Napoleon was a military and political genius who made an indelible mark on europe in the 19th century still felt to this day. The character in this movie was just a buffoon.
If there are any casual watchers who don't know how this battle really went down, here's a brief synopsis so you get a sense of how truly awful this depiction is. Napoleon initially occupies the high ground of the Pratzen Heights the day before, but gives it up in order to lure the allied army into a trap. The allied army, seeing the heights abandoned, seize it. Both armies rest for the night. The next morning, there is a heavy fog that obscures much of the French army on the lower plateau, but the allies can clearly see that the French right flank is weak. They plan to move their left wing off the heights to blow through the French right flank, then turn to envelope Napoleons army. This is exactly what Napoleon wanted them to do. Marshal Davout (seen in this scene, but never named. He's the general with the glasses) arrives on the French right to secure it, holding the allied advance. The allies move troops from their centre to reinforce, which weakens their central position. At that moment, the fog lifts and Napoleon orders the main body of his army to attack the allied centre, which is quickly taken. The allied right flank is now threatened with encirclement, and their commander orders a retreat. Napoleon swings his army around to envelope the allies still fighting Davout. The allies only have one line of retreat, so they flee across a frozen pond, which napoleon blasts with cannon. Its not particularly effective, only a few allied soldiers are drowned, but it doesn't matter because Napoleon has complete victory. As you can see, this scene is about as far away from the real battle as it is possible to depict. I was half expecting napoleon to say "unleash the dragons" with how much of this scene is fantasy.
wrong napoleon didn't initially occupy the high ground he had to take it after three of 4 enemy columns vacated to attack napoleons supposed weak right flank see even you cant get it right
@@dontaycortez2397could you explain it then because in the film they’re clearly charging down hill into the valley which is precisely the exact opposite of what napoleon did at austerlitz
Wow I read about this battle. This scene about the ice is baffling. It really was Napoleon’s masterpiece but as portrayed by Ridley Scott it makes it seem like Napoleon’s tactics were on a par with a middle schooler’s daydream of a battle.
I agree with you. The angle from which Riddley Scott tells Napoleon is..... Childish and..... Disconcerting!!!... Far from reality, in the end (in fine).....
Look at this famous early cartography of Napolean's disastrous Russian campaign: 'Charles Minard’s Flow Map of Napoleon’s Russian Campaign of 1812' The losses to his Grand Armee are beyond belief>
@septimuswarrensmith879 He has am abrudly high win % and is generally regarded as one of the greatest military geniuses of all time. Your countriee military brass probaly studied him. Losing a few battles does not mean he's bad
I am surprised that Ridley Scott didn´t depict how well Napoleon used to place his machinegun positions and his use of blitzkrieg counterattacks with tanks...
Actually that describes the final inane scene of The Day of the Siege where one guy charged hundreds of Polish Lancers and everyone fired their pistols at him, allowing the Pasha to escape.
For anybody who doesn't know a lot about history, just keep in mind that this scene, along with most of the movie, is quite insulting from a historical vantage point. Austerlitz was a genius execution by Napoleon based on weather, terrain, element of surprise and knowing how the enemy was going to commit their forces.
And also an accurate estimation of the time that will take to Davout division to arrive to the battlefield and reinforce his left flank (his weak flank that was a bait for the Russians).
One thing I can say with absolute certainty, none of the film people has ever been to Slavkov u Brna (Austerlitz). And not one has ever even tried to study up on the facts. Napoleon did not sleep in a tent on the battlefield, he stayed in a very nice house in nearby town of Znojmo. They even have a plaque on the house commemorating his stay.
Am I an idiot or does this scene not make any sense, napoleon orders the infantry to charge to take the high ground (which is what he did at Austerlitz) but in the film the infantry are charging down the hill into the valley. Is this one of the most incompetent scenes in file history or am I missing something?
