Oooooh! Loved that movie! It set the standard for what a movie about Napoleon SHOULD be, not the trash that Ridley Scott dreamed up while tripping on LSD.
100% agree. And I understand some of us get too pedantic sometimes but like Chris I fine so often real history is more interesting than fictional nonsense people come up with in a relatively short period of time.
@@RickBrode I would love to see a movie about Belisarius but the pacing would be difficult. Many of his campaigns took years. Theodora hated him, Procopius hated him (if you believe the "Secret History" that is), and many of his gains were reversed by incompetent subordinates. I'm not sure I'd trust many directors to pull off a compelling movie about him especially since this period of history has so little media attention.
@@celston51 I couldn’t agree more, but sadly as you say this area has little media attention, hardly anyone I speak to knows of Belisarius anyway, so it wouldn’t seem profitable to investors to make a film or series about it. Although if it was done correctly it could be an astounding piece of media
Ah yes the movie Waterloo(1970) the wonders one can do in battle scenes when you have entire soviet army divisions worth of soldiers, their support elements and a soviet cavalry brigade at your beck and call as extras and trained for late 18th century warfare at that.
One of my favourite little scenes in _Waterloo_ was when the cornet is sounding the recall after the Scots Greys charge, and an exasperated Wellington bellows "STOP THAT USELESS NOISE!.....you'll hurt yourself"
"No shit! How badass do you have to be for an entire continent declare war on you personally!" Haha! Love that phrase? Great piece by both History Buffs and VTH!
It should be noted that the reason for this is because the 7th Coalition still saw Louis XVlll as the legitimate ruler of France, not Napoleon. So rather than declare war on France itself, they present it as an intervention to reverse an illegal coup. That line is still dope as hell, I just thought it'd be worthwhile to explain it a but.
Great film. I was a Gordon Highlander and one of our officers was involved in the filming of the film as he was a Military Attaché in Moscow during the filming and got to see some of the filming.
Ever since I watched the series of Sharpe tv movies back in the 1990s, I have been fascinated by the Napoleonic era. Finding out I have a 5th great-granduncle who very likely fought at Waterloo in the 23rd Light Dragoons just drove that fascination into the stratosphere!
Won't lie - love how Chris turned a 90s intro, into a 5 minute complete nerd out. Can't say I'm not the same when watching films like Waterloo or a Bridge Too Far with the airdrops
Under the trade embargo Sweden had its first and only "war" with Great Britain. Basically we didn't really want to stop trading with one of our biggest customers so was forced into a "war" by Napoleon or else he would declare war on us. But this was a war where no bullets where fired and instead Swedish ships with trading cargo got "apprehended" by Britain, the cargo "confiscated" and the ship and crew returned a few days later. Same happened to British ships in Swedish water. Went on from 1810-1812.
it would be so good to see him do a Review series of the Entire Sharpe TV show. I think he's the first American I've ever seen with any knowledge of the show.
Hey Chris! I've always been a fan of Waterloo and History Buffs, and so I always wanted you to react to this video. I just wanted to say, a really great three-video series to do a reaction on would be BritMonkey's British Constitution, since you are into British history and it's filled with humour and facts that you will really enjoy!
Hope you enjoyed your trip to Waterloo. The film is one of my all time favourites having been an avid Napoleonic Wargamer in my teens. Have you ever seen Bonderchuk's version of War and Peace made some 5 years earlier? He covers both Austerlitz and Borodino in it in very similar fashion to Waterloo (the Borodino excerpts in your vlog are I believe from that film). Incredible attention to detail on an epic scale. Well worth watching should you get the chance.
Napoleon once said, "God favors the side with the best artillery." It's so ironic that issues involving artillery may have been what cost him the battle
You summed it up perfectly in the Congress of Vienna series- the Allied Coalition had a million men mobilized and the system still in place to train more efficiently after nearly 20 years of war. The video is available on TH-cam, even with script and salvaged footage from deleted scenes
Good video! I would just like to add something about the “Guard”. The Guard was basically split into three sections. The young guard, middle guard and the old guard. There were also the Chasseur or light infantry. The young guard was sent to fight the Prussians on the right flank and held the Prussians up at Plancenoit until they were forced to retreat. It was the middle guard and old guard that was sent into the final assault on Wellington’s center. The middle guard was the battering ram as the old was in reserve behind them. Other infantry units rallied with them to join in the final assault. The middle guard and Chasseur broke and fell back onto the old guard where they made a last stand just south of La Haye Sainte.
6:30 SHOCKER! An actor playing a young Napoleon who is about the RIGHT AGE! Hey Ridley it ain't that frickin' hard to get little details like that correct..
New rule to the VTH Drinking Game: Take a shot whenever a random guitar noise is heard in the background.
8 หลายเดือนก่อน +3
I saw the film on it’s release (almost empty cinema) and at the Waterloo celebration in 1975.Despite the narrative,there is a lot more footage that has been ‘lost’ and Mosfilm deny it ever existed.
Fantastic movie. Totally agree with yours and the original presenter’s take on this film. Also from the same year (1970) another classic was made - ‘Tora Tora Tora’ - but criticised at the time. But is the best film ever made about the attack on Pearl Harbor (in my humble opinion any away!).
Great movie. One that has a special place for me. I lived in Waterloo as a kid in the 70's and used to regularly go to the battlefield. Have a great time at in Waterloo.
Yes, Waterloo is available here at TH-cam. There are even a few decent-resolution "Fan Cuts" that splice in stills from scenes that didn't make the final theatrical cut. For me, their insertion breaks the flow a bit, but since I've seen Wateroo many times it's not a big deal.
I can't help but feel that not enough attention is given to General Blücher and his army for the role they played in the Battle of Waterloo. Maybe I'm wrong. The Duke of Wellington and his army, rightly so I might add, get a lot of credit, but I feel as though Blücher unfairly falls by the wayside when his involvement was absolutely essential.
No, you are right. Downplaying Blücher is something Wellington a few years after hte battle started to do. And for a production in the soviet union, downplaying (and even drawing certain parallels by putting the Prussians in Black Uniforms with Skulls, when the Leibhusaren who actually wore that weren't at the battle and Blücher telling his troops "No mercy!" blabla... When, irl, he told his troops to chase the french until they couldn'T draw breath anymore, i. E. were too tired to move on) the german participation at the Battle of Belle-Alliance suits the political climate.
