You will never simultaneously laugh so hard nor learn so much.
“Lafayette, we are here.”
Brilliant lecture and amazing editing !
Do. The. Reading!
The review is a very good one. Napoleon’s career cannot be summarized in a two-hour movie. And you cannot even begin to understand Napoleon as a person without taking into account the effect of his very large extended family. And the age of the character is a very good point. Napoleon was dead at the age of 51. All of his principal campaign years were when he was in his 30s including his greatest victories.
His military career was one thing. But during his 15 years ruling France, Napoleon remade the country completely: it’s legal code, it’s provincial structure just to name two.
No movie can possibly capture all of this. As the reviewer notes, a very good portrait on film of Napoleon was done by Rod Steiger in Waterloo. It was accurate historically.
I agree completely, and yet with all this mind is the film worth watching? Yes, especially with all this in mind. Acting is exquisite, both Phoenix and Kirby deliver brilliant performances. The dynamic between their characters is flawless, the dialogue is great, the choreography is magnificent. Plenty of off the cuff humor and surrealism. It is just not a historical film. As long as one treats it is a story loosely set in some historical background it is worth watching.
I tend to agree with you here. The movies Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit were imperfect renderings of JRR Tolkein’s works, but still very much worth seeing. And we got this, one of the greatest short speeches ever done in any movie. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FjZY2EfR-f8
No work of art is ever perfect. But it can give us truly great moments that two decades later cannot be forgotten.
And as to Napoleon, he was a giant of a man (despite his lack of inches). No movie could ever capture the entirely as he towered over the western world. What he did has lasted to the present day. So yes, I agree with you as how to see it.
I use The Critical Drinker as my filter for watching any movies released lately. If he likes it, I will probably like it.
In my opinion any Hollywood (or American) movie about a historical figure is likely to be filled with serious inaccuracies.
I saw it … 3 / 5 stars.
Too much unexplained in the plot. I later reviewed Napoleon’s and Josephine’s biographies on Wikipeadia. I recommend doing that before you go. And read the ‘goofs’ section at IMDB! A little bit of unnecessary sex…don’t bring the kids!
From a military perspective, battle sequences were well done, with reasonable accuracy of tactics and maneuver shown. (retired Army, myself).
The 4 hour directors cut should fill a lot of those unexplained parts.
Was it worth going? I went to a weekday, afternoon matinee, which is about half the price of an evening show. Yeah, I guess it was worth it.
Have a read of Mark Lopez’ review at Quadrant online.
Johnny Cash plays Napoleon?
Only the facts have been changed to make it entertaining. Anyone expecting an entertainment to be accurate history will, of course, be disappointed. At least Phoenix is the right height for Napoleon. At 5’7″, it was a stretch to play the 6’2″ Johnny Cash.
I recently saw that one of Napoleon’s military hats sold for over $1 million dollars. GeezSum Rice!!!
I could only get through 2/3 of the review. My wife and I are going to take a chance and see it this week. Hopefully, we’ll make it through the whole thing. There’s so little that shouts, “Watch on the big screen”, at least, this one seems to whisper that.
You could probably get a film out of each of the major campaigns. Russia/ Prussia might take more than one. Egypt was the most interesting to me. Although, it’s the one you don’t hear much about. I have no idea if the film even addresses it. I hope so. The story goes that the plague decimated his ranks, and he had to retreat quickly, so he poisoned those men slowing down the retreat with opium. He was a brutal leader and still revered in France win or lose. Before I read his biography, I had no idea he was Italian. I always assumed he was French.
Corsican. Part of France since late 1700’s. Italy didn’t even exist at that time.
I so wanted to see this movie but from the very first trailer all I could see was Commodus from Gladiator. I may pass on this one.
My great-great-great-grandfather, a French soldier, went to Russia with Napoleon in 1812 at age 18. He survived unlike 500,000 others, dying in 1850 in Russia, never having returned home. I will catch the movie on Netflix some day.
Would love to hear more of that piece of your family history…
He was from an ethnic German village in Lorraine. As a POW he was settled in an ethnic German village on the Volga, north of the Caspian Sea. None of the 3 or 4 POWs in the village returned to France. It was a 4,000 km walk through less than friendly country..
I’ll wait for Oliver Stone’s Napoleon … surely he can milk all the Napoleonic conspiracies in two hours? As if Hollywood “history” isn’t bad enough … now we get mangled AI “Spark Notes” history from Hollywood. Sheesh … I’ll wait for it to show up at the Bend, OR Hollywood Video store.
Camped out at Newberry Volcano Caldera in early August, woke to frost on moto seat.
Obsidian flow unique hike.
Huh. Thx for the tip. Hadn’t heard of that one. Same thing happened to me @ Crater Lake in September, 2010. Condensation in the tent had frozen, too.
BTW, love Bend, OR, for their craft breweries, esp. Deschutes. Last time I was there, 10 breweries in a city of around 80,000. If you’re ever in the area, check out Taylor’s Sausage Shop in Cave Junction, OR. Excellent steak sandwich & their spicy beef jerky is to die for. Stop by Oregon Caves National Monument while you’re there.
I’m reading Frank McLynn’s Napoleon biography and it’s great.
Haven’t been in a movie theater in ten years.
I’m going, even if they kind of “put a chick in it and made her gay”, I have filters.
Does anybody have an opinion on the best biography?
I haven’t heard anything good about it and the boys I have seen are pure poison if you are at all interested in historical accuracy.
