Waterloo (All Regions Russian Import in English Language)

I saw this movie in the theater when I was a kid and remember being blown away by it. Now seeing it again, my initial impression is confirmed. This is a cinematic tour de force. This is a Dino DeLaurentis production that was shot using Russian resources during the Cold War. That's quite a feat in itself. No C.G.I. here, 18,000 extras were used including 16,000 Russian soldiers who spent weeks learning battle formations and tactics of Napoleon's time. Rod Steiger is great as Napoleon. He just uses a slight French accent and plays the moments big. Christopher Plummer is also incredible as a very lordly, jaunty, civil and at times arrogant, Lord Wellington. He only breaks this facade once toward the end of the battle. The rest of the cast is fantastic, Orson Wells, Don O'Herlihy, Virginia McKenna (of 'Born Free' fame) all put in fine performances. The movie builds to the battle and the battle scenes are spectacular and historically accurate. The charge of the British Calvary looks like a moving painting and there too many other outstanding sequences and frames to list. I noticed my view of who is the hero and who the antagonist has changed over the years. This is a review of the Russian release of the movie (which is in English) with Rod Steiger's picture in an oval on the cover. It's widescreen. The print is good, not great but is still high quality. Ignore anything you've heard about the soundtrack sync problems. The only problems were on the original print in syncing the Russian actor, Serghej Zakhariadze (Bluecher) to English. If you enjoy movies that portray historical times, have great performances, have spectacular scenes and are accurate and entertaining, BUY THIS DVD!!!

If you want to talk about epic war films there may be none bigger than Waterloo. The movie was done by Dino De Laurentis in a Soviet-Italian production and filmed in the Ukraine using Red Army troops as the two giant opposing forces of the French led by Napoleon Bonaparte (Rod Steiger) and the British led by Arthur Wellesley the Duke of Wellington (Christopher Plummer) clashed at Waterloo. You actually have to see the film to understand what a giant production it was.There’s a scene at the beginning when Napoleon returns from exile and is faced with an entire division. There had to be around 500 soldiers used and that was only a hint at what would come during the Battle of Waterloo.Of course a bunch of people running around dressed up as soldiers only gets you so far if the story isn’t strong and in this case it is driven by the two main antagonists. Napoleon is portrayed as a man hungry for power but also one that believes he is France. After he returns to Paris for instance there’s a scene where Steiger is dictating letters to other heads of state. He talks about how the people put the French crown on his head and how he saved his nation. The Duke of Wellington is an elitist from the British upper class. He talks about how all his soldiers are scoundrels and how Bonaparte is not a gentleman.There are also some quite amazing shots. The most noteworthy are probably the ones featuring the cavalry. There are slow motion pictures of the British on their white horses and then the French charging at these squares of infantry the English formed. Again, it gives you the tremendous size of the production and the number of Soviet soldiers they used to make the movie. It is truly breath taking.C

Rarely, if ever have war movies included so many "extras" that the numbers approximate the actual scope of a huge battle. This movie not only has that "cast of tens of thousands" sweep, but very strong performances by some of the greatest actors of all time. The brooding, method acting of Rod Steiger presents a credible and convincing interpretation of the overweight, frustrated 45 year old Emperor Napoleon who shocked Europe with a last gasp attempt to restore his fortunes. The force of his personality and ability to inspire confidence and devotion is easy to see in Steiger's interpretation. Plummer, Welles, Hawkins and Wilding also do creditable work in depicting commanders. --- As a war movie, this one must stand among the very best masterpieces of all time. Only a totalitarian state from the old Soviet bloc could have assembled vast armies of extras, expensive costumes, immense battle scenes and elaborate cinematic artistry without the costs associated with actors unions and bankruptcy. Bondarchuk made excellent use of such advantages. ---- This movie also has significant anti-war messages conveyed directly by actors and also just by the gruesome slaughter scenes. Created during the height of the Viet Nam conflict, the anti-war message was powerful. I first saw the movie in 1972 and never forgot some of the devastating scenes and dialog. ---- Although the box has Waterloo in Russian (as shown above), the movie and dialog is totally in English.