Yes agreed, but not necessarily specifically on the day of this battle. Unfortunately the way it's often presented you'd be forgiven for not knowing about Ligny and Quatre Bras. Act one was the Allied army trying to reach Blucher in time, but being held up by Ney at Quatre Bras. Act two was Blucher reaching the Allied army in time, after giving Grouchy the slip. Could have gone either way in that regard. I'm sure if things were different, then more emphasis would have been put on the importance of the arriving troops than has been common for years. It's been said that science progresses one funeral at a time. More so with generals and history probably.
The 1920 Napoleon movie was also very revolutionary for the time. I believe it required a special projection format of 4 screens or something for the battle sequences.
Would love a really well done film on Julius Caesar. Father dies when he is a teenager, and is now head of the household. His family is in the Marius faction, and marries into that faction further. Becomes a priest of Jupiter. Sulla wins the civil war and Caesar is on the purge list. He eventually is forced to resign his priesthood, freeing him to pursue politics and military service. Joins the military and gains experience fighting. Captured by pirates and held hostage. Gets freed, returns with a small force and captures and executes the pirates. Studies law and becomes an orator. Enter politics. Elected the pontifex maximus. Rises politically. Forms an alliance between Pompey and Crassus, two men that hated each other, yet Caesar could get them to join him in an alliance. Becomes a consul. Passes Populist reform (mainly by fighting dirty, while the other side fought dirty too) Proconsul of Gaul and wages war across Gaul, showing how great of a general he has become. Civil War against Pompey, and wins, with again, great leadership and strategy. Ends a Civil War in Egypt, and brings them further into Rome's influence. Gearing up to face Parthia, and revenge Crassus, is assassinated by former friends and son of a former lover who he viewed as almost his own son. Posthumously adopts an intelligent nephew as his son and heir, who starts the Roman Empire. A priest, a soldier, captive to pirates, pontifex maximus, becomes a lawyer/orator, a "president", a great military general, a butcher of Gaul, a civil war winner, a dictator, and father to an empire. It is rather astonishing how much went on with him.
@@frogwaffle7 Cleopatra I think was more influential in the Augustus and Marc Antony time. She was a very influential person, but I think her time to shine was later.
Rod Steiger (Napoleon) had won the Academy Award for Best Actor only three years earlier for his role as the police chief in "In the Heat of the Night" (1967), so he was a Big Get for the Italian/Soviet production. He would last be seen as the nuke-happy general in Tim Burton's "Mars Attacks!" (1996). As mentioned in this video, Christopher Plummer is always exceptional and of equal caliber to play opposite Seitger (akin to Napoleon & Wellington themselves). So the two leads are just fantastic. Dan O'Herlihy, who played Marshal Ney (and was noted upon in this video as bearing a likeness to Ney), is better known today as the head of OCP in "RoboCop" (1987). Orson Welles as King Louis was also very well cast.
It's mad he won the Oscar for In the Heat of the Night considering Sidney Poitier had much more screen time and , arguably, a much better performance in that film. Waterloo though, i'd easily give Steiger an Oscar for his portrayal of Napoleon.
@@archivesoffantasy5560 No, but post Waterloo, Wellington matched or exceeded Napoleon's fame in Britain. Interestingly, Plummer matched or exceeded Steiger's fame in the US in the years following this film.
@@jason_lee_jones Yeah that’s true he is a very famous figure in British history and quite a famous historical figure in world history. New Zealand’s capital is named after him. Despite Waterloo not being Wellington’s best victory, as it relied on support that resulted in significant numerical advantage, had Napoleon stayed on Elba, Wellington would be far less famous. Though, even without Waterloo, he would still be considered as one of the best British generals, but he would be far less known. Both the actors did a superb job, I know Plummer played Dracula and I ought to watch that someday. What other movie would you recommend for Steiger?
@@archivesoffantasy5560 Man that's tough - he was in more than 100. Obviously this one, of course, and his role in the previously mentioned "Mars Attacks!" (1996) is funny (and lines of his from that film have been sampled in songs). There's "Doctor Zhivago" (1965) and "On the Waterfront" (1954). He has one of the many, many cameos in "The Longest Day" (1962). If you like the Spaghetti Western, Sergio Leone cast Steiger has his lead in "Duck You Sucker!" (1971). Another where he works his acting chops is "The Pawnbroker" (1964), one of Sidney Lumet;s great character study films. The last one I'll recommend here is inspired by a Bette Midler joke: "I never miss a Rod Steiger musical." This was funny because he was known as a hard, gruff guy, but people forgot he was one of the leads in the widely successful film adaptation of the Broadway musical "Oklahoma!" (1955).
My new favorite History channel, reviewing another one of my favorite history channels thats reviewing my all time favorite historical film. I must be dreaming
Hey Chris, I watched your channel since late 2021 and became interested in history in high school. I have been so busy in life latley and just recently stumbled upon your channel again and seen you explode in popularity. Keep up the good work in helping others find their love for history, much love 🤘🏼
The sideshow to the battle of Waterloo is called the Battle of Wavre. It was commanded by Saxon General, Johann von Thielman. At some point, Grouchy realised, that he was chasing the rear guard, but he sort of had to fight them at Wavre, otherwise he had to march in a manner, that would allow the Prussians to arrive sooner than himself. Thielmanns job was to defend the town as long as he could, which he technically failed. The battle ended up in a tactical French Victory, controlling Prussias eastern supplylines and more importantly, lines of communication. But in the end it didn't matter. Thielmann had done his job, fixed Grouchy in place, and didn't allow him to rejoin the Napoleon at Waterloo. So thats actually the reason why Grouchy ended up not being able to help Napoleon. Ohh also Thielmann fixed them in place for 2 days, while the French had 33.000 men, where as he at most had 24,000. Also he had 48 guns, to 80 french guns. Also the 70.000 he refers to isn't even casualties. I have to assume he just misspoke, cause most sources indicate around 20.000 dead, 50.000 Casualties, and around 70.000 either dead, captured or missing. It would be more a description of the total amount of personnel, currently unable to fight post-battle.
Afamous qoute from Bluher as he marched to the right flank of the French Army ."He Thielman won't get so much as a hore's tail! In other words no reinforements.
