Waterloo (1970/I)

Director:

Sergei Bondarchuk

Writers:

H.A.L. Craig (story)
Sergei Bondarchuk (screenplay) ...

Release Date:

28 October 1970 (France)

Genre:

Action | Drama | History | War

Tagline:

Waterloo.The battle that changed the face of the world.

Plot:

After defeating France and imprisoning Napoleon on Elba, ending two decades of war, Europe is shocked...

Plot Keywords:

Napoleon | General | Waterloo | Fate | Prussian

Awards:

Won 2 BAFTA Film Awards. Another 1 win & 1 nomination

Cast

Rod Steiger	...	Napoleon Bonaparte
Christopher Plummer	...	Arthur Wellesley, Duke of Wellington
Orson Welles	...	Louis XVIII
Jack Hawkins	...	Gen. Sir Thomas Picton
Virginia McKenna	...	Duchess of Richmond
Dan O'Herlihy	...	Marshal Michel Ney
Rupert Davies	...	Gordon
Philippe Forquet	...	La Bedoyere
Gianni Garko	...	Drouot
Ivo Garrani	...	Soult
Ian Ogilvy	...	De Lancey
Michael Wilding	...	Ponsonby
Sergo Zaqariadze	...	Blucher (as Serghej Zakhariadze)
Terence Alexander	...	Uxbridge
Andrea Checchi	...	Sauret

Also Known As:

Ватерлоо (Soviet Union: Russian title)

Runtime:

Norway:134 min | UK:132 min | USA:123 min

Country:

Italy | Soviet Union

Language:

English | Russian

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.20 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono | 70 mm 6-Track (Westrex Recording System) (70 mm prints)

Certification:

Ireland:G | UK:U | Singapore:PG | Iceland:12 | Finland:K-12 | Germany:12 | Norway:16 (1971) | USA:G

Filming Locations:

Dino De Laurentiis Cinematografica Studios, Rome, Lazio, Italy

Company:

Dino de Laurentiis Cinematografica

Trivia:

When the British offer surrender to the Old Guard, Vicomte de Cambronne supposedly said, "The Old Guard dies but never surrenders." Cambronne himself said afterwards that his reply was, "Merde," (shit) as was shown in the film. For years afterwards, the word "merde" was referred to by the French as "le mot de Cambronne" (Cambronne's word).

Goofs:

Revealing mistakes: When the Prussians are first seen advancing through the wheat field the wheat in front of them is trampled down (presumably from pevious takes of the shot or the route they took to get onto the other side of the hill)

Quotes:

Duke of Wellington: Bylandt's's brigade has broken. Plug the gap, if you please.
General Sir Thomas Picton: Gordon, get your bastards up on to the crest. I'll bring up the rest of the brigade.
Lord Gordon: Don't hurry yourself, Pic. My lads will hold them, aye, 'til you come.
General Sir Thomas Picton: Get forward, damn your eyes!

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Lost Kubrick: The Unfinished Films of Stanley Kubrick (2007) (V)

Waterloo released in the UK on DVD

I understand that Waterloo has been released in the UK on DVD without the extra footage, just the same as on the VHS version, but not in the USA, (Our DVD players will not play it.

I have the soundtrack on 33 /3 LP, the march "La Vielle Garde" in English "The Old Guard" or "March of the Guard" is featured, very beautiful album. Also the famous drumbeat of the Napoleonic army "passe de charge"

This film portrays the battle as accurately as any film ever has and there will never be another made like it, no computer troops were used, if you see 10 thousand soldiers they were actually there...Bondarchuk has the whole Russian army at his disposal as it was partly a Soviet Mosfilm production.