I’ll wait for the 4 hour directors cut…
If you want to see real history, inc Napoleon, watch Flappr.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1oP94f_ANM4
You will never simultaneously laugh so hard nor learn so much.
“Lafayette, we are here.”
Brilliant lecture and amazing editing !
Do. The. Reading!
The review is a very good one. Napoleon’s career cannot be summarized in a two-hour movie. And you cannot even begin to understand Napoleon as a person without taking into account the effect of his very large extended family. And the age of the character is a very good point. Napoleon was dead at the age of 51. All of his principal campaign years were when he was in his 30s including his greatest victories.
His military career was one thing. But during his 15 years ruling France, Napoleon remade the country completely: it’s legal code, it’s provincial structure just to name two.
No movie can possibly capture all of this. As the reviewer notes, a very good portrait on film of Napoleon was done by Rod Steiger in Waterloo. It was accurate historically.
I agree completely, and yet with all this mind is the film worth watching? Yes, especially with all this in mind. Acting is exquisite, both Phoenix and Kirby deliver brilliant performances. The dynamic between their characters is flawless, the dialogue is great, the choreography is magnificent. Plenty of off the cuff humor and surrealism. It is just not a historical film. As long as one treats it is a story loosely set in some historical background it is worth watching.
I tend to agree with you here. The movies Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit were imperfect renderings of JRR Tolkein’s works, but still very much worth seeing. And we got this, one of the greatest short speeches ever done in any movie.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FjZY2EfR-f8
No work of art is ever perfect. But it can give us truly great moments that two decades later cannot be forgotten.
And as to Napoleon, he was a giant of a man (despite his lack of inches). No movie could ever capture the entirely as he towered over the western world. What he did has lasted to the present day. So yes, I agree with you as how to see it.
I use The Critical Drinker as my filter for watching any movies released lately. If he likes it, I will probably like it.
In my opinion any Hollywood (or American) movie about a historical figure is likely to be filled with serious inaccuracies.
I saw it … 3 / 5 stars.
Too much unexplained in the plot. I later reviewed Napoleon’s and Josephine’s biographies on Wikipeadia. I recommend doing that before you go. And read the ‘goofs’ section at IMDB! A little bit of unnecessary sex…don’t bring the kids!
From a military perspective, battle sequences were well done, with reasonable accuracy of tactics and maneuver shown. (retired Army, myself).
The 4 hour directors cut should fill a lot of those unexplained parts.
Was it worth going? I went to a weekday, afternoon matinee, which is about half the price of an evening show. Yeah, I guess it was worth it.
Have a read of Mark Lopez’ review at Quadrant online.
Johnny Cash plays Napoleon?
Only the facts have been changed to make it entertaining. Anyone expecting an entertainment to be accurate history will, of course, be disappointed. At least Phoenix is the right height for Napoleon. At 5’7″, it was a stretch to play the 6’2″ Johnny Cash.
I recently saw that one of Napoleon’s military hats sold for over $1 million dollars. GeezSum Rice!!!
I could only get through 2/3 of the review. My wife and I are going to take a chance and see it this week. Hopefully, we’ll make it through the whole thing. There’s so little that shouts, “Watch on the big screen”, at least, this one seems to whisper that.
You could probably get a film out of each of the major campaigns. Russia/ Prussia might take more than one. Egypt was the most interesting to me. Although, it’s the one you don’t hear much about. I have no idea if the film even addresses it. I hope so. The story goes that the plague decimated his ranks, and he had to retreat quickly, so he poisoned those men slowing down the retreat with opium. He was a brutal leader and still revered in France win or lose. Before I read his biography, I had no idea he was Italian. I always assumed he was French.
Corsican. Part of France since late 1700’s. Italy didn’t even exist at that time.
I so wanted to see this movie but from the very first trailer all I could see was Commodus from Gladiator. I may pass on this one.
My great-great-great-grandfather, a French soldier, went to Russia with Napoleon in 1812 at age 18. He survived unlike 500,000 others, dying in 1850 in Russia, never having returned home. I will catch the movie on Netflix some day.
Would love to hear more of that piece of your family history…
He was from an ethnic German village in Lorraine. As a POW he was settled in an ethnic German village on the Volga, north of the Caspian Sea. None of the 3 or 4 POWs in the village returned to France. It was a 4,000 km walk through less than friendly country..
I’ll wait for Oliver Stone’s Napoleon … surely he can milk all the Napoleonic conspiracies in two hours? As if Hollywood “history” isn’t bad enough … now we get mangled AI “Spark Notes” history from Hollywood. Sheesh … I’ll wait for it to show up at the Bend, OR Hollywood Video store.
Camped out at Newberry Volcano Caldera in early August, woke to frost on moto seat.
Obsidian flow unique hike.
Huh. Thx for the tip. Hadn’t heard of that one. Same thing happened to me @ Crater Lake in September, 2010. Condensation in the tent had frozen, too.
BTW, love Bend, OR, for their craft breweries, esp. Deschutes. Last time I was there, 10 breweries in a city of around 80,000. If you’re ever in the area, check out Taylor’s Sausage Shop in Cave Junction, OR. Excellent steak sandwich & their spicy beef jerky is to die for. Stop by Oregon Caves National Monument while you’re there.
I’m reading Frank McLynn’s Napoleon biography and it’s great.
Haven’t been in a movie theater in ten years.
I’m going, even if they kind of “put a chick in it and made her gay”, I have filters.
Does anybody have an opinion on the best biography?