When I first saw the trailer for this film and having in mind his previous hits 'Gladiator' and 'Kingdom of Heaven' I thought this is a film I will enjoy. Well, I went to watch it last Thursday and left feeling somewhat underwhelmed. Overall, the film felt disjointed, scenes in Paris being followed without any explanation by battle action. For instance, Napoleon was crowned (or crowned himself) emperor and before you know it, he is at Austerlitz. The battle scenes were well presented, though, as usual, the cavalry charges were long distance gallops, rather than the more measured advance the regulations prescribed. In addition everything felt rushed, perhaps the subject matter was too great for just one film? One curious move was to have the infantry digging shallow trenches at Waterloo, not something I have ever come across when reading about the battle. Also, at the end of the battle the Prussians seem to be coming from the French left (ie the west) rather than the right.
Joaquin Phoenix is too old to play a 24 year old at the siege of Toulon (1793) indeed he doesn't seem to age at all between then and Waterloo, over 20 years later. This again would support a two film approach, however, given the costs involved this is unlikely to happen. As a spectacle the film succeeds, as a film about Napoleon, I feel it misses the mark.
Your feelings seem to accord with several reviews that I have come across - one for me to miss I think!
ReplyDeleteI think your review was most generous. Im surprised you thought the battle scenes were well presented given just how bad they actually were. Napoleon leading two cavalry charges? Trenches for the artillery at Austerlitz? Deep frozen lakes that somehow destroyed the allies? As for Waterloo, Sharpe's Waterloo looked crowded in comparison to Scott's version and that's before the English were in trenches.
ReplyDeleteIt would have been a better film if all of the battles had happened off-screen and the time saved had been used to expand on the scenes set in France.
ReplyDeleteI have not seen it yet but I suspect Kaptain Kobold may be right - given the (relatively) short running time of the film, Scott might as well have missed out the unsatisfactory battle scenes and just kept some more useful stuff in the final cut instead.
ReplyDeleteHaving said that, your review seems to have less issues with the film than other wargame bloggers so far!
I enjoyed it , perhaps the battles would have been better off screen
ReplyDeleteThank you all for your comments. Looking around the blogs and message boards the film has certainly caused a great deal of discussion and not a little criticism.
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