Nothing can be deduced from these scenes of the Battle of Austerlitz. I think Ridley Scott should have used a narrator and a "cartographic view of the battlefield" from the village of Bosenitz in the north to the village of Telnitz in the south to depict the battle. The battle was not decided by any hiding under the tent, but by "Napoleon's idea" to lure the enemy into a predictable attack on the village of Pratzen and the Pratzen mountain (height). The day before the battle, Napoleon was in Pratzen, 01.12.1805. Napoleon in the evening of 01.12. withdrew the army to the Brno Olmouc road. On the Pratzen plain, he placed the reinforced Vandame division. From Pratzen to Telnitz there was only the division of General Le Grand and the Reserve Corps of Light Cavalry under General Beaumont. All the rest of the army was on the Brno-Olmouc road, the 5th Corps (Marshal Lann) defended the road near the village of Bosenitz. Due to the configuration of the battlefield, Napoleon lured the Austrians and Russians into attacking Pratzen and the Pratzen Heights, as well as the villages of Sokolnitz and Telnitz. Moving from north to south at 6 o'clock in the morning, the division of St. Hillarion Napoleon sent from the road towards Sokolnitz to "draw" the enemy to attack towards Sokolnitz. "Old and New Vineyards" remained empty in the center of the battle. General Vandamme's division "flew" into that area. With this, the Austro-Russian lines were broken. With this, Napoleon turned the battle line from north-south to east-west. For the final blow, Napoleon had the entire Guard, Bernadotte's 1st corps, the reserve cuirassier corps, the newly arrived division led by Marshal Davout towards Telnitz and Sokolnitz. The enemy remained disorientated. This ingenious idea of Napoleon could be clearly presented with the help of a map and a few words of the narrator. PS The Battle Of Waterloo Scene is also superficial. I watched the movie a second time and the whole movie is in my opinion: superficial. PS Austerlitz symbolizes the peak of Napoleon as a man, statesman, soldier...Waterloo symbolizes a tired Napoleon, who doesn't even believe in himself. This should have been the main motive of the movie "Napoleon". When a man is sure of what he does, then fortune follows him. Against a tired and insecure man, all the forces turned against him The Battle of Marengo is the beginning of the success of the young Napoleon. From the victory at Marengo, Napoleon begins to be a soldier and a statesman with ambition: "The world is served to me". "Marengo" triggered an unstoppable greatness syndrome in Napoleon. He was basically just a soldier with talent. "Up to a certain point" man can control and direct historical events. There are historical points of "peak amplitude" when events begin to flow in a determined manner that we humans no longer control. This can be seen in events from the French Revolution of 1789 to Waterloo and the Congress of Vienna in 1815. In the Revolutionary events, the hustle and bustle of events, Napoleon simply slipped through the legs of Robespierre and Saint-Gist. The rest is history.
I agree... but I think it should be hard to show from a filmmaker to an average person, how complex and efficient Napoleon´s tactics were. Still a nice movie to see some moments in Napoleon´s life
It is difficult to make a movie under such a broad title "Napoleon". One cannot avoid the political background with the figure of Napoleon, since the French Revolution...Jacobins, Brumaire, Germinal, Thermidor...Danton, Robespierre, Directory, Consulate, Empire, Code Napoléon. Love life, Napoleon the politician, Napoleon the soldier...Wars against the Coalition of European Monarchies...Napoleon's role in overthrowing feudalism in Europe...What problems did Napoleon leave Europe as a legacy? Very complicated! What did Napoleon actually have in his head as a plan? Improvisation?@@germancampos1498
Another guy that thinks he knows it all. Do you study ALL war History. Or just Napoleon? Thats when you will be well rounded. Get outta here. Rivoli was his best. When he picked up the flag and almost charge the causeway. But his men would not follow.
@@long-distancerecon6364 More about Austerlitz! I outlined Napoleon's Plan A in case the battlefield of Austerlitz was covered in the fog that is common in December on the slopes of the Alps. Before the battle, the landscape was shrouded in morning fog for days. The fog was especially needed in the center of the battle line, on the Pratzen plain, where Napoleon placed the Vandame division so that the enemy could not see the division. Apart from Lan's 5th Corps, the rest of the army on the Brno-Olmoutz road was hidden by the forest along the road. (1st Corps, Guards and Cuirassier Corps, Marshal Murat) If the Austro-Russian Army had seen the Vandame Division and vigorously attacked Le Grand Division at Telnitz and Sokolnitz, that division on the right wing of the Grand Armee would have collapsed. But Napoleon foresaw that possibility as well. Divisions of St. Hillarion (which had been moving towards Pratzen since 6 a.m.) and Bessiere's Guards Division which was on the Brno Olmoutz road and was closest to the line from the village of Pratzen to the village of Kobelnitz. In that case, the armies would be placed in two "L"s. The Grand Armee would again have a great advantage if the French army was in the "inner part of the "two letters L" of the front line. Namely, Napoleon could manipulate the movement of units within his line from the "inner side of the front". Also, the French artillery was on that part of the front. The Austro-Russian army would not have had time to move its artillery. Marshal Davout was moving towards the battle and was arriving right on the stretch of line between Pratzen and Sokolnitz at 10 o'clock. And in this case of "plan B" Napoleon would have won the battle only with greater losses. Plan C - If something goes wrong, Napoleon could retreat by road towards Brno.🤣
What is missing, is close ups of the Character of Napoleon, the feelings of the soldiers - officers even the enemies, their reactions etc. Now it seems like a Total War warhammer game.
I feel like I can directly pinpoint at the heart of this movie’s main let-down: Ridley Scott wants the magic, but he doesn’t want to earn it truthfully, he wants to have it now, without any application of thought and care. Gladiator 2 seems unnecessary, and if the follow-up western he makes (presumably an adaptation of Wraiths of the Broken Land) is made and turns out to be good, then maybe that was the change of scenery he needed to escape the “historical-epic” pigeonhole he so often falls into.
The last great movie he made was Robin Hood with Russel Crowe imo but if you want more of a historical epic then the last great one he did was Kingdom of Heaven god damn that was a fantastic movie if you watch the directors cut the theatrical release cut to much out and was ass.
This is a terrible rendition of the Battle of Austerlitz, which was a fight that lasted all day, with the French giving ground slowly so that the allies thought they were winning, drawing them into a tactical trap. The icy lake part is true, but a bit overdone here. Overall, a complete misrepresentation of the battle, not even close.
more than a bit overdone - the frozen-over water being destroyed by cannon fire as the allies retreat is not only debated on whether or not it even happened, but also only resulted in scores of casualties according to known accounts.
