winter! :-)

Loved Waterloo as a child but can't watch it now – Rod Steiger – most wooden performance of all time?

Nowadays it would have to be The Duellists, a beautiful film.

What? No one has mentioned "The Pride and the Passion"!!! :)

Russian "War and Peace" and admittedly wooden Steiger "Waterloo" are faboo. "Horoatio Hornblower" is tops. Leslie Howard in "The Scarlet Pimpernel" is the finest of the lot!

BTW the Colonel Chaubert story was redone with IIRC Richard Gere and set after the ACW. Can't recall what it was called. Jodie Foster may have been in it too. Not that anyone should watch it. Just a point of information.

BTW the Colonel Chaubert story was redone with IIRC Richard Gere and set after the ACW. Can't recall what it was called. Jodie Foster may have been in it too. Not that anyone should watch it. Just a point of information.

Actually, I believe both the Colonel Chabert and Sommersby (the ACW movie with Richard Gere) are retellings of the 16th century story of Martin Guerre. Indeed, Depardieu played Guerre in La Retour de Martin Guerre!

CA

Capital CA! Quite right. I have seen Martin Guerre and could not reconcile the memory with Chabert.

That Depardieu gets about doesn't he?

Sad truth is that Napoleonic movies are thin on the ground!

It shows how slim the list is that Bob had to put two Revolutionary period films in his list! – The Scarlett Pimpernel and Danton – loved the last one BTW. :o)

They have always been expensive to make and Hollywood has never seen them as 'Box Office'. A lot of Americans don't even know about their own War of 1812, never mind one in Europe, so there's never been much chance of covering the costs!

Interesting to note that even on Bob's list the Henry Fonda War and Peace, was a Paramount Co-Production with Ponti-De Laurentiis Cinematografica and the Gregory Peck Horatio Hornblower was a British production!

The Duelists.
"There are those who say that you never loved the Emperor!"

I'm suprised that no one has mentioned "Conquest" with Charles Boyer and Greta Garbo. Boyer was a fine Napoleon.

Its been a long while since I saw it on TCM, but there was a something like a 7 reel silent movie of Napoleon, They showed some of the restored version overnight years ago, The Deulists was overnight on TCM or Fox Movie a year ago or so good film, Master and Commander is a staple on TBS I think,also awsome. Waterloo has some good footage but acting isn't so great. TCM plays all the sailing movies often so keep a look out there

Sharpe, Hornblower and M&C are what got me into Napoleonics. Stirring stuff.

I have a real soft spot for Waterloo; I saw it on the big screen in London with my then girlfriend, Forty years ago!

My mates and I have a drinking game, spotting all the historic and uniform gaffs in the DVD, on Lads nights out!

It's amazing how many there are and how many you forget from one viewing to the next. Probably has something to do with the alcohol!

Only things that really drives me mad about it, drunk or sober, are all those famous "Belgian Mountains" in the background shots and steep sides of the valley between the opposing armies!

Luckily, all of us who play the "spot the gaff" game on return from the curry house, have all been to Waterloo. So all terrain related pleas are ruled out from the competition.

Sommersby was another fine example of Hollywood taking an exceptional foreign film – The Return of Martin Guerre -dumbing it down and completely ruining it. French TV's Napoleon is currently showing on Greek TV and well worth watching.

"ts been a long while since I saw it on TCM, but there was a something like a 7 reel silent movie of Napoleon, They showed some of the restored version overnight years ago, "

Yes this is the Abel Gance suite. Highly rated, ambitious in wanting to do the whole life of Nap, and with considerable accuracy. Never finished due to the enormity of the task. Available from Amazon now I understand.

A couple of others – look up on iMDB for details

Kolberg (1945) is loosely based on Schill's uprising in 1809. It is about the heroic defence of germans against the invaders – Nazi propoganda certainly.

Popioly (1965 Andrzej Wajda) about an impoverished Polish noble who serves in the Polish Legion in Spain.

Austerlitz (1960) by Abel Gance

As for Napoloeon by Abel Gance, this was rediscovered by Kevin Brownlow and shown in various locations. There is a shortened version released by Coppola which is I believe the one available and there are various legal issues about rights.

On youtube there are some excepts from Coignet dating back to the 60s.

Lord Hill I'll have to disagree with you Rod Steiger's performance as Napoleon was fine IMHO.

To me Steiger WAS Napoleon and his acting was top notch.

Captain Gideon

There's saome rubbish about too, anyone else remember ;The Miracle' with Roger Moore and Carol Baker? Doesn't even appear on late night TV it's so bad.

Did anyone ever get a chance to see '1805', the french film made a few years ago about two brothers and the Austerlitz campaign or somesuch?

Wasn't there something about an Arabian or Egyptian movie being made about Napoleon's expedition, from the perspective of the Mamlukes? (No, not the Georgian 'Mamluk' movie that is available on Youtube)

And lest we forget: Suvarov
YouTube link

Steiger was great as Napoleon, IMHO.

However, on the whole, the movie Waterloo, was a disappointment. The director, who brought us War and Peace, seemed to have forgotten that he no longer had 100,000 Soviet soldiers as extras.