A small nitpick and I might be misremembering this but I am quite sure that the final attack of the French at the center of the British line were done mostly by the Middle Guard and I believe a single regiment of the Old Guard, whether it was the 3e Regiment de Chasseurs or the 4e 3e Regiment de Chasseurs is lost to me at the moment. However I am quite sure that the 2e Regiment Grenadiers were sent to take back and then defend Plancenoit as the Prussians arrived at round 15:45 and by 16:00 were putting so much pressure on the right flank of the French Army that the Old Guards, specifically the 1e Regiment Grenadiers were holding the very positions around Napoleon himself. Another thing is that the actual effectiveness of the Old Guards, specifically the 1e and 2e Grenadiers seems to be questionable at best at the time of the Battle of Waterloo. They did a FANTASTIC job beating everybody that they came across from the war of the 3rd coalition through the 6th - some of their best actions were the push that dislodged the Russians from Eylau in 1807 and the crushing of a Saxon force at Hanau in 1814. But in Waterloo, I believe they are past their prime (OLD Guard lol), and by that point they are more considered as a final line of desperation to fall back to if the situation goes really bad. It reminds me of an old Roman saying that goes "To fall back on the Triarii", meaning that if the Hastati or Principes of the Roman army cannot break the enemy, things are getting desperate because even the old veterans of the Triarii need to get involved. The Grenadiers a Cheval de La Garde Imperiale though were a completely different beast as far as I know (hope someone corrects me here if I am wrong), the Grenadiers a Cheval were undefeated in every engagement that they had throughout the entirety of the Napoleonic wars since they were formed in 1806. These monsters fought in Marengo, Austerlitz, Eylau, Hanau and Waterloo and managed to beat everyone that they came across, though they suffered heavy losses at Waterloo. They were so good that they earned the nickname "The Gods."
the first and second grenadiers of the old guard would have been quite effective they still had men with combat experience of about 10 years unlike the rest of the guard.And yes the horse grenadiers and the first polish guard lancers of the old guard were undefeated in battle.The rest of the guard was never the same after the retreat from moscow .In fact i think that by 1814 the russian imperial guard was probably better than the french guard as the french had lost nearly 80 percent of their troops
A lot of people don't like Napoleon.I think he was a great man.And I think he gave us a lot of new innovations in government and banking and lot of different stuff that he doesn't get credit for because he was a I have to think about the was a master general
4:23 just one side note: not everyone is real, in the full army scenes specially, there were about 5,000 dummies used in total for the back lines And often soldiers in the back would wear just red and blue over their Soviet uniforms cause there was a shortage of proper napoleonic uniforms Still mind boggling that it was all real and no generated graphics and the shortcomings can't even be identified on screen, thats how well its made
A great movie to be sure. Good luck on your trip! Be sure to check out the church opposite Wellington's HQ in Waterloo itself, don't be afraid to move a chair or two to see the monuments that commemorate the dead, paid for by their comrades and regiments. Also if you book early enough you can stay above the gatehouse in Hougemont. Oh, and you'll be forgiven for thinking that Boney triumphed, everything there is Napoleon centric almost as if he won the battle.
A friend of mine visited Waterloo, he said there are loads of French tourists there, and a lot of them seem to believe that Napoleon actually won there. He even had an argument with one of them, lol.
I recently did a 10-12 page paper for one of my classes last quarter talking about the Ridley Scott Napoleon and at the end comparing it to Waterloo. My 2 biggest arguments were that while, yes the acting, inaccuracies, and all that was garbage for Napoleon, for me the biggest issue that I point out (and still hold onto) was Scott's decision to tell a story that covered over 20 years in a little over 2 and a half hours. While what makes Waterloo work so much better and flow a lot easily is the decision to cover roughly a little over year (if that) in the same amount of time. If Scott focused on a specific moment, I think Napoleon would've better. Not great, but better than what we got. I also had to point out Scott's lack of care which he criticized historians saying things like "Get a life" or "How the f**k do you know? You weren't there" and the dangers of Hollywood creating these historical films. While Bondarchuk actually cared for Waterloo
One of the best movies about Napoleonic warfare ever. Along with Master and Commander, it's a master class in this period. M&C is, IMHO, a more modern movie that is on par with Waterloo. YMMV of course.
I always wondered how difficult was this movie to produce. Like what was the process for the Soviet Union to film a movie, with a cast of actors primarily from NATO nations. Was their any issues with this being filmed during the middle of Cold War?
I think the "western" actors never had much if any contact with the Russian soldiers. The Russians would play the massed scenes, the westerners would play the "vignettes", close-up scenes separately.
I've always felt that if a movie maker wants to change the history, then just do a work of fiction. If the historical story was what piqued the interest in the first place, then stick to what really happened. It's usually a lot more interesting too than what people make up.
The irony of the Russians playing the French is palpable. Oh and Waterloo is usually free on TH-cam. It varies from year to year but it's usually there.
I loved his previous intro when it focused in to the charge of the Scots greys picture and it burned away into the actual charge from the movie waterloo. It was awesome.
23:29 That recreation of the "La Haie Sainte" farm is very realistic. You can check for yourself, it's still there. It is not a "château" (castle) though, only a typical Brabantian type closed farm. The dirt road to the right is now the main road from Brussels to Charleroi.
This is absolutely my favourite war movie, i only saw it about 5 years ago, and was blown away. I've seen lots of movies, but Waterloo was unique in uts scale, realism, dedication.
The one mistake the movie makes and doesn't get mentioned here is, that it wasn't the old guard that charged and broke, but that is forgiveable because just like the quote about the guard not surrendering it was a long held believe - at least in Britain - that it was the old guard charging. (also the reason why the Grenadier Guards wear those huge hats)
This is one movie that I will completely agree with Nick about how using practical effects has an amazing quality boost on films, especially historical battle films. That being said, I do find it annoying when he just disses CGI. He says he has no fundamental problem with CGI, but he seems to go out of his way to hate it. I 100% believe that practical effects should try to outweigh CGI in modern films. That being said, movies like Lord of the Rings with their tremendous scale, can only be done so much effectively with just practical effects alone. Those movies reached a good balance between using practical for character makeup and costumes like humans, elves, and orcs, real-life landscapes, and miniature sets and then using CGI for massive fantasy locations and creatures. CGI is not inherently bad, but like many things, it is being mishandled due to its cheaper price now. Thus giving it a negative connotation.
