I think I may be over cinema. Used to go monthly or so. Now it's 1-2 times a year, and it has to be something that's v well reviews and which demands megaplex mega screen viewing.
Lovely cinematography obviously, but the history was just laughable.
SPOILERS FOLLOW
Dealing with conquering Italy in literally half a sentence?
Leading a last gasp cavalry charge at Waterloo?
And for the mega nerdy, Blucher arriving from the West at Waterloo rather than from the East. I mean, really, that is so easy to get right and is the whole point about the Waterloo campaign.
Oh, and Wellington chose the ridge 4km south of Waterloo (note, not Waterloo itself) as the site of the battle. If Napoleon had had his way, he’d have marched straight to Brussels.
Wellington's infantry responded by forming squares (hollow box-formations four ranks deep). Squares were much smaller than usually depicted in paintings of the battle—a 500-man battalion square would have been no more than 60 feet (18 m) in length on a side.
And for the mega nerdy, Blucher arriving from the West at Waterloo rather than from the East. I mean, really, that is so easy to get right and is the whole point about the Waterloo campaign.
Err
My God doesn’t everyone know that the Imperial Guard were infantry?
The Old Guard were. The Imperial Guard contained all arms
Oh sorry Strutter, I misread your post. Did they really suggest it was from the West? Surely he's just trolling, no one could have made such a pointless error accidentally given how well known the battle is
Does the film faithfully capture the moment Napoleon, using a laser sight mounted on a Barrett Light 50 anti-materiel rifle, red-dots Wellington, before deciding that might be a tad unsporting, so uses it to shoot Picton in the face instead?
Given that at the start they insisted on labelling events and dates the timeline then got completely lost i.e. they suddenly said it was 15 years on when there were nothing to indicate this i.e. they didnt make them look older/ make any prior references to time having moved on. No references to what happened to the convenient female baby bearers after they'd served their purpose. Not enough refererences to the political machinations behind the actual battles or why and when each battle was taking place i.e. why was each area so important for his takeover? It also made taking over the monarchy look like a piece of (absent due to starvation) cake.
On a seedier note, surprised ROF hasn't commented on the costume drama Basic Instinct- esque Josephine scene, albeit with differnt costume angle for the skirts area..
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Was very disappointed. No momentum
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I fell asleep on the way back from Moscow and woke up at Waterloo. How was Elba?
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No narrative momentum.
No engagement with any of it.
Too many English actors.
Too many historical inaccuracies.
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That scene with the ice at Austerlitz was good.
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Ridley me not
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The ice scene was good.
The relationship with Josephine was cringe to watch
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Happens to the best of us.
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I think I may be over cinema. Used to go monthly or so. Now it's 1-2 times a year, and it has to be something that's v well reviews and which demands megaplex mega screen viewing.
Not sure this meets the test.
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Tbf i am pretty sure his relationship with josephine was pretty cringe
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What's the camera work like? Asking for a friend.
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excuse me m7s, but were ne of u there? no? well shut the fook up then
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Afua Hirsch/Peter Frankopan did a nice 4-parter podcast on Napoleon.
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Perhaps it's time that Hardy's the Dynasts was given a cinema outing. He's all but written the screenplay. It would have to be a trilogy I think.
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Battle scenes were terrible.
If you can't afford the extras then make a different film.
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I enjoyed it, even if it was largely a series of set pieces.
Surprised that Trafalgar wasn’t even mentioned though.
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Lovely cinematography obviously, but the history was just laughable.
SPOILERS FOLLOW
Dealing with conquering Italy in literally half a sentence?
Leading a last gasp cavalry charge at Waterloo?
And for the mega nerdy, Blucher arriving from the West at Waterloo rather than from the East. I mean, really, that is so easy to get right and is the whole point about the Waterloo campaign.
Oh, and Wellington chose the ridge 4km south of Waterloo (note, not Waterloo itself) as the site of the battle. If Napoleon had had his way, he’d have marched straight to Brussels.
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One Napoleon is worth 40,000 extras on the battlefield.
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We once stayed in the napoleon and josephine suite in the hotel de europe in avignon. A lot of mirrors.
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Hope you made the most of them Wango!
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Glad I can report to my cousin that her focus pulling was spot on.
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The Oracle of Delphi04 Dec 23 09:26
excuse me m7s, but were ne of u there? no? well shut the fook up then
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I mean, he does have a point with this. history is written by the victor and people make terrible witnesses and all that
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Some days I feel I'm old enough to have been there.
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The last veteran of Waterloo died in 1904. Ridley Scott was born in 1937. He was almost there.
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My God doesn’t everyone know that the Imperial Guard were infantry?
Blucher from the West, Jesus.
What else ? Hougoumont Farm defended by the 101st Airborne led by Damian Kewis?
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Wellington's infantry responded by forming squares (hollow box-formations four ranks deep). Squares were much smaller than usually depicted in paintings of the battle—a 500-man battalion square would have been no more than 60 feet (18 m) in length on a side.
This seemed about right.
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Err
The Old Guard were. The Imperial Guard contained all arms
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Oh sorry Strutter, I misread your post. Did they really suggest it was from the West? Surely he's just trolling, no one could have made such a pointless error accidentally given how well known the battle is
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The guy playing Wellington should get an Oscar for sure.
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Does the film faithfully capture the moment Napoleon, using a laser sight mounted on a Barrett Light 50 anti-materiel rifle, red-dots Wellington, before deciding that might be a tad unsporting, so uses it to shoot Picton in the face instead?
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And who of us can really say that the Imperial Guard didn't ride into battle on velociraptors at Waterloo? Were you there, eh? No? Well shut up then!
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I liked it overall but some thoughts..
Given that at the start they insisted on labelling events and dates the timeline then got completely lost i.e. they suddenly said it was 15 years on when there were nothing to indicate this i.e. they didnt make them look older/ make any prior references to time having moved on. No references to what happened to the convenient female baby bearers after they'd served their purpose. Not enough refererences to the political machinations behind the actual battles or why and when each battle was taking place i.e. why was each area so important for his takeover? It also made taking over the monarchy look like a piece of (absent due to starvation) cake.
On a seedier note, surprised ROF hasn't commented on the costume drama Basic Instinct- esque Josephine scene, albeit with differnt costume angle for the skirts area..
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Also they did that annoying thing where every other actor loses their accent but the main star kept his semi-American one for no reason
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It was all made worse by 3 teenagers eating popcorn for almost 3 hours right behind me.
It may have put me off cinema for life
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My 85 year-old mother's succinct review of the movie:
"It's a long film about shagging and shooting."
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