Napoleon

[Curtis Lemay]

I know many of you, like me, have been waiting for this for some time. I wish I could give a good report, but, while it is a reasonable treatment of Napoleon's life events (at least vis-a-vis Josephine), it's battle sequences are sparce and crudely effected.

Only three battles are shown in any detail: The Siege of Toulon, Austerlitz, and Waterloo - with Toulon probably the most detailed of the three (go figure?). The treatment of combat is unrealistic and the events of the battles are garbled (or fabricated) enough to be unrecognizable. While multiple Marshals are listed in the credits no one other than Napoleon and Wellington can be identified in the action. Czar Alexander and Emperor Francis I are well characterized, however.

From a wargamer perspective, a disapointment.

[Kuokkanen]

I know many of you, like me, have been waiting for this for some time.

What have you waited?

[Curtis Lemay]

I know many of you, like me, have been waiting for this for some time.

What have you waited?

?? I can't tell what you're asking. Clarify?

[Platoonist]

Disappointing to hear. Do they portray any aspect of the Russian campaign or the Battle of Borodino or just refer to them in the past tense?

[Curtis Lemay]

Disappointing to hear. Do they portray any aspect of the Russian campaign or the Battle of Borodino or just refer to them in the past tense?

There is an overhead shot of a skirmish at Borodino - maybe 5 seconds. The abandoned Moscow is featured, with a fire to follow. The retreat from Moscow has some detail, then it jumps to the abdication to Elba (1813 & 1814 skipped entirely).

[RangerJoe]

To do everything that you want to see, it should be a mini-series of films at a minimum.

[Curtis Lemay]

To do everything that you want to see, it should be a mini-series of films at a minimum.

There is supposed to be a 4-hour "director's cut" that may appear. But even that may just be more Josephine.

[Platoonist]

There is an overhead shot of a skirmish at Borodino - maybe 5 seconds. The abandoned Moscow is featured, with a fire to follow. The retreat from Moscow has some detail, then it jumps to the abdication to Elba (1813 & 1814 skipped entirely).

I kinda figured the Battle of Nations (Leipzig) wouldn't get a mention. Thanks for the movie info. I might still try to catch it for the big screen experience.

[pzgndr]

To do everything that you want to see, it should be a mini-series of films at a minimum.

I got the impression early on about the new Napoleon movie that it would have too much romance drama and not enough battle overviews. There is a 4-part PBS documentary on Napoleon at https://archive.org/details/napoleon-pbs-documentary. From a wargamer perspective, also a disappointment. Probably better to look for individual documentaries on the major battles that show the strategic situation and the operational maneuvers in more detail.

[altipueri]

I still go back to the old style battle reports as from Britannica:

https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/1911_Enc ... zig%201813.

[Kuokkanen]

What is this thread about? A movie or what?

[Platoonist]

What is this thread about? A movie or what?

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Napoleon_(2023_film)

[Curtis Lemay]

What is this thread about? A movie or what?

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Napoleon_(2023_film)

Maybe that is the shot the French were complaining about. Napoleon is signaling his troops behind him to advance. But, looked at the wrong way, it looks like Hitler making the Hitler salute:

"In The Sunday Times, historian Andrew Roberts criticised the historical aspects of the film, particularly the portrayal of Napoleon as a proto-Hitler, a view he called "as tired as it is absurd""

Otherwise, I didn't see any evidence of it in the film.

[bayonetbrant]

"Ten Things to Watch Instead of “Napoleon” – Most of Which are Cheap and Some of Which Are Free"
Cyrano has some thoughts

https://www.armchairdragoons.com/articl ... snapoleon/

[Curtis Lemay]

"Ten Things to Watch Instead of “Napoleon” – Most of Which are Cheap and Some of Which Are Free"
Cyrano has some thoughts

https://www.armchairdragoons.com/articl ... snapoleon/

I do believe this guy says it better than I did.

[Platoonist]

"Ten Things to Watch Instead of “Napoleon” – Most of Which are Cheap and Some of Which Are Free"
Cyrano has some thoughts

https://www.armchairdragoons.com/articl ... snapoleon/

I do believe this guy says it better than I did.

Yeah, after reading that I think I'll just re-watch Rod Stieger's amazing portrayal of Bonaparte at Waterloo instead. Napoleon will probably show up on cable in a few months anyway. Then if inclined to watch it, I can just zip past the Josephine scenes.

[gamer78]

https://grantpiperwriting.medium.com/di ... 92d900b402

Acre (Akka as Ottoman) one of the defeats of Napoleon as well as Ottomans few wins latest century. Just watching tailer not film. But maybe movie does seem to have another message.

[pzgndr]

But maybe movie does seem to have another message.

Every movie these days seems to have "another" message. Ergo, I don't watch too many new movies these days.

[warspite1]

I watched Napoleon yesterday and I have to say I quite enjoyed it. Could have done with a decent musical score though.

There were some notable absences in terms of key events that were important in telling Napoleon's story. For example the importance of Trafalgar in thwarting his invasion plans (queue thousands of troops departing Northern France for Austria) could have been added, the ridiculous and treacherous stabbing of Spain in the back should have found a place, and of course his general nepotism. There was also the suggestion that it was defeat in Russia that meant his initial exile - and this meant no place for the Battle of Leipzig (again important not just for its size, but also for evidencing just how much Napoleon's determination for victory cost the French population (not to mention Europe generally)). But overall these didn't spoil the film for me.

Fact is, when you have read much about any subject, and its then put to film/T.V, you should expect a degree of disapointment and at the end of the day there was an awful lot to pack into two and a half hours and something was always going to be cut....

Waterloo could have been done much better (the elements of the battle that were shown, were sorely out of order) - but then I am comparing it to the wonderful film of the same name which was sprecifically about the battle so was never going to be able to compete.

For Borodino there perhaps could have been more emphasis on the fact that this was yet another meat grinder of a battle - it certainly wasn't a stunning victory - and that Napoleon wasn't always a battlefield genius.

A big problem with Waterloo was some of the lines Rupert Everett (as Wellington) was made to say. What was strange was that Wellington actually admired Napoleon's ability on the battlefield - and he could have uttered some lines to that effect - which lets face it, wouldn't have been out of place in a film about Napoleon!!

Worth seeing? Yes, in my humble opinion, and I would be very keen to see the directors cut that has been suggested.