@@NobodyQuiteLikeMe Not even an exact reenactment, just an even basic attempt at staying authentic to the original events. Even if the details are wrong, uniforms, wrong flags or something like that, you could try at least to present something that is at its core the experience of the battle for those involved. Napoleon's victory at Austerlitz was a captivating mix of strategic genius, applied military theory, and tactical opportunity. It shaped Napoleon's reputation in Europe and lives on as his masterpiece until this day. This scene presents a mind-numbingly simple plan ("what if we hide and then surprise them") and tries to pass it off as an example of Napoleon's genius. I understand when people make a point about "we had to change some things to make it a more entertaining movie," and that logic totally applies in a lot of cases. But so many times, the real history is just as fascinating and cinematically spectacular as the crackpot fever dream mishmashes of semi-historically adjacent events that filmmakers decide to put onscreen.
Because of the weather, French canon didn’t work once falling on the mud at Waterloo . If not the story will not have been the same … English people don’t realise that you have been difficult to invade because you have the sea, so if you don’t have the natural element things won’t be easy . And just a reminder , the 3 lions are a Normandy symbol as Guillaume le Conquérant invade England and never leave it :)
As I stood on the cold, frosty plains of Austerlitz, I could see the vastness of the battlefield stretched before me, bathed in the pale morning light. The air was thick with the breath of thousands of men and horses, their anticipation palpable, almost electrifying. My heart pounded not with fear, but with a fierce determination. The fog clung to the ground, a veil that hid the enemy’s movements, but I knew, as clearly as I felt the hilt of my sword in my hand, that today would be ours. I had studied the terrain, every rise and fall of the land, every village and stream. Pratzen Heights loomed in the distance, a seemingly impregnable stronghold. But I knew its true value and how to draw the enemy into my grasp. The Allied forces, Austrians and Russians, outnumbered us. They believed they had the advantage, that my army was weak and divided. Let them think so. My soldiers were seasoned, disciplined, their loyalty unshakeable. I had spent the previous night speaking to them, instilling in them the belief that we were not just fighting for France, but for the future of Europe. They would follow me anywhere, even to the gates of Hell, and today I would lead them to victory. As the sun began to rise, burning through the mist, I gave the signal. The French forces, hidden in the low ground, surged forward with the precision of a well-oiled machine. I watched as the Allies, drawn in by our apparent weakness, moved to occupy the heights, just as I had planned. Their center was weakening, their forces stretched thin. The time had come. With a swift command, I unleashed the main assault. My troops, led by the formidable Marshal Soult, charged up the slopes of Pratzen Heights. The surprise and confusion in the enemy ranks were evident, even from where I stood. The Allies faltered, their lines broke, and the French soldiers, with bayonets gleaming in the sun, drove them back relentlessly. I could feel the tide turning, the momentum shifting irrevocably in our favor. The cries of victory from my men were music to my ears. The enemy, realizing their grave mistake, attempted a retreat, but it was too late. The battlefield was ours. As the day wore on, the carnage was immense, but so too was the glory. I rode among my troops, acknowledging their bravery, their sacrifice. This was not just a battle won, it was a masterpiece of strategy, a demonstration of the power of France under my command. The world would remember this day, the day Napoleon Bonaparte brought Europe to its knees. And as the sun set over the blood-soaked fields, I knew that this victory would cement my legacy. The Battle of Austerlitz was not just a triumph of arms, but a testament to the brilliance of my leadership. My empire would endure, for today, I had shown the world that I was not merely a general, but a master of war.
Ridley Scott est le dieu du film. Il n'y a pas d'autres lettres, d'autres mots à employer. Il reste, devant tous, un réalisateur qui s'apparente au réalisation et pensée de Léonard de vinci. J'ai vécu sur Amboise pendant 10 ans et la beauté de la réalisation de ces hommes met le cran au dessus de ce que je me suis imaginé. Les enfants ont besoin de ces modèles pour construire un avenir en adéquation avec leur valeur futur.
Sabres were flexible weapons. They are known to be floppy. You can see youtube videos of swordmasters it and you can see how much they wiggle. Sabres are designed to be cutting weapons, not necesarily thrusting.
I loved, and still do, the 1970 Waterloo movie. And given the technological advances since, had ultra-high expectations of this movie, the potential, what could be achieved, and was SO looking forward to it. I wish I hadn't have bothered. A complete and utter let-down. You can, perhaps, forgive and forget some of the historical inaccuracies, but with something like Austerlitz, which was Napoloeon's masterpiece, you'd expect them to get a smidgeon of it right. Sadly, not. I mean, even at the Battle of Waterloo... when they announce Blucher and the Prussians have arrived. In this debacle, Wellington looks to his right. The Allies were in the North facing Napoleon to the South. The Prussians came from the East, which when you're looking South is to the left. A small thing, but when you can't even get the basics right, what hope is there for the rest of it. Total garbage.
The film doesn't show the truth. On the right flank, where the retreating Russian-Austrian army was defeated by the third corps of General Davout, at that moment Napoleon was in the center, he was not in that area.
It's a shame for the great Napoleon. The brilliant victory at Austerlitz was turned into a farce. It was a great battle! With the complete defeat of two armies. And indeed, part of the retreating drowned in the river. It's just a fight for the village.
I hope it still will get done, now that this movie was unsuccessful. I fear people in Hollywood will ascribe the failure to the topic rather to the movie simply being bad.
I had so much hope for this movie after watching the trailer. Twenty minutes into it, me and my wife wanted to just walk out from boredom. Some parts were interesting, yes. However, we just could not get into this one.....and I love history.
C'est hélas bien résumé, un film tellement décevant à tous les niveaux. Comment rater à ce point l'histoire extraordinaire d'un Grand homme et stratège militaire comme NAPOLÉON. En plus d'une mise en scène gâchée, Joaquin Foenix est très mauvais dans l'interprétation de l'empereur et Ridley Scott peut-être trop vieux pour une telle entreprise sur grand écran ? Triste à dire, un film qui a sombré dans les abysses comme les ennemis de la FRANCE sur le lac gelé d'Austerlitz, sa plus grande victoire stratégique, écrasante ce 2 décembre 1805. VIVE LA FRANCE 🇲🇫
@@Masquevertdupatriotetsonopinel , I agree. This is not Ridley Scott's finest work. His involvement was one of the biggest reasons I wanted to see this in theaters.
I share the feeling, I saw midway with my wife, spent a good part telling her yes it happened, the hour after the details not covered by the movie, we both saw napoleon, I spent the movie saying it didn't happen, our it didn't went like this, didn't bother to explain after the details, it was disappointing,
Scott created one of the best sword battle sequences on film to date with the Opening Battle from Gladiator, however this was not just simply filming action, it was the editing, keeping the camera in a field of 180 degrees, not using ONE single aerial shot, and most importantly....the music the great Hans Zimmer. ALL were missing in this battle, along with any sense of scale, and lacked all intensity, shock or awe.... Funny Enough Hans Zimmer actually wrote music for a battle on the ice with Roman Soldiers (Not Gladiator).....Lets see who remembers it first.
Making a Napoleon movie never works and this movie was the WORST of all of them. In truth, you'd need an HBO series and 10 seasons to capture it all. Everything about his life was extraordinary, his ambition was unrivaled and his genius and energy astonished his rivals and his tactics were studied in every war college. Like the great men of old that he admired, he knew the only way to be great was to be audacious. His Italy campaign alone would take 2 full seasons to do it justice. You could easily split this battle into two episodes, it was so epic in scale. Kutuzof, the Russian Major General in charge of the army warned Alexander, the Russian Tsar that Napoleon was NOT to be underestimated and that he sensed a trap but Alexander would have none of it, he had the numbers, the high ground and from HIS perspective, the French were in a dire situation. By the end of the battle, Alexander was found crying in a hay bale inside a stable in utter shock and completely distraught.
Sir Ridley had produced some classics in the past and judging by recent interviews he believes he’s above reproach or criticism. The fact is, is that this is an absolute turd of a movie and he will never see it for what it is. Awful.
Kingdom of Heaven was never meant to be historically accurate he even admitted to the fact and honestly Kingdom of Heaven directors cut is a fantastic movie.
He did the Battle of Hattin right by not depicting it at all, only the aftermath showing the field littered with arrows and the army generally destroyed by lack of water.
But at least the Patriot is still a good movie. And it also doesn't pretend to be historically accurate. Its main characters and their story are all fictional. History in the Patriot is just the backdrop for the fictional story. Napoleon on the other hand pretends to tell the real story of Napoleon, who is not a fictional character but a real historical person.
I've seen things you people wouldn't believe. Attack carriages on fire off the shoulder of Austerlitz. I watched C-cannons glitter in the dark near the Mönitz Lake. All those moments will be lost in time, like cannonballs in the frozen lake.
Absolutely ridiculous film. The battles were run as if they were in Roman times. Troops chaotically charging each other. Napoleon himself giving verbal orders to artillery. Bad enough to be called childish.
I thought Napoleon did give direct orders to the artillery. I read that in some battles he personally was helping with the artillery, actually physically pointing the guns in the right direction. He was already commander of la Grande Armée then. So I would believe that he did give direct orders to the artillery.
If only Admiral Ackbar were there to see such a thing. If he were there he would have been able to find a way to have the majority escape. Or at the very least maintain a more organized withdrawal. Guy was in a rag tag band of minor combat capable ships but was able to hold off a major enemy fleet and a massive fortification but still gave them a severe bloody nose even before the station was confirmed to be weak and about to be destroyed. Yes, I know he was fictional, and an admiral is different from a field commander. But the tactics used were still sound and just using one of SW most famous lines "IT'S A TRAP!"
This is disgusting. The people that don't know history would be so damaged if they think this was true It has absolutely nothing to do with the real battle
You can't make a great movie about napoleon, because he needs a hit series to really get in-depth on who he was, the setting around him and the many battles etc...