The worst inaccuracy for me is how the British line fires at the Old Guard. They fired on mass, they didn’t fire in single ranks bobbing up and down. I think someone saw the film Zulu and the final attack and thought that it looked cool.
I looked into it and most scholars agree that's what happened, but the fact that's one of the biggest complaints shows how much research and care was put into the movie
Brilliant movie! I have gone back and watched it maybe 3 times. As you pointed out the extras were in the Soviet army, probably Ukrainians , which was firmly under the Soviet sphere back then . So well done in this one…compared to the version in Scotts recent travesty. Of course they only had to do WATERLOO here not other battles.. but NO TRENCHES, RAIN ON THE DAY of, SNIPERS WITH SCOPES OR Napoleon leading cavalry charges ,here it is probably done as well as it could be. I love Christopher Plummer as Wellington, Steiger is good as the 46 year old NAPPY although he chews the scenery several times!! Bondarchuck’s direction is brilliant. Yeah I got into an argument with someone who kept insisting there were 50,000 dead at Gettysburg! NO thats casualties , which includes captured as you point out. Thanks.
From what I read towards the end of the battle, it was the middle guard that was sent in and were broken. Since the old guard were one of the few units of the army to maintain order and tried to establish a rear guard.
There is a beautiful detail in the dialogue during the first french infantry attack in the center, which was carried out by the I. Korps . Wellington: They are coming on, in the same old style , Pikton: Someone has to meet them in the same , old style . The back ground of this conversation is as follows: For unknown reasons, the 1, 2. and 3. Division of the I. Korps marched in an old style, the "colonnes de bataillon par division" , means the lines marched in Battalion formations of up to 50 meter in depth, making great targets for artillery bombardment ( meet them in the same old style ). Only the 4. Division of the I. Korps marched in a flexible " new " style and was therefore less affected by artillery bombardment during the march. The great thing is , that this difference in the marching order can be seen even in the movie.
There are daguerreotypes of some of the Guard taken in the 1850s. The old men dressed up in their old uniforms for the occasion. Fascinating. The last Napoleonic soldier, a Dutchman, died in 1899.
French army records show some members of the Imperial Guard were only 18/19 years old for The Hundred Days Campaign. This is because Napoleon wanted The Guard at full strength, so many men, not eligible, were drafted into it. So for Waterloo, The Guard were not the same they had once been. Also at Waterloo, the final Guard attack was against the strongest part of the Allied lines, but with only 5000 men despite the failure of D'Orlons 12 000 or Foys 7,000 earlier in the afternoon.
At 24:26, you can observe the 'Prince of Orange' in the top left corner. He was the son of King William I of the Netherlands, and later became King William II in 1840.
First of all l love your channel ..Waterloo is the greatest film ever and has had such a hold over me all my life. Keep up the good work and your AWI video was historically brilliant of which l totally agree with. From little me across the pond 🇬🇧
You inspired me to learn more about my ancestry. I never knew I had a great grandfather who served in WW2 in Kansas, his brother died in the Philippines at age 19, and a third brother fought at the Battle of the Bulge.
Oooooh! Loved that movie! It set the standard for what a movie about Napoleon SHOULD be, not the trash that Ridley Scott dreamed up while tripping on LSD.
Belisarius, the best Roman general
100% agree. And I understand some of us get too pedantic sometimes but like Chris I fine so often real history is more interesting than fictional nonsense people come up with in a relatively short period of time.
@@RickBrode I would love to see a movie about Belisarius but the pacing would be difficult. Many of his campaigns took years. Theodora hated him, Procopius hated him (if you believe the "Secret History" that is), and many of his gains were reversed by incompetent subordinates. I'm not sure I'd trust many directors to pull off a compelling movie about him especially since this period of history has so little media attention.
@@celston51 I couldn’t agree more, but sadly as you say this area has little media attention, hardly anyone I speak to knows of Belisarius anyway, so it wouldn’t seem profitable to investors to make a film or series about it. Although if it was done correctly it could be an astounding piece of media
@@celston51In case you didn’t know, Epic History made a great documentary series about Belisarius. Would recommend if you haven’t seen it.
Ah yes the movie Waterloo(1970) the wonders one can do in battle scenes when you have entire soviet army divisions worth of soldiers, their support elements and a soviet cavalry brigade at your beck and call as extras and trained for late 18th century warfare at that.
And they still panic and rout from a scripted cavalry charge that was only a tenth the scale of the actual Waterloo cavalry charge.
I'm pretty sure they also had the Scots Greys in the movie as well.
Early 19th Century to be exact but it's splitting hairs.
One of my favourite little scenes in _Waterloo_ was when the cornet is sounding the recall after the Scots Greys charge, and an exasperated Wellington bellows "STOP THAT USELESS NOISE!.....you'll hurt yourself"
"No shit! How badass do you have to be for an entire continent declare war on you personally!" Haha! Love that phrase? Great piece by both History Buffs and VTH!
I got my first like from Chris!!!! What a glorious day!!! Thanks my dude 😎
It should be noted that the reason for this is because the 7th Coalition still saw Louis XVlll as the legitimate ruler of France, not Napoleon. So rather than declare war on France itself, they present it as an intervention to reverse an illegal coup.
That line is still dope as hell, I just thought it'd be worthwhile to explain it a but.
@@occam7382 Still a stupid mistake from the Brittish to reinstall the impopulair Bourbon monarchy
Just as happened with the Nazis...
Great film. I was a Gordon Highlander and one of our officers was involved in the filming of the film as he was a Military Attaché in Moscow during the filming and got to see some of the filming.
Imagine the stories from the set he would have told you
Waterloo will always be my 1st or 2nd movie ever made. The uniforms, acting, 17,000 extras, and literally just everything about it is amazing
Ever since I watched the series of Sharpe tv movies back in the 1990s, I have been fascinated by the Napoleonic era. Finding out I have a 5th great-granduncle who very likely fought at Waterloo in the 23rd Light Dragoons just drove that fascination into the stratosphere!
Won't lie - love how Chris turned a 90s intro, into a 5 minute complete nerd out. Can't say I'm not the same when watching films like Waterloo or a Bridge Too Far with the airdrops
Under the trade embargo Sweden had its first and only "war" with Great Britain. Basically we didn't really want to stop trading with one of our biggest customers so was forced into a "war" by Napoleon or else he would declare war on us. But this was a war where no bullets where fired and instead Swedish ships with trading cargo got "apprehended" by Britain, the cargo "confiscated" and the ship and crew returned a few days later. Same happened to British ships in Swedish water. Went on from 1810-1812.
