Cheap Waterloo (Video) (Sergei Bondarchuk) Price

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Customer Reviews of Waterloo

The only question remaining is are deleted scenes available?
The film was fabulous on the cinemas (I still can recall the sound of the cannonade, and there was no Dolby-Sensorround back there in the early 70's...). And the acting and cast absolutly fantastic from Steiger's Napoleon to the last historicall character... what a pity the French TV series based on Max Gallo excellent tetralogy (recently released in France) is'nt up to it! (the uniforms of the highlanders in it look as some sort of relic from a Gilbert&Sullivan musical comedy chorus boys ... probably they run out of money/interest at the end as it starts promisingly and slowly fades out...)
The VHS permited to have at home one of the best historic films ever (and even go for the battle itself when in a hurry...).
Now the DVD is perfect BUT... I do think (with the tecnology actually vailable) it's a missed oportunity IF THERE WHERE SCENES LET OUT IN THE CUTTING ROOM...
A diehard fan of napoleonic history I can't understand why the Prussians intervention has so few seconds... not even minutes... in the picture... I can understand THAT as a problem of editing the film to be released in cinemas, BUT (and it's a BIG BUT!) my question is...: ARE THERE IN SOME DUSTY ARCHIVE OF DINO DE LAURENTIS PRODUCTIONS HERITAGE SOME DELETED SCENES, FOOTAGE DISCARDED OR SIMILAR ???, IF THERE WHY NOT A DIRECTOR'S CUT!.
One of my favourites of all time.
If interested try to get a hold of the novel "The Limits of Glory", it reads like the film script sometimes... but it's not affected by budget... and have the best descriptions of the fight at Hougomont and La Haye Sainte I have ever read.
ENJOY.
PS: Yes, there are small innacuracies as the presence of the standart/guidon of the Grey's etc. But IMPRESSIVE still is!. And we do not stop wargaming it either...

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Waterloo, the Best Period War Movie Ever!
When this movie was released in the late 1960s it contained a lot more footage. I have heard rumors that a 3 hr version exists somewhere. This would make more sense as the scenes with the Prussians appear disjointed, and even the Quarte Bras scene seems out of context. The movie had to be reduced in length for cinema release, but the result has provided only an inperfect picture of the Waterloo drama and all its complexities. A DVD release would hopefully correct some of this problem by allowing more footage, perhaps cleaning up the film itself, and add some much needed background information and production notes. It would be interesting to see where the film was shot, what army was used for extras, and also what Rod Steiger and Chrisopher Plummer thought of their roles in the film. All of this would add greatly to what is already an epic work.

Not-withstanding these short-comings, what we have is still an impressive work. Few period movies have gone to such lengths to provide accuracy. The uniforms are all correct, although the British are shown as the main elements in Wellington's army. It would have been nice to see a bit more blue and green coats in the shots of Wellington's troops on the ridge as this would have shown the significant Dutch-Belgian contingents that made up his army as well.

The casting of Plummer and Stieger also was good. Stieger supposedly said that this was one of his favorite roles. Some have critisized his performance of Napolean in the movie, but Stieger seems content to have portrayed a Napolean unsure of himself and in earnest. This is not an unreasonable portrayal to make, and if the viewer can divorce the actor from the historical personage some sense can be made here. This was Napolean's last campaign, and no doubt he felt some uncertainty when he embarked upon it, as the odds were heavily against him.

Christopher's Plummer's Wellington is supurb. Here critics can find little that is wrong. He has the iron Duke's personality down perfectly. The acid wit and cool detached demeanor concealing a real concern for the state of his army and the position it is in to face the great Napolean. Plummer uses Wellington quotes from all over the place, many from while the Duke was in Spain, and not from Waterloo, but it still works anyway.

Viwers who are not familer with the history may find it difficult to follow the movie, especially since the editing makes it even more confusing at times. Without some historical background the movie may just come across as a series of massive, confused battle scenes, which does injustice to the epic events which it is attempting to portray. I would recommend reading anybooks on the waterloo campaign first before seeing this movie in order to get the most out of it. For sheer scope and size, few movies can compare, and the viewer is in for a feast of the eye with this one. For a period war movie this is the best, for all its faults. Waterloo cries out for a DVD or VHS directors cut edition. Let's hope it happens some day.

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This needs to be available on a region 1 DVD
Isn't there a way to vote on Amazon for this to be released on DVD (region 1)? This film is incredible, and the battle scenes are truly epic. It's an injustice not to have the film on the best media available.