Much of this scene was shot in the same location as the opening scene from Gladiator, and also the siege from Robin Hood. Ridley likes this bit of Hankley common in Surrey UK...
That hole scene is an absolute BS, we know how the battle went, from the previous days to the first hours to the final moment, what they show here is a complete crap.
soldiers where always marching and in movement. like skiing you don't get cold that easy. they propably had more coats and fur at campsites. but this movie obviously doesn't give a damn about historical accuracy nor the accurate costume design.
I have a 4th Great Grandfather who fought in Napoleons Grand Armee. He and 1200 French soldiers were captured by the Spanish during the Peninsular War. Ordered to take no prisoners, the Spanish started cutting their captives down. My 4th Great started singing, "Our Father" in Latin, and the Spanish stopped slaying and claimed, "This man must be a righteous man of God!". He was Catholic, and so we're the Spanish. They let him live, and he spent the remainder of the war in prison. Once released, he made his way home to the Alsace, packed his belongings, and made his way to Illinois, USA. We've been here ever since.
Oh I don’t miss hearing “stand to!” Every morning around 7 during my 5th combat tour we’d stand to until noon. The Taliban would attack between those times every day like clockwork. They liked getting themselves deleted early in the day most days. 😂
Well I lost 41 of my comrades in the 56 total months I spent in Iraq and Afghanistan. I was a fighter and not a gatherer of kindling 😂 What about you? Ever been in the fight?
@@dane0phelps Everyday is a fight when you lose friends. Have they told you about stolen valour at school? If you're not 12, which everything you have said so far almost confirms, I'm sorry your loss has made you bitter. Confide your trauma with professionals
Scott is a fantastic storyteller. From Sci-fi to history he creates the most fantastic works Him, Spielberg, and Cameron set a standard of movie making creativity that can never be surpassed, only emulated.
Non sense, nothing to do with Austerlitz. Difficult to portray such a battle in a 10 minutes clip. There is actually a good old movie about Austerlitz, and a good old one on Waterloo (1970).
In fairness Austerlitz would need a 2 Hr movie of its own to portray it properly . In my opinion why not ? Why not a Napoleon series of 4 or 5 movies culminating with Waterloo ? Hollywood spits out Aquaman & all the other Marval garbage
I haven't seen this movie, although I have always had a deep love of military history, especially that of Napoleon and Alexander the Great. I think I will continue not seeing it.
I live close to Austerlitz (Slavkov) battlefield. Believe me, everything was different then its shown in movie. Battlefield was situated on heights, on waved landscace. There are no big mountains like depicted in movie. The main infantry attack (so named Lion's jump) didn't come from heights but went from valley of Golden creek. French infantry were hidden in the valley all the night. Then Early morning this infantry had to move about 5 kilometers to the flank of the Austria+Russians armies. During their movement they were lucky. Thanks to the fog they could not been spotted and the Austrian+Russians opponents were perfectly suprised by their flank attack. I could enumarete with others differencies.
Many other comments point out that this IS NOT Austerlitz, and they are absolutely right. It infuriates me that they butched Napoleon so hard, he is probably the single most influencial person is European history, if not in French history. This is such bullsh*t, if you're a history lover like me, DON'T WATCH THIS. I've no idea what Ridley Scott was vaping when he thought of this, it's sad to see the comparison between this and Waterloo (1970)
Napoleon’s story has so much potential to make a great movie yet for some reason we don’t have it
We do. Napoleon (2002), with Christian Clavier, John Malkovich, Gerard Depardieu, Heino Ferch. A European co-production.
@@Sven_E07 You are Right! I forgot about that movie!
Instead of Hitler
We do: King Vidor 8 hour epic of War and Peace
I love 1970 Waterloo film
It is a pity they didn't show the pivotal moment of the battle where Napoleon called in an airstrike.
Warthogs
Friendly AC-130 callsign "specter" is entering your air space, standby for danger close fire mission
There was no need, no broken arrow!!
He did, It was called “Linebacker 2”.
What a pathetic response
Now that I've seen this, I start to wonder if all that stuff in "Alien" really happened the way Ridley Scott showed it.
LOL
Gold!
Ripley would never lie....
You mean to tell me Alien isnt historically accurate? I demand a refund
top comment :D
This movie had tremendous potential, but the script was terrible.
I totally agree with you.
Was it because of the recent writer's strike? 🤔
@@PauloAdriano-zo2ng Not so sure, you can check if you want.
Napoleon was a military and political genius who made an indelible mark on europe in the 19th century still felt to this day. The character in this movie was just a buffoon.
Agree-ish. I mean the costumes, the music, the cinematography, building tension.. I mean yeah the dialogue was meh but the scenes were brutal!
If there are any casual watchers who don't know how this battle really went down, here's a brief synopsis so you get a sense of how truly awful this depiction is.