Didn't know that! Pretty cool way to have a 'war'!
@@jimolygriff Wish more "wars" could be like that XD
My favourite war. As Dr Who once said “and everybody lived” 😂
if only all wars would go that way..
Speaking as someone who just discovered 'Sharpe', I almost squealed when you mentioned him and the 95th Rifles.
it would be so good to see him do a Review series of the Entire Sharpe TV show. I think he's the first American I've ever seen with any knowledge of the show.
10:15 “and that’s when it happened. It got cold. STUPID cold”
Hey Chris! I've always been a fan of Waterloo and History Buffs, and so I always wanted you to react to this video. I just wanted to say, a really great three-video series to do a reaction on would be BritMonkey's British Constitution, since you are into British history and it's filled with humour and facts that you will really enjoy!
18:25 one of the coolest part of napoleon, is even in the later battles he helps the men sight the cannons
Sign of panic. Revert to basic skills.
He was one of the boys.
Hope you enjoyed your trip to Waterloo. The film is one of my all time favourites having been an avid Napoleonic Wargamer in my teens. Have you ever seen Bonderchuk's version of War and Peace made some 5 years earlier? He covers both Austerlitz and Borodino in it in very similar fashion to Waterloo (the Borodino excerpts in your vlog are I believe from that film). Incredible attention to detail on an epic scale. Well worth watching should you get the chance.
Napoleon once said, "God favors the side with the best artillery." It's so ironic that issues involving artillery may have been what cost him the battle
You summed it up perfectly in the Congress of Vienna series- the Allied Coalition had a million men mobilized and the system still in place to train more efficiently after nearly 20 years of war. The video is available on TH-cam, even with script and salvaged footage from deleted scenes
Good video! I would just like to add something about the “Guard”.
The Guard was basically split into three sections. The young guard, middle guard and the old guard. There were also the Chasseur or light infantry.
The young guard was sent to fight the Prussians on the right flank and held the Prussians up at Plancenoit until they were forced to retreat.
It was the middle guard and old guard that was sent into the final assault on Wellington’s center. The middle guard was the battering ram as the old was in reserve behind them. Other infantry units rallied with them to join in the final assault.
The middle guard and Chasseur broke and fell back onto the old guard where they made a last stand just south of La Haye Sainte.
6:30 SHOCKER! An actor playing a young Napoleon who is about the RIGHT AGE! Hey Ridley it ain't that frickin' hard to get little details like that correct..
As if Scott lost a bet and was forced to let Phoenix star.
@@anathardayaldar LMAO! Probably some truth to that.
New rule to the VTH Drinking Game: Take a shot whenever a random guitar noise is heard in the background.
I saw the film on it’s release (almost empty cinema) and at the Waterloo celebration in 1975.Despite the narrative,there is a lot more footage that has been ‘lost’ and Mosfilm deny it ever existed.
Actually not only it is available on youtube, a channel has made editions including stuff that didn't make the cutting room floor.
When exactly in July are you going to visit the Waterloo field Chris?
Fantastic movie. Totally agree with yours and the original presenter’s take on this film. Also from the same year (1970) another classic was made - ‘Tora Tora Tora’ - but criticised at the time. But is the best film ever made about the attack on Pearl Harbor (in my humble opinion any away!).
I agree on Tora Tora Tora. Fantastic film
Great movie. One that has a special place for me. I lived in Waterloo as a kid in the 70's and used to regularly go to the battlefield. Have a great time at in Waterloo.
Yes, Waterloo is available here at TH-cam. There are even a few decent-resolution "Fan Cuts" that splice in stills from scenes that didn't make the final theatrical cut. For me, their insertion breaks the flow a bit, but since I've seen Wateroo many times it's not a big deal.
I can't help but feel that not enough attention is given to General Blücher and his army for the role they played in the Battle of Waterloo. Maybe I'm wrong. The Duke of Wellington and his army, rightly so I might add, get a lot of credit, but I feel as though Blücher unfairly falls by the wayside when his involvement was absolutely essential.
No, you are right. Downplaying Blücher is something Wellington a few years after hte battle started to do. And for a production in the soviet union, downplaying (and even drawing certain parallels by putting the Prussians in Black Uniforms with Skulls, when the Leibhusaren who actually wore that weren't at the battle and Blücher telling his troops "No mercy!" blabla... When, irl, he told his troops to chase the french until they couldn'T draw breath anymore, i. E. were too tired to move on) the german participation at the Battle of Belle-Alliance suits the political climate.
@@undertakernumberone1
The Greeks who fought alongside the Spartans at Thermopylae: “First time?”
Yes agreed, but not necessarily specifically on the day of this battle. Unfortunately the way it's often presented you'd be forgiven for not knowing about Ligny and Quatre Bras.
Act one was the Allied army trying to reach Blucher in time, but being held up by Ney at Quatre Bras. Act two was Blucher reaching the Allied army in time, after giving Grouchy the slip.
Could have gone either way in that regard. I'm sure if things were different, then more emphasis would have been put on the importance of the arriving troops than has been common for years.
It's been said that science progresses one funeral at a time. More so with generals and history probably.
The movie is available on TH-cam in 4K. Somehow it never gets taken down. I love it.
The 1920 Napoleon movie was also very revolutionary for the time. I believe it required a special projection format of 4 screens or something for the battle sequences.
Would love a really well done film on Julius Caesar.
Father dies when he is a teenager, and is now head of the household.
His family is in the Marius faction, and marries into that faction further.
Becomes a priest of Jupiter.
Sulla wins the civil war and Caesar is on the purge list. He eventually is forced to resign his priesthood, freeing him to pursue politics and military service.
Joins the military and gains experience fighting.
Captured by pirates and held hostage. Gets freed, returns with a small force and captures and executes the pirates.
Studies law and becomes an orator.
Enter politics.
Elected the pontifex maximus.
Rises politically.
Forms an alliance between Pompey and Crassus, two men that hated each other, yet Caesar could get them to join him in an alliance.
Becomes a consul.
Passes Populist reform (mainly by fighting dirty, while the other side fought dirty too)
Proconsul of Gaul and wages war across Gaul, showing how great of a general he has become.
