Ridley Scott's Napoleon (Nov 2023)

[ArizonaTank]

Joaquin Phoenix as Napoleon.

Some interesting cav vs. square action in the trailer.

[Skoop]

Looks worth seeing for sure.

[Jarhead0331]

It is an interesting role for Phoenix. However, he is an exceptional actor and given his method, he WILL become Napoleon. I'm sure his performance will be timeless.

The film technique is interesting, as well. It almost looks as if it was filmed in the 1970s era.

One question though...check out the 2:00 mark of the trailer. Would squares have been employed this closely together? The horses are running between the two squares with the infantry firing into one another. I would think the obvious risk of cross-fire would require different spacing and positioning.  You cannot view this attachment.

[Gusington]

Can't wait. I think I saw a shorter version of this trailer about a year ago.

Agree with JH it's visuals remind me somewhat of Stanley Kubrick's Barry Lyndon. Maybe Scott (one of my favorite directors) used some older cameras and equipment for some scenes and shots?

[Sir Slash]

This film will probably be a visual feast for History Buffs but I doubt even Scott and Phoenix can make sense of the whole Napoleonic story to modern day audiences. At least not in one movie. Better to have been made into some kind of series so people could digest it bit by bit than to try to swallow it whole. My pick would be Wilford Brimley as Kutuzov.

[JasonPratt]

The 1970s look is definitely aiming to homage Bondachunk's Napoleon films (War and Peace, and Waterloo).

[Gusington]

^Never seen those. Better than Barry Lyndon?

[SirAndrewD]

Uh...that IS footage from Waterloo and the Duelists, not an homage. 

[SirAndrewD]

^Never seen those. Better than Barry Lyndon?

Waterloo is, in my opinion, the best and most accurate war film about the Napoleonic wars.  It was one of the few movies I used to actually teach history. 

It's flaws exist but are few, and a lot of historians list it in the top tier in terms of historical accuracy of sets, historical content and depiction of warfare. 

And...it's free to watch.  I just recently watched the fan cut, which restores a few scenes and upgrades the movie to full HD.  It's not the theatrical cut, which is also easily found, but I really enjoyed it here...

Do yourself a favor and give it a watch to tide you over for the real Napoleon trailer that doesn't crib footage from this film.

Oh, and the other shots from the trailer are from Ridley Scott's first movie, The Duelists.  That's also one heck of a Napoleonic era movie and fantastic in its own right.

[Gusington]

WHAT

Really? Wow.

I have seen The Duelists and enjoyed it.

[SirAndrewD]

WHAT

Really? Wow.

Yes really!  And speaking of Barry Lyndon, Kubrick's film after 2001 was going to be a Napoleon biopic.  He invested a lot of time and effort into it and it was nearly an obsession with him. 

When he saw Waterloo he was crushed.  He realized the film he wanted to do had already been made and he felt no need to go further with it.  He trashed everything and went to work adapting Barry Lyndon instead.

[Gusington]

^I see you too are a gentleman of wealth and taste 

[ArizonaTank]

One question though...check out the 2:00 mark of the trailer. Would squares have been employed this closely together? The horses are running between the two squares with the infantry firing into one another. I would think the obvious risk of cross-fire would require different spacing and positioning.  You cannot view this attachment.

The sequence looks like it is depicting Ney's ill-fated last-hurrah cavalry charge at Waterloo. In that case, the depiction of close squares is correct I believe.

By the Napoleonic Wars, squares were almost exclusively a defensive formation used to defend against cavalry charges. 

The checker-board pattern and small squares were a deliberate tactic by Wellington. Other armies of the time deployed squares the same way. Defending against Ney at Waterloo, Wellington's troops formed over 30 squares in the checker-board.

Basically. the idea was to force the cavalry to ride around in a killing zone (the excellent book "The Battle" by Alessandro Barbero is a great source for this). Also, the squares were so close to each other so they could provide mutual support. Typical Napoleonic infantry doctrine was to allow 120 paces between squares.     

I guess friendly fire was a concern, but when you have a few thousand French horsemen charging towards you, I think that would have been the least of your worries. Also, Napoleonic muskets also had a bit of windage (the bore gap kind), so shots past 30 yards would have been going pretty wide anyway.

The use of squares to break up cavalry charges was a pretty reliable tactic, I think there were only a handful of cases where Napoleonic cavalry broke a square (Polish lancers broke a British square in Spain for example).

If anything, Ridley Scott seems to have had some very good historical advice on this point.

Still, I am far from an expert, and there are probably other folks who can comment more.

[SirAndrewD]

If anything, Ridley Scott seems to have had some very good historical advice on this point.

Still, I am far from an expert, and there are probably other folks who can comment more.

Again, important to note that IS a shot from Waterloo, so lets not attribute that to Scott.  The trailer listed made the rounds and is a fan made fabricated trailer, not a trailer for Scott's film.

If you watch the Youtube Fan Edit of Waterloo with the added footage the shot from the "trailer" can be found at the 1 hour and 43 minute mark.

[Sir Slash]

Nobody sneaks past SirAndrew.