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Waterloo
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by Paramount Home Video
Sales Rank: 4049
Price: $14.95
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In the tradition of the cinematic epics like Kubrick's "Spartacus" and Mann's "Fall of the Roman Empire," Bondarchuk's "Waterloo" succeeds in depicting Napoleon's desperate and final bid for power and glory. Steiger, no stranger to roles that have consistently challenged his acting ability, is quite good as the deposed French emperor who narrowly lost his final battle. Orson Welles' appearance as Louis XVIII, is far too brief but most welcome, and Plummer as Lord Wellington is a casting director's dream. Dino de Laurentiis has produced some questionable if not laughable films in the past "King Kong" (1976) and "Flash Gordon" (1980); however, "Waterloo" must be seen as one of his better efforts. <br /> <br />Many critics here at Amazon will applaud the many and well-orchestrated battle scenes--a case-in-point are the great aerial shots of the British "squares" organized against Marshall Ney (Dan O' Herlihy) and the French cavalry--and one can easily understand the film's strong visual appeal, but this opus succeeds in other ways too. <br /> <br />The non-battle scenes, for instance, like the ball before the battle which introduces us to Napoleon's nemesis, Wellington, and the scenes of Napoleon dictating letters to his secretaries, are thoughtful touches that broaden the scope of this highly entertaining film and successfully depict an aristocratically genteel milieu shattered by the cataclysm that is nineteenth-century warfare. On the surface, an era characterized by the gentility of the landed gentry and sportsmanlike conduct on the battlefield, later destroyed by the real brutalities and devastation of war. <br /> <br />Unlike too many directors who take liberties with depicting historical events (Oliver Stone's "World Trade Center" quickly come to mind), Bondarchuck successfully and accurately depicts Napoleon in his decline--plagued with self-doubt, his irascible outbursts towards subordinates compounded by his ill-health (now confirmed by modern bio-historians as a combination of dysuria, piles, dermatitis, and stomach cancer) and his symptoms of grandiose delusion . <br /> <br />This is a Region 2 PAL encoded disc, so you will require a multi-region DVD player to view it. This film originally ran at 3 hours on its initial theatrical release in 1970, now cut down to 2 hours and eight minutes. It is a pity that we do not have the film in its entirety with Region 1 encoding as the director originally intended. Although this item is listed here as currently "unavailable," try purchasing it thru the AmazonUK site.
Viewer Reviews
I have been looking for this rarely-seen film for a long time. Here, the price was very reasonable; it arrived in a good condition; it came very quickly.
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Waterloo
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