Civil War against Pompey, and wins, with again, great leadership and strategy.
Ends a Civil War in Egypt, and brings them further into Rome's influence.
Gearing up to face Parthia, and revenge Crassus, is assassinated by former friends and son of a former lover who he viewed as almost his own son.
Posthumously adopts an intelligent nephew as his son and heir, who starts the Roman Empire.
A priest, a soldier, captive to pirates, pontifex maximus, becomes a lawyer/orator, a "president", a great military general, a butcher of Gaul, a civil war winner, a dictator, and father to an empire. It is rather astonishing how much went on with him.
Great idea and a great summary of his life!
excellent summary w/o even giving a mention to Celopatra
@@frogwaffle7 Cleopatra I think was more influential in the Augustus and Marc Antony time. She was a very influential person, but I think her time to shine was later.
That is going to be a very long film.
This was what I expected 2023's Napoleon to be like! A Waterloo like Epic with a Patton like story structure. Boy, was I disappointed!!!
Same.
Rod Steiger (Napoleon) had won the Academy Award for Best Actor only three years earlier for his role as the police chief in "In the Heat of the Night" (1967), so he was a Big Get for the Italian/Soviet production. He would last be seen as the nuke-happy general in Tim Burton's "Mars Attacks!" (1996). As mentioned in this video, Christopher Plummer is always exceptional and of equal caliber to play opposite Seitger (akin to Napoleon & Wellington themselves). So the two leads are just fantastic. Dan O'Herlihy, who played Marshal Ney (and was noted upon in this video as bearing a likeness to Ney), is better known today as the head of OCP in "RoboCop" (1987). Orson Welles as King Louis was also very well cast.
It's mad he won the Oscar for In the Heat of the Night considering Sidney Poitier had much more screen time and , arguably, a much better performance in that film.
Waterloo though, i'd easily give Steiger an Oscar for his portrayal of Napoleon.
I know you’re mostly discussing the actors here, but Wellington was not an equal to Napoleon as a general.
@@archivesoffantasy5560 No, but post Waterloo, Wellington matched or exceeded Napoleon's fame in Britain. Interestingly, Plummer matched or exceeded Steiger's fame in the US in the years following this film.
@@jason_lee_jones Yeah that’s true he is a very famous figure in British history and quite a famous historical figure in world history. New Zealand’s capital is named after him. Despite Waterloo not being Wellington’s best victory, as it relied on support that resulted in significant numerical advantage, had Napoleon stayed on Elba, Wellington would be far less famous. Though, even without Waterloo, he would still be considered as one of the best British generals, but he would be far less known. Both the actors did a superb job, I know Plummer played Dracula and I ought to watch that someday. What other movie would you recommend for Steiger?
@@archivesoffantasy5560 Man that's tough - he was in more than 100. Obviously this one, of course, and his role in the previously mentioned "Mars Attacks!" (1996) is funny (and lines of his from that film have been sampled in songs). There's "Doctor Zhivago" (1965) and "On the Waterfront" (1954). He has one of the many, many cameos in "The Longest Day" (1962). If you like the Spaghetti Western, Sergio Leone cast Steiger has his lead in "Duck You Sucker!" (1971). Another where he works his acting chops is "The Pawnbroker" (1964), one of Sidney Lumet;s great character study films. The last one I'll recommend here is inspired by a Bette Midler joke: "I never miss a Rod Steiger musical." This was funny because he was known as a hard, gruff guy, but people forgot he was one of the leads in the widely successful film adaptation of the Broadway musical "Oklahoma!" (1955).
Never been this early to a VTH video
I should really watch Waterloo
It's available to watch on TH-cam!
My new favorite History channel, reviewing another one of my favorite history channels thats reviewing my all time favorite historical film.
I must be dreaming
Waterloo, couldn't escape if I wanted to.
Waterloo, knowing my fate is to be with you.
Hey Chris, I watched your channel since late 2021 and became interested in history in high school. I have been so busy in life latley and just recently stumbled upon your channel again and seen you explode in popularity. Keep up the good work in helping others find their love for history, much love 🤘🏼
I was literally watching this video last night and was bummed out you never did a reaction. Thanks Chris!
Finally, you have gotten around to reviewing this absolute perfect of a film!
The sideshow to the battle of Waterloo is called the Battle of Wavre. It was commanded by Saxon General, Johann von Thielman. At some point, Grouchy realised, that he was chasing the rear guard, but he sort of had to fight them at Wavre, otherwise he had to march in a manner, that would allow the Prussians to arrive sooner than himself. Thielmanns job was to defend the town as long as he could, which he technically failed. The battle ended up in a tactical French Victory, controlling Prussias eastern supplylines and more importantly, lines of communication. But in the end it didn't matter. Thielmann had done his job, fixed Grouchy in place, and didn't allow him to rejoin the Napoleon at Waterloo.
So thats actually the reason why Grouchy ended up not being able to help Napoleon. Ohh also Thielmann fixed them in place for 2 days, while the French had 33.000 men, where as he at most had 24,000. Also he had 48 guns, to 80 french guns.
Also the 70.000 he refers to isn't even casualties. I have to assume he just misspoke, cause most sources indicate around 20.000 dead, 50.000 Casualties, and around 70.000 either dead, captured or missing. It would be more a description of the total amount of personnel, currently unable to fight post-battle.
In those days the fate of the wounded was not to be envied. The "Red Cross" hadn't been invented yet and surgery was very brutal.
Afamous qoute from Bluher as he marched to the right flank of the French Army ."He Thielman won't get so much as a hore's tail! In other words no reinforements.
A small nitpick and I might be misremembering this but I am quite sure that the final attack of the French at the center of the British line were done mostly by the Middle Guard and I believe a single regiment of the Old Guard, whether it was the 3e Regiment de Chasseurs or the 4e 3e Regiment de Chasseurs is lost to me at the moment.
However I am quite sure that the 2e Regiment Grenadiers were sent to take back and then defend Plancenoit as the Prussians arrived at round 15:45 and by 16:00 were putting so much pressure on the right flank of the French Army that the Old Guards, specifically the 1e Regiment Grenadiers were holding the very positions around Napoleon himself.
