This impressive Russian/Italian co-production is based on the notorious battle and most of the characters and Generals in the film were based on actual people . The film opens on Château de Fontainebleau in 1814 . After defeating France in Lieipzig or Battle of Nations 1813 , Paris is besieged by the Austrians and her allies . A defiant Napoleon Bonaparte (Rod Steiger) is urged by his marshals to abdicate but he refuses . Upon hearing the surrender of his last army under Auguste Marmont he realises that ultimatelly all is lost and accepts the abdication pleas of his marshallate . Ney (Daniel O'Herlihy) calls it an honourable exile . Napoleon is banished to Elba, an island in the Mediterranean with a small army of 1,000 . But Napoleon returns to France from Elba island . Facing the decline of everything he has worked to obtain , conqueror Napoleon Bonaparte and his army confront the British troops commanded by General Arthur Wellesley - Duke of Wellington (Christopher Plummer) who previously beat Napolean's best generals in Spain and along with other nations at the Battle of Waterloo. One incredible afternoon Napoleon met Wellington . . At Waterloo !. Waterloo. The battle that changed the face of the world !. The Men, the Battle, The Glory, The World Will Remember Forever !.
Massive chronicle of Napolean's European conquests including breathtaking and overwhelming battles spectacularly filmed with a cast of thousands and eventual defeat at the hands of Wellington . Shot on location in Italy and the Ukraine , it bombed due largely to Rod Steiger's strange rendition of Napoleon . Decent acting from main and support cast including prestigious English/Italian actors , such as : Christopher Plummer as Wellington , Dan O'Herlihy as Marshal Michel Ney , Jack Hawkins as Gordon , Virginia McKenna as Duchess of Richmond , Rupert Davies as Gordon , Gianni Garko as Drouot , Ivo Garrani as Soult , Ian Ogilvy as De Lancey , Michael Wilding as Ponsonby , Orson Welles as Louis XVIII , among others . Attractive outdoors are well photographed by cameraman by Armando Nannuzzi . The film was shot entirely on location in Royal Palace, Caserta, Campania, Turin, Piedmont, Naples , Italy and Uzhhorod, Ukraine . Rousing and moving musical score was well composed by the classic Italian composer Nino Rota . The motion picture lavishly produced by Dino de Laurentiis was spectacularly directed by Sergey Bondarchuk.
The flick was well based on facts , these are the following ones : The Battle of Waterloo was fought on Sunday, 18 June 1815, near Waterloo in Belgium, part of the United Kingdom of the Netherlands at the time. A French army under the command of Napoleon Bonaparte was defeated by two of the armies of the Seventh Coalition, a British-led coalition consisting of units from the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, Hanover, Brunswick, and Nassau, under the command of the Duke of Wellington, referred to by many authors as the Anglo-allied army or Wellington's army, and a Prussian army under the command of Field Marshal von Blücher, referred to also as Blücher's army. The battle marked the end of the Napoleonic Wars. Upon Napoleon's return to power in March 1815, many states that had opposed him formed the Seventh Coalition and began to mobilise armies. Wellington and Blücher's armies were cantoned close to the northeastern border of France. Napoleon planned to attack them separately in the hope of destroying them before they could join in a coordinated invasion of France with other members of the coalition. On 16 June , Napoleon successfully attacked the bulk of the Prussian army at the Battle of Ligny with his main force, causing the Prussians to withdraw northwards on 17 June, but parallel to Wellington and in good order. Napoleon sent a third of his forces to pursue the Prussians, which resulted in the separate Battle of Wavre with the Prussian rear-guard on 18-19 June, and prevented that French force from participating at Waterloo. Also on 16 June, a small portion of the French army contested the Battle of Quatre Bras with the Anglo-allied army. The Anglo-allied army held their ground on 16 June, but the withdrawal of the Prussians caused Wellington to withdraw north to Waterloo on 17 June. Upon learning that the Prussian army was able to support him, Wellington decided to offer battle on the Mont-Saint-Jean escarpment across the Brussels road, near the village of Waterloo. Here he withstood repeated attacks by the French throughout the afternoon of 18 June, aided by the progressively arriving Prussians who attacked the French flank and inflicted heavy casualties. In the evening, Napoleon assaulted the Anglo-allied line with his last reserves, the senior infantry battalions of the French Imperial Guard. With the Prussians breaking through on the French right flank, the Anglo-allied army repulsed the Imperial Guard, and the French army was routed. Waterloo was the decisive engagement of the Waterloo Campaign and Napoleon's last. According to Wellington, the battle was "the nearest-run thing you ever saw in your life". Napoleon abdicated four days later, and coalition forces entered Paris on 7 July. The defeat at Waterloo ended Napoleon's rule as Emperor of the French and marked the end of his Hundred Days return from exile. This ended the First French Empire and set a chronological milestone between serial European wars and decades of relative peace, often referred to as the Pax Britannica.