Napoleon initially occupies the high ground of the Pratzen Heights the day before, but gives it up in order to lure the allied army into a trap. The allied army, seeing the heights abandoned, seize it. Both armies rest for the night. The next morning, there is a heavy fog that obscures much of the French army on the lower plateau, but the allies can clearly see that the French right flank is weak. They plan to move their left wing off the heights to blow through the French right flank, then turn to envelope Napoleons army. This is exactly what Napoleon wanted them to do. Marshal Davout (seen in this scene, but never named. He's the general with the glasses) arrives on the French right to secure it, holding the allied advance. The allies move troops from their centre to reinforce, which weakens their central position. At that moment, the fog lifts and Napoleon orders the main body of his army to attack the allied centre, which is quickly taken. The allied right flank is now threatened with encirclement, and their commander orders a retreat. Napoleon swings his army around to envelope the allies still fighting Davout. The allies only have one line of retreat, so they flee across a frozen pond, which napoleon blasts with cannon. Its not particularly effective, only a few allied soldiers are drowned, but it doesn't matter because Napoleon has complete victory.
As you can see, this scene is about as far away from the real battle as it is possible to depict. I was half expecting napoleon to say "unleash the dragons" with how much of this scene is fantasy.
Well, I thank you for Austerlitz battle description. I thought the strategy of blast the ice was a fantasy, but now I see that is true!
dracarys !
Thanks for the description Sir. I’m based near the Pratzen Heights and whole my life I live here. I appreciate your knowledge about the battle 🫡
What an abomination! Could have been like 'Waterloo' movie, but it wasn't. Such a shame.
wrong napoleon didn't initially occupy the high ground he had to take it after three of 4 enemy columns vacated to attack napoleons supposed weak right flank see even you cant get it right
"Send in the infantry, take their position on the higher ground!" *Infantry charges down a hill*
Bro doesn't know how hills work
@@dontaycortez2397could you explain it then because in the film they’re clearly charging down hill into the valley which is precisely the exact opposite of what napoleon did at austerlitz
With respect, I am by means an expert, but, nevertheless, I believe Napoleon had the high ground at Austerlitz.
@@stevenfletcher9287 no he didn’t at the start, he purposefully gave up the high ground so as to trick the coalition into believing he was retreating
@@stevenfletcher9287no he did not, go read up
Wow I read about this battle. This scene about the ice is baffling. It really was Napoleon’s masterpiece but as portrayed by Ridley Scott it makes it seem like Napoleon’s tactics were on a par with a middle schooler’s daydream of a battle.
I agree with you. The angle from which Riddley Scott tells Napoleon is..... Childish and..... Disconcerting!!!...
Far from reality, in the end (in fine).....
I never knew Napoleon could bark an order and it was obeyed instantly.
Look at this famous early cartography of Napolean's disastrous Russian campaign: 'Charles Minard’s Flow Map of Napoleon’s Russian Campaign of 1812' The losses to his Grand Armee are beyond belief>
@septimuswarrensmith879 He has am abrudly high win % and is generally regarded as one of the greatest military geniuses of all time. Your countriee military brass probaly studied him. Losing a few battles does not mean he's bad
Or that cannons could be aimed, fired, and reloaded as fast as modern artillery.
This is an insult to the tactical masterpiece of real Austerlitz battle.
👍
exactly!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Tipki kanuni sultan suleyman’in mohac meydan muhaberesi gibi, tabi orda savas komutani ibrahim pasa imis
A trap is a trap no matter how fancy the cheese is!
sadly the whole movie is an insult
If you listen closely you can hear the sound of the Emperor himself rolling in his grave.
I am surprised that Ridley Scott didn´t depict how well Napoleon used to place his machinegun positions and his use of blitzkrieg counterattacks with tanks...
His use of predator missiles was also tactically magnificent in real life
You forgot nuclear bomb
Don't forget the air supremacy, it was what really give him this victory
I think this movie actually surpasses Braveheart for historical errors.
but braveheart was actually good
True
@@Graymenn also True.
Including the movie crew staff car. Remember that? Centuries before its time.
New York bartender/lieutenant in the grand army: "Hey Napoleon... let's give em hell..."
*cocks 12 gauge*
"Pay no attention to the mass of people retreating, focus all cannon fire on one single rider getting away for some reason."
that could follow the rider way beyond the actual range of the cannons.. and very rapid fire at that.
😂😂😂
Early version of capture the flag
"When all you've played is Warsong Gulch, everything begins to look like a flag carrier" - Abraham Maslow
He didn't want him to retreat he wanted to win the war that day.
Actually that describes the final inane scene of The Day of the Siege where one guy charged hundreds of Polish Lancers and everyone fired their pistols at him, allowing the Pasha to escape.
It's like they deliberately decided to save money by having no historical consultants on the film whatsoever.
it wasnt an issue of money but an issue of agenda. Diminishing someone like him is high on the agenda list.
well said@@Graymenn
because historians are so expensive, and CGI is so cheap!@@Graymenn
@@freda7436 i doubt a historian is that expensive
was my sarcasm that un-obvious? ...
@@Graymenn
For anybody who doesn't know a lot about history, just keep in mind that this scene, along with most of the movie, is quite insulting from a historical vantage point.
Austerlitz was a genius execution by Napoleon based on weather, terrain, element of surprise and knowing how the enemy was going to commit their forces.
he must have read sun tzu. one with decent comprehension skills can apply his teachings to every day life, let alone war.
but only if he execute it right at Waterloo then....history might have written different ...