If you are short on extras, don't show close-ups of infantry formations made of scarecrows. The morning of the big battle, Napoleon surveys the battlefield with his telescope. When the camera shows the telescope view, you can clearly see formations of British infantry comprised of stuffed uniforms. At a distance they look ok, but the close-up kills it.

If you only have fifty cavalrymen depicting the mass cavalry charges, don't give an overhead view.

You'd think an experienced director would know this kind of stuff.

If you only have fifty cavalrymen depicting the mass cavalry charges, don't give an overhead view.

I've read that 'Waterloo' director Bondarchuk used 2,000 cavalrymen (and 15,000 foot soldiers as extras… making it the seventh largest army in the world at the time).

Personally I think the cavalry charges look pretty good and are probably the best 'real' cavalry we'll ever see on film now that CGI rules Hollywood.

Plenty of wargamers would be happy to let 50 cavalry represent four regiments or more on the table…

Yes I agree Waterloo is an excellent movie --and Steiger IS Napoleon!!!! the charge of the Scots Greys and the main cavalry charge with the overhead camera are BRILLIANT!! yes I know they maybe less than accurate but since when should you let the truth get in the way of a good story???

Also for naval warfare Horatio Hownblower with Gregory Peck is a ripping yarn with plenty of good action!

I know in 'Gettysburg' they used legions of reenactment people which don't exist in the required numbers for Napoleonic movies but they did seem to avoid the tiny units that were obvious in some shots during Waterloo through better camera angles.

I suppose they didn't have the problems with multiple uniforms you get in Napoleonics and could push groups together when needed.

I have no idea how much money really good CGI costs compared to the proverbial 'cast of thousands' but I keep wondering if some Napoleonic epic will eventually appear, using it instead of 50 men 'regiments' of extras.

Mind you, having seen Iron Man and Iron Man 2 in the recent past, there were enough tech people rolling by on the end Credits, from all the CGI companies involved, to have dressed them all up and remade Waterloo anyway!

For "good" cavalry charges, see War and Peace. If there were 2,000 cavalry in Waterloo, they were hiding.

Trajanus, the recent C4 mini series on GB TV about Hastings suffered the same problem of lack of extras!! They had to fight the Battle of Stamford Bridge in the woods!!

A cast of dozens me thinks!!
CGI has its uses but I think it would be a bit obvious if say they tried to re-do Borodino for next year!!

The big problem with GCI is the 'Cut and Paste' effect where they set up blocks of action with too little variety in them, so when its all stitched together you can see the repetition.

Best example of this I can think of is in 'Troy' during the battles outside the city walls. If you look along the battle line as the Athenians hit the Trojan front, you can see the same impact points repeated several times over!

Still like the Waterloo movie, there are some great scenes like the abdication and farewell to the guard

Yes despite its being of its time ( Why are we killing each other? why? oh why?) and some major gaffs ( Waltzes about 50 years before they were invented; Ponsonby getting stuck in the only visible bit of mud for miles, the classically incorrect Hugo-esque ending etc etc) there are some excellent shots.

Despite all said above The Greys' charge is very atmospheric. I can forget the open order & ragged line charge, I can ignore the fact that 15,000 men from D'Erlon's corps between them and the guns had vaporised into thin air, and the apparently 20 miles or so that the charge appears to have lasted!!!

De Lorentis recreates Lady Butlers painting as the Greys hit home, and the power of their charge still impresses after 40 years on film. And yes, considerably more than 50 horses.

YouTube link

The Dodgy accents and lightweight delivery ruin the Fonda War and Peace for me. (Where is Mass-Kow anyway?) but the Bunderchuk scenes for the same title are simply incredible.

Correct me if I am wrong, but I don't think anyone has mentioned The Adventures of Brigadier Gerard. I saw this many years ago on TV and don't think it is avaialble on DVD.

Catch it if you ever see it on TV. It is (very loosely) based on the Memoires of Marbot (which are worth reading themselves). Poor old Marbot almost had the war won, single handidly!

I hesitate to bring this up, since everyone else has had the good sense not to, but for the sake of completeness, there is the 2005 The Brothers Grimm which is set in Jerome's Westphalia (my favorite Rheinbund state).

alan -- I assume this is a movie version of Arthur Conan Doyle's short stories? I greatly enjoyed reading the in my youth.

CA

The Adventures of Brigadier Gerard is currently being streamed online by Netflix. Doyle did indeed write it. Eli Wallach does a fun turn as a humerous Napoleon.

The Fonda W&P has Audrey Hepburn – nuff said but it also has the most amazing cavalry charge I ever saw with the French/Saxon heavies charging full speed through French routing infantry. How it was tricked or done without dozens of casualties is beyond me.

Bob Coggins

If I had a choice between the Hollywood War and Peace and the Russian version,I'll take the Russian version everytime it's so much better than the Henry Fonda one.

The only thing I liked about that film was Herbert Lom as Napoleon.

Captain Gideon

Despite all said above The Greys' charge is very atmospheric. I can forget the open order & ragged line charge, I can ignore the fact that 15,000 men from D'Erlon's corps between them and the guns had vaporised into thin air, and the apparently 20 miles or so that the charge appears to have lasted!!!

The thing that bugs me is the dust! :o)