Massive chronicle of Napolean's European conquests including breathtaking and overwhelming battles spectacularly filmed with a cast of thousands and eventual defeat at the hands of Wellington . Shot on location in Italy and the Ukraine , it bombed due largely to Rod Steiger's strange rendition of Napoleon . Decent acting from main and support cast including prestigious English/Italian actors , such as : Christopher Plummer as Wellington , Dan O'Herlihy as Marshal Michel Ney , Jack Hawkins as Gordon , Virginia McKenna as Duchess of Richmond , Rupert Davies as Gordon , Gianni Garko as Drouot , Ivo Garrani as Soult , Ian Ogilvy as De Lancey , Michael Wilding as Ponsonby , Orson Welles as Louis XVIII , among others . Attractive outdoors are well photographed by cameraman by Armando Nannuzzi . The film was shot entirely on location in Royal Palace, Caserta, Campania, Turin, Piedmont, Naples , Italy and Uzhhorod, Ukraine . Rousing and moving musical score was well composed by the classic Italian composer Nino Rota . The motion picture lavishly produced by Dino de Laurentiis was spectacularly directed by Sergey Bondarchuk.
The flick was well based on facts , these are the following ones : The Battle of Waterloo was fought on Sunday, 18 June 1815, near Waterloo in Belgium, part of the United Kingdom of the Netherlands at the time. A French army under the command of Napoleon Bonaparte was defeated by two of the armies of the Seventh Coalition, a British-led coalition consisting of units from the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, Hanover, Brunswick, and Nassau, under the command of the Duke of Wellington, referred to by many authors as the Anglo-allied army or Wellington's army, and a Prussian army under the command of Field Marshal von Blücher, referred to also as Blücher's army. The battle marked the end of the Napoleonic Wars. Upon Napoleon's return to power in March 1815, many states that had opposed him formed the Seventh Coalition and began to mobilise armies. Wellington and Blücher's armies were cantoned close to the northeastern border of France. Napoleon planned to attack them separately in the hope of destroying them before they could join in a coordinated invasion of France with other members of the coalition. On 16 June , Napoleon successfully attacked the bulk of the Prussian army at the Battle of Ligny with his main force, causing the Prussians to withdraw northwards on 17 June, but parallel to Wellington and in good order. Napoleon sent a third of his forces to pursue the Prussians, which resulted in the separate Battle of Wavre with the Prussian rear-guard on 18-19 June, and prevented that French force from participating at Waterloo. Also on 16 June, a small portion of the French army contested the Battle of Quatre Bras with the Anglo-allied army. The Anglo-allied army held their ground on 16 June, but the withdrawal of the Prussians caused Wellington to withdraw north to Waterloo on 17 June. Upon learning that the Prussian army was able to support him, Wellington decided to offer battle on the Mont-Saint-Jean escarpment across the Brussels road, near the village of Waterloo. Here he withstood repeated attacks by the French throughout the afternoon of 18 June, aided by the progressively arriving Prussians who attacked the French flank and inflicted heavy casualties. In the evening, Napoleon assaulted the Anglo-allied line with his last reserves, the senior infantry battalions of the French Imperial Guard. With the Prussians breaking through on the French right flank, the Anglo-allied army repulsed the Imperial Guard, and the French army was routed. Waterloo was the decisive engagement of the Waterloo Campaign and Napoleon's last. According to Wellington, the battle was "the nearest-run thing you ever saw in your life". Napoleon abdicated four days later, and coalition forces entered Paris on 7 July. The defeat at Waterloo ended Napoleon's rule as Emperor of the French and marked the end of his Hundred Days return from exile. This ended the First French Empire and set a chronological milestone between serial European wars and decades of relative peace, often referred to as the Pax Britannica.