From my understanding, he could have ended the war there and finish off the Russian army, but he allowed them to retreat to Moscow
@@raikishuten3802he almost did. It was very close
And also an accurate estimation of the time that will take to Davout division to arrive to the battlefield and reinforce his left flank (his weak flank that was a bait for the Russians).
One thing I can say with absolute certainty, none of the film people has ever been to Slavkov u Brna (Austerlitz). And not one has ever even tried to study up on the facts. Napoleon did not sleep in a tent on the battlefield, he stayed in a very nice house in nearby town of Znojmo. They even have a plaque on the house commemorating his stay.
Znojmo Is about 90km😢! By horse it's 2 days away, so he would miss the whole battle 😂😂
Try it better next time!!
This fantasy lacks sharks in the water. 😂
Needs more piranhas
With apologies to sharks...
Crocodiles)))
And tornadoes!! 😂😂😂
It would not have not made less sense if Godzilla showed up.
Am I an idiot or does this scene not make any sense, napoleon orders the infantry to charge to take the high ground (which is what he did at Austerlitz) but in the film the infantry are charging down the hill into the valley. Is this one of the most incompetent scenes in file history or am I missing something?
You're not missing anything. That is indeed a stupid tactic.
Well, since they speak english , why not this 😀
@@lepaul26 because that’s for the audiences sake, there is no reason for them to run down the hill
Great film!!!
I thought the US civil war a good movie film
Ridley should have used Bigfoot to attack at his battle scenes because his battles are pure fantasy.
Are you telling me Gladiator ....isn't.....historically accurate?????? Say it ain't so!
Bigfoot? Bigfoot isn't real. He could have at least used a Xenomorph
@@jamesrawlins735 Yes, the Romans using siege machines in a forest on Germanic tribes dressed for the Stone Age was 100% accurate.
Phew! I almost watched this movie. This clip saved me.
Same here. Should have just made it an Avengers movie with time travel to the past, and called it a day.
I watched the film and unfortunately u can’t I watch it .
My grandmother told me "that no matter what the historians say napoleon was a black man"
I have been poisoned and I need to vomit immediately, so I came here... Thank you Riddley Scott you save my life.
😂genius comment!
😂😂😂
At least Scott didnt show us scene where Napoleon is riding on the ice horseback with mini cannon on his both hands. ...
😂
Fr, this scene was so unrealistically inaccurate that I get the feeling there weren't gatlin guns in the french side just cuz they ran out of budget 😑
an eye patch like TRUE GRIT
Wait for the Directors Cut! 😃
Shirtless and clutching a cavalry sabre between his teeth...
I usually love Joaquin’s performances, but here it feels like he is the joker character who was asked to play Napoleon
He definitely was not served by the script - but yes, it was not one of his best performances.
and you knew napolian
Just imagine this is the dream during the Joker's medically induced coma.
He had no part playing Napoleon. He can't bring Napoleon's charismatic energy
this movie doesn't exist. this is one of his worst performances...he mailed it in lol
It’s like Ridley Scott is on a mission to ruin his own reputation these last few years
I did feel that he did a pretty good job with The Last Duel. I suspect that Gladiator II will wipe that good memory away for me and just make me sad.
he's been overly obsessed with battle scenes at the expense of story his whole career.
when your lead actor LOOKS like he's trying to act there's a problem.
Nothing can be deduced from these scenes of the Battle of Austerlitz. I think Ridley Scott should have used a narrator and a "cartographic view of the battlefield" from the village of Bosenitz in the north to the village of Telnitz in the south to depict the battle. The battle was not decided by any hiding under the tent, but by "Napoleon's idea" to lure the enemy into a predictable attack on the village of Pratzen and the Pratzen mountain (height). The day before the battle, Napoleon was in Pratzen, 01.12.1805. Napoleon in the evening of 01.12. withdrew the army to the Brno Olmouc road. On the Pratzen plain, he placed the reinforced Vandame division. From Pratzen to Telnitz there was only the division of General Le Grand and the Reserve Corps of Light Cavalry under General Beaumont. All the rest of the army was on the Brno-Olmouc road, the 5th Corps (Marshal Lann) defended the road near the village of Bosenitz. Due to the configuration of the battlefield, Napoleon lured the Austrians and Russians into attacking Pratzen and the Pratzen Heights, as well as the villages of Sokolnitz and Telnitz. Moving from north to south at 6 o'clock in the morning, the division of St. Hillarion Napoleon sent from the road towards Sokolnitz to "draw" the enemy to attack towards Sokolnitz. "Old and New Vineyards" remained empty in the center of the battle. General Vandamme's division "flew" into that area. With this, the Austro-Russian lines were broken. With this, Napoleon turned the battle line from north-south to east-west. For the final blow, Napoleon had the entire Guard, Bernadotte's 1st corps, the reserve cuirassier corps, the newly arrived division led by Marshal Davout towards Telnitz and Sokolnitz. The enemy remained disorientated. This ingenious idea of Napoleon could be clearly presented with the help of a map and a few words of the narrator. PS The Battle Of Waterloo Scene is also superficial. I watched the movie a second time and the whole movie is in my opinion: superficial. PS Austerlitz symbolizes the peak of Napoleon as a man, statesman, soldier...Waterloo symbolizes a tired Napoleon, who doesn't even believe in himself. This should have been the main motive of the movie "Napoleon". When a man is sure of what he does, then fortune follows him. Against a tired and insecure man, all the forces turned against him The Battle of Marengo is the beginning of the success of the young Napoleon. From the victory at Marengo, Napoleon begins to be a soldier and a statesman with ambition: "The world is served to me". "Marengo" triggered an unstoppable greatness syndrome in Napoleon. He was basically just a soldier with talent. "Up to a certain point" man can control and direct historical events. There are historical points of "peak amplitude" when events begin to flow in a determined manner that we humans no longer control. This can be seen in events from the French Revolution of 1789 to Waterloo and the Congress of Vienna in 1815. In the Revolutionary events, the hustle and bustle of events, Napoleon simply slipped through the legs of Robespierre and Saint-Gist. The rest is history.
