Four Word Film Review

Waterloo, unlike the battle from which it derives its namesake, seemingly refuses to be decisive in any way. A near-epic film and a considerable success in Europe, it was a dramatic failure on this side of the pond.

Starring Rod Steiger as Napoleon, Christopher Plummer as Arthur Wellesley (the Duke of Wellington) and Orson Welles in one of his last roles as the unfortunate King Louis XVIII, this motion picture tells the tale of the Hundred Days campaign of Napoleon Bonaparte in 1815.

This film can be viewed as having two halves, with the first taking us from the landing of Napoleon and his escort on French soil and retaking control of France with the second reserved for the battle itself. The opening act is replete with power and passion and rapid dialogue. Regrettably, the second half loses the momentum previously gained and draws out the eventual outcome, managing somehow to confuse the audience along the way. 

There is much in this film that is worthy of positive comment. Steiger simply sizzles in the challenging role of one of the greatest megalomaniacs of all time. He finds it within himself to express the rage and the fury as well as the charm and the charisma that proved such a devastatingly powerful combination for this infamous leader. Plummer also leaves little to be desired as the snobbish but talented and energetic British general. But the best lines are left for Orson Welles as the fat king, no more so than in response to (Marshall) Ney's claim that he would return the diminutive general in an iron cage:

"Iron cage?!? How these military types do exaggerate. (Sigh). Iron cage. Well, there's no need for that."

This film suffers in part from the fact that it came out in 1970. Originally intended to be delivered in an epic style with a running time of nearly four hours, it was cut down to approximately two and a half in final production - a response to the colossal fiscal failures of most epics in the years after Doctor Shivago (1965). The result is a bit of a disjointed film during the battle scenes that makes the military sequences difficult to follow for all but the most knowledgeable historians.

This film was shot in Russia and therefore made use of a myriad of Russian actors as extras, but also in more prominent roles. The most unfortunate result of which is the need to use English dubbing for Marshall Blucher. In addition, contrary to the belief of the screenplay author(s), Napoleon was seldom to brood on the battlefield, even with his infant son as the subject of the wallowing. Pining over the recent loss of Josephine might have been a better choice. The truth of the matter is that something was necessary to explain his frequent absence from the battlefield. This appears to have been their best guess.

This film probably makes my list of Top 100 films on the strength of the first eighty minutes alone, but it wouldn't make my Top 50.

Rod Steiger is the most connected actor in Hollywood of all time (as per the rules of the Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon game). Also, this film has yet to be re-released and (used) copies of the film sell for up to $80 U.S. on E-Bay.