What's this about?

Lately, it seems like many of the movies/shows are just a rehash or reboot of things that have already been done. And so I started to dive into the past. It's been fun, but I find myself losing track of which ones I’ve seen and whether or not I enjoyed them. Sometimes the titles themselves just don't tell me enough to remember.

I wouldn’t have voluntarily watched a lot of these movies when I was younger. It’s strange how interests change. That goes for what I read, too. I have another blog that explores books. I’m mostly reading older fiction and memoirs, and some of the books have led me to movies/shows and vice versa. In those cases, I may post the book review over here as well.

There will be spoilers, which is different than my book reviews. That’s mostly because I want to have enough information to help me remember what I’ve seen. I’m getting older. The brain doesn’t cooperate like it used to. What can I say? The gray hairs are catching up with me!

Monday, January 8, 2024

Waterloo - 1970

After watching War and Peace yesterday, I was in the mood to watch another epic. It even has the same director! Sergei Bondarchuk. This one isn't quite as long, clocking in at just a little over 2 hours.

Waterloo is famous as the downfall of Napoleon. This movie shows the epic battle of wills and wits between Napoleon and Wellington. The battle is a huge chunk of the movie, and it's engaging to watch. It's another masterpiece with a large number of horses and over 15,000 extras.

Not surprisingly, I loved this movie. I saw a number of familiar faces, the most obvious being Christopher Plummer. The acting was really good, and I really appreciated the performance of Rod Steiger as Napoleon. I don't know how accurate it was to Napoleon's actual personality, but I bought it.

It's not a feel good movie. There aren't a ton of characters (soldiers) that make it out alive, so rooting for anyone other than Napoleon and Wellington to live is risky. I know there are also some historical inaccuracies listed, but the ones I read were not super egregious and didn't bother me.

The only thing that bothered me a lot in both these movies was the horses. I'm pretty sure a lot of horses were hurt/killed, but I'm going to pretend they're all fine. I may be closer to 50 than 40, but sometimes I fall into "ignorance is bliss." And I'll stay there where animals are concerned.

Pushing that aside and pretending it doesn't exist, I'm going back to loving the movie. I liked getting inside the minds of the two great men and seeing what they were thinking. Add to that a great score, and this movie easily earns a Good Movie! review.



No comments:

Post a Comment