I agree... but I think it should be hard to show from a filmmaker to an average person, how complex and efficient Napoleon´s tactics were. Still a nice movie to see some moments in Napoleon´s life
It is difficult to make a film under such a broad title "Napoleon"@@germancampos1498
It is difficult to make a movie under such a broad title "Napoleon". One cannot avoid the political background with the figure of Napoleon, since the French Revolution...Jacobins, Brumaire, Germinal, Thermidor...Danton, Robespierre, Directory, Consulate, Empire, Code Napoléon. Love life, Napoleon the politician, Napoleon the soldier...Wars against the Coalition of European Monarchies...Napoleon's role in overthrowing feudalism in Europe...What problems did Napoleon leave Europe as a legacy? Very complicated! What did Napoleon actually have in his head as a plan? Improvisation?@@germancampos1498
Another guy that thinks he knows it all. Do you study ALL war History. Or just Napoleon? Thats when you will be well rounded. Get outta here. Rivoli was his best. When he picked up the flag and almost charge the causeway. But his men would not follow.
@@long-distancerecon6364 More about Austerlitz!
I outlined Napoleon's Plan A in case the battlefield of Austerlitz was covered in the fog that is common in December on the slopes of the Alps. Before the battle, the landscape was shrouded in morning fog for days. The fog was especially needed in the center of the battle line, on the Pratzen plain, where Napoleon placed the Vandame division so that the enemy could not see the division. Apart from Lan's 5th Corps, the rest of the army on the Brno-Olmoutz road was hidden by the forest along the road. (1st Corps, Guards and Cuirassier Corps, Marshal Murat) If the Austro-Russian Army had seen the Vandame Division and vigorously attacked Le Grand Division at Telnitz and Sokolnitz, that division on the right wing of the Grand Armee would have collapsed. But Napoleon foresaw that possibility as well. Divisions of St. Hillarion (which had been moving towards Pratzen since 6 a.m.) and Bessiere's Guards Division which was on the Brno Olmoutz road and was closest to the line from the village of Pratzen to the village of Kobelnitz. In that case, the armies would be placed in two "L"s. The Grand Armee would again have a great advantage if the French army was in the "inner part of the "two letters L" of the front line. Namely, Napoleon could manipulate the movement of units within his line from the "inner side of the front". Also, the French artillery was on that part of the front. The Austro-Russian army would not have had time to move its artillery. Marshal Davout was moving towards the battle and was arriving right on the stretch of line between Pratzen and Sokolnitz at 10 o'clock. And in this case of "plan B" Napoleon would have won the battle only with greater losses. Plan C - If something goes wrong, Napoleon could retreat by road towards Brno.🤣
The underwater camera man is the real hero…..
filmed in a tub in Culver City!
Lots of bloop-bloop-ers
"Actual footage" -Ridley Scott
Napoleons's Austerlitz whole battle plan: staring intensively and having his cannons under blankets.
serious?
@@maurice-kn4mv Come on.
it's cold
they need sleep too 😂
@@Markkiisi Well they won't shrink
I'm glad to learn that napoleonic battles were as simple as saying when to send the infantry, then cavalry, then artillery.
What is missing, is close ups of the Character of Napoleon, the feelings of the soldiers - officers even the enemies, their reactions etc.
Now it seems like a Total War warhammer game.
I feel like I can directly pinpoint at the heart of this movie’s main let-down: Ridley Scott wants the magic, but he doesn’t want to earn it truthfully, he wants to have it now, without any application of thought and care. Gladiator 2 seems unnecessary, and if the follow-up western he makes (presumably an adaptation of Wraiths of the Broken Land) is made and turns out to be good, then maybe that was the change of scenery he needed to escape the “historical-epic” pigeonhole he so often falls into.
The last great movie he made was Robin Hood with Russel Crowe imo but if you want more of a historical epic then the last great one he did was Kingdom of Heaven god damn that was a fantastic movie if you watch the directors cut the theatrical release cut to much out and was ass.
This is a terrible rendition of the Battle of Austerlitz, which was a fight that lasted all day