Another thing is that the actual effectiveness of the Old Guards, specifically the 1e and 2e Grenadiers seems to be questionable at best at the time of the Battle of Waterloo. They did a FANTASTIC job beating everybody that they came across from the war of the 3rd coalition through the 6th - some of their best actions were the push that dislodged the Russians from Eylau in 1807 and the crushing of a Saxon force at Hanau in 1814. But in Waterloo, I believe they are past their prime (OLD Guard lol), and by that point they are more considered as a final line of desperation to fall back to if the situation goes really bad. It reminds me of an old Roman saying that goes "To fall back on the Triarii", meaning that if the Hastati or Principes of the Roman army cannot break the enemy, things are getting desperate because even the old veterans of the Triarii need to get involved.
The Grenadiers a Cheval de La Garde Imperiale though were a completely different beast as far as I know (hope someone corrects me here if I am wrong), the Grenadiers a Cheval were undefeated in every engagement that they had throughout the entirety of the Napoleonic wars since they were formed in 1806. These monsters fought in Marengo, Austerlitz, Eylau, Hanau and Waterloo and managed to beat everyone that they came across, though they suffered heavy losses at Waterloo. They were so good that they earned the nickname "The Gods."
the first and second grenadiers of the old guard would have been quite effective they still had men with combat experience of about 10 years unlike the rest of the guard.And yes the horse grenadiers and the first polish guard lancers of the old guard were undefeated in battle.The rest of the guard was never the same after the retreat from moscow .In fact i think that by 1814 the russian imperial guard was probably better than the french guard as the french had lost nearly 80 percent of their troops
The most recent Napoleon film pales in comparison to this one
Would highly recommend History Buff's video about HBO's Rome. It's good at filling in the missing holes from the show
thank you very much for reacting to history buffs
A lot of people don't like Napoleon.I think he was a great man.And I think he gave us a lot of new innovations in government and banking and lot of different stuff that he doesn't get credit for because he was a I have to think about the was a master general
He's a very complicated figure. At the very least he deserves respect, even if some don't like him.
I wouldn't say great is the right word. He's far more complicated than that
You can google who was both a hero and a tyrant without specifying names and basically every website, essay etc is about Napoleon.
I can’t believe you did a reaction to this film !! It’s always been my favourite war movie but criminality under-watched.
Didn't the little corporal come from him directing artillery fire and aiming the guns himself as a general. Since that was the task of a corporal.
His military career really started in 1789 as lieutenant of an artillery regiment stationed in Auxonne.
Waterloo, couldn’t escape if I wanted to
His review of "The death of Stalin." is also fantastic.
4:23 just one side note: not everyone is real, in the full army scenes specially, there were about 5,000 dummies used in total for the back lines
And often soldiers in the back would wear just red and blue over their Soviet uniforms cause there was a shortage of proper napoleonic uniforms
Still mind boggling that it was all real and no generated graphics and the shortcomings can't even be identified on screen, thats how well its made
A great movie to be sure. Good luck on your trip! Be sure to check out the church opposite Wellington's HQ in Waterloo itself, don't be afraid to move a chair or two to see the monuments that commemorate the dead, paid for by their comrades and regiments. Also if you book early enough you can stay above the gatehouse in Hougemont. Oh, and you'll be forgiven for thinking that Boney triumphed, everything there is Napoleon centric almost as if he won the battle.
A friend of mine visited Waterloo, he said there are loads of French tourists there, and a lot of them seem to believe that Napoleon actually won there. He even had an argument with one of them, lol.
That attitude from French speaking Walloons shouldn't amaze you. For them Napoleon is still their hero.
The actor who played Marshal Ney is a descendent of the man himself
Really how is that true
I recently did a 10-12 page paper for one of my classes last quarter talking about the Ridley Scott Napoleon and at the end comparing it to Waterloo. My 2 biggest arguments were that while, yes the acting, inaccuracies, and all that was garbage for Napoleon, for me the biggest issue that I point out (and still hold onto) was Scott's decision to tell a story that covered over 20 years in a little over 2 and a half hours. While what makes Waterloo work so much better and flow a lot easily is the decision to cover roughly a little over year (if that) in the same amount of time. If Scott focused on a specific moment, I think Napoleon would've better. Not great, but better than what we got. I also had to point out Scott's lack of care which he criticized historians saying things like "Get a life" or "How the f**k do you know? You weren't there" and the dangers of Hollywood creating these historical films. While Bondarchuk actually cared for Waterloo
One of the best movies about Napoleonic warfare ever. Along with Master and Commander, it's a master class in this period. M&C is, IMHO, a more modern movie that is on par with Waterloo. YMMV of course.
I always wondered how difficult was this movie to produce. Like what was the process for the Soviet Union to film a movie, with a cast of actors primarily from NATO nations. Was their any issues with this being filmed during the middle of Cold War?
I think the "western" actors never had much if any contact with the Russian soldiers. The Russians would play the massed scenes, the westerners would play the "vignettes", close-up scenes separately.
I've always felt that if a movie maker wants to change the history, then just do a work of fiction. If the historical story was what piqued the interest in the first place, then stick to what really happened. It's usually a lot more interesting too than what people make up.
Exactly how I feel, I don't think you can get better than this movie
That rock paper scissors breakdown was amazingly simple yet somehow thorough!! Great video
The irony of the Russians playing the French is palpable. Oh and Waterloo is usually free on TH-cam. It varies from year to year but it's usually there.
Plot twist: the guy that fainted just had heat stroke from standing there.
In March 1815, must have been climate change.
I loved his previous intro when it focused in to the charge of the Scots greys picture and it burned away into the actual charge from the movie waterloo. It was awesome.
One of my favorite movies of all time. So jealous you’re gonna be there to actually see the ground in person.
That's what they thought he was the enemy of humanity what a shame
The kings and emperors of the coalitions named him that, because a lower class man could beat them over and over again? preposterous!
23:29 That recreation of the "La Haie Sainte" farm is very realistic. You can check for yourself, it's still there. It is not a "château" (castle) though, only a typical Brabantian type closed farm.
The dirt road to the right is now the main road from Brussels to Charleroi.
This is absolutely my favourite war movie, i only saw it about 5 years ago, and was blown away. I've seen lots of movies, but Waterloo was unique in uts scale, realism, dedication.
