Product Details

• Region: All Regions
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (10 customer reviews)
• ASIN: B000CC4GEW
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #81,144 in Movies & TV (See Bestsellers in Movies & TV)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

22 of 22 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Great movie, second rate DVD, May 24, 2006

By	J.B. "John" - See all my reviews

This looks like a VHS copy onto a DVD, and sounds like one also. Such a great picture needs a studio remastering onto DVD, why this hasn't happened is beyond me. I would have given this 3 stars, but it is such a wonderful movie with so many real extras in the battle scenes. Rod Steiger is outstanding.

18 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars The Last Hundred Days, April 15, 2007

By	D. S. Thurlow (Alaska) - See all my reviews (TOP 100 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

"Waterloo" is the lavish 1970 Italian-Russian dramatization of Napoleon's return from exile in 1815 and his subsequent campaign against an Allied military force in Belgium, culminating in his decisive defeat at Waterloo.

A brief prologue traces the circumstances of Napoleon's abdication from his throne as Emperor of the French in 1814 and his exile to the Island of Elba. The movie opens with Napoleon's daring return, as the sheer power of his personality cult enables him to face down the very forces sent to take him into custody. Napoleon's return to Paris prompts the Allied Coalition that forced his abdiction to reform and send British and Prussian armies into Belgium.

The movie features excellent period authenticity. Actors appear in the correct uniforms and equipment; the battle scenes feature large formations of infantry and cavalry moving over a battlefield that generally resembles the Mount St. Jean original in Belgium.

The movie is superbly cast. Rod Stieger is entirely credible as the aging but still fiercely ambitious and egotistical Napoleon. Christopher Plummer is pitch-perfect as the aristocratic Duke of Wellington, highly capable leader of a British-Dutch Army, acting in concert with a Prussian Army under General Blutcher. Orson Welles has a nice cameo as Louis XVIII. The supporting cast universally look their parts.

The Battle of Waterloo has been challenging for generations of historians to describe. Likewise, this movie dramatization can be very difficult to follow. The movie faithfully depicts various dramatic moments in the battle, although it seems to presume some prior knowledge on the part of the viewer as to the context of those moments. It repeatedly changes points of view, alternating for the most part between Napoleon and Wellington. There are several supporting vignettes involving Marshall Ney and others. The movie succeeds in building up enormous dramatic tension as the battle nears its climax, even if the viewer may not be entirely clear on what is happening and why.

This movie is highly recommended to fans of the Napoleonic era as perhaps the best-available dramatization of the Battle of Waterloo.

22 of 23 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars "Great Epic Battle Film", November 21, 2005

By	SPIDERED "SAM" (PORTUGAL) - See all my reviews

I was delighted to find this movie in DVD format.It is without a doubt one of the greatest War Films ever made! This import was a great buy and its sound and image quality are excellent.
This film depicts one of the greatest military victories in British history and, for the French, one of the most disastrous. The Battle of Waterloo puts an end to Napoleon Bonaparte's impressive career of invasions and occupations in Europe. A Great DVD to Own.