The one mistake the movie makes and doesn't get mentioned here is, that it wasn't the old guard that charged and broke, but that is forgiveable because just like the quote about the guard not surrendering it was a long held believe - at least in Britain - that it was the old guard charging. (also the reason why the Grenadier Guards wear those huge hats)
Even the mistakes are still based on historical tactics of the time, we will never get another movie like this
This is one movie that I will completely agree with Nick about how using practical effects has an amazing quality boost on films, especially historical battle films. That being said, I do find it annoying when he just disses CGI. He says he has no fundamental problem with CGI, but he seems to go out of his way to hate it. I 100% believe that practical effects should try to outweigh CGI in modern films. That being said, movies like Lord of the Rings with their tremendous scale, can only be done so much effectively with just practical effects alone. Those movies reached a good balance between using practical for character makeup and costumes like humans, elves, and orcs, real-life landscapes, and miniature sets and then using CGI for massive fantasy locations and creatures. CGI is not inherently bad, but like many things, it is being mishandled due to its cheaper price now. Thus giving it a negative connotation.
history buffs is an incredible channel.
28:42 There's the reason I wanted to see your reaction to this video.
Sooo, now that Epic History has uploaded their entire Napoleons Marshals Episodes into one video... can we pweasee get your commentation for it???
oh wow, that's Orson Welles as Louis XVIII. Seen the movie before (long time ago), but didn't know (or perhaps didn't remember) that.
Dang, I didn't even recognize him.
I recently watched Waterloo after I watched the 2023 Napoleon Movie.
Have enjoyed History Buffs for a few years....Great stuff.
The worst inaccuracy for me is how the British line fires at the Old Guard. They fired on mass, they didn’t fire in single ranks bobbing up and down. I think someone saw the film Zulu and the final attack and thought that it looked cool.
How do you know where you there ?
@@ryanb8020 I know the tactics the British army used in this period. They were trained to fire all at once.
@@RedcoatT they used volley fire which is what you see in the film
I looked into it and most scholars agree that's what happened, but the fact that's one of the biggest complaints shows how much research and care was put into the movie
@@ryanb8020I believe he just meant when the old guard surrendered
Man this video is what 7 years old and that comment on cgi remains true today
His General Bonaparte became king of Sweden. He was the cousin of Napoleon Bonaparte.
Ohh boyyy this is a treat
Brilliant movie! I have gone back and watched it maybe 3 times. As you pointed out the extras were in the Soviet army, probably Ukrainians , which was firmly under the Soviet sphere back then . So well done in this one…compared to the version in Scotts recent travesty. Of course they only had to do WATERLOO here not other battles.. but NO TRENCHES, RAIN ON THE DAY of, SNIPERS WITH SCOPES OR Napoleon leading cavalry charges ,here it is probably done as well as it could be. I love Christopher Plummer as Wellington, Steiger is good as the 46 year old NAPPY although he chews the scenery several times!! Bondarchuck’s direction is brilliant. Yeah I got into an argument with someone who kept insisting there were 50,000 dead at Gettysburg! NO thats casualties , which includes captured as you point out. Thanks.
From what I read towards the end of the battle, it was the middle guard that was sent in and were broken. Since the old guard were one of the few units of the army to maintain order and tried to establish a rear guard.
32:00 ish Take a shot!!! Chris says it before the video! Hahaha!
There is a beautiful detail in the dialogue during the first french infantry attack in the center, which was carried out by the I. Korps . Wellington: They are coming on, in the same old style , Pikton: Someone has to meet them in the same , old style .
The back ground of this conversation is as follows: For unknown reasons, the 1, 2. and 3. Division of the I. Korps marched in an old style, the "colonnes de bataillon par division" , means the lines marched in Battalion formations of up to 50 meter in depth, making great targets for artillery bombardment ( meet them in the same old style ). Only the 4. Division of the I. Korps marched in a flexible " new " style and was therefore less affected by artillery bombardment during the march.
The great thing is , that this difference in the marching order can be seen even in the movie.
great job, I went to Waterloo in 2015, sadly I knew more than the guide but knowing that my favourite Emperor ended his reign there was pretty cool
I first saw this movie at 9 years of age in the cinema.... and I am always amazed when ever it's on TV, and have watched the dvd like 100's of time...
There are daguerreotypes of some of the Guard taken in the 1850s. The old men dressed up in their old uniforms for the occasion. Fascinating. The last Napoleonic soldier, a Dutchman, died in 1899.
The best thing about this movie is to see napoleon's reaction to ney's disastrous cavarly charge
What's the time I was just about ready to leave and you said Waterloo and here we go baby I'm ready to go remember me I'm trying to get a hold of you
26:47 Now that’s soldiering.
Bought it on ebay just now !
French army records show some members of the Imperial Guard were only 18/19 years old for The Hundred Days Campaign. This is because Napoleon wanted The Guard at full strength, so many men, not eligible, were drafted into it. So for Waterloo, The Guard were not the same they had once been. Also at Waterloo, the final Guard attack was against the strongest part of the Allied lines, but with only 5000 men despite the failure of D'Orlons 12 000 or Foys 7,000 earlier in the afternoon.
Not old guard they were still gets in was young guard still guard but fought Prussian
At 24:26, you can observe the 'Prince of Orange' in the top left corner. He was the son of King William I of the Netherlands, and later became King William II in 1840.
"Merde" is forever know since as "Cambronne's word" when someone wants to refer to it in a polite way.
i was at the Waterloo Battle Field in August, following the N5 from Charloi , on my way to Brussels.
I liked how the British artillerists fired one last volley and abandoned their guns to hide in the squares.
A great movie that pays respect to the greatest emperor in history
Imagine being an extra and you have to use the bathroom as filming starts. Yikes
First of all l love your channel ..Waterloo is the greatest film ever and has had such a hold over me all my life. Keep up the good work and your AWI video was historically brilliant of which l totally agree with. From little me across the pond 🇬🇧
Next history buffs video has to be his look at Master & Commander :)
I wouldn’t complain about reviewing “Death of Stalin” either
POV: You let the Soviets do it instead of Hollywood.
It is good to know there were good reasons for my admiration of this war classic.
I remember watching Waterloo as a kid. I didn't understand the dialogue and history but loved how epic it looked
I think every scene in this movie were shot multiple times where actors would deliver dialogues in different languages.
I believe you mentioned you loved Tora tora tora and he reviewed that as well so could be another reaction too
You inspired me to learn more about my ancestry. I never knew I had a great grandfather who served in WW2 in Kansas, his brother died in the Philippines at age 19, and a third brother fought at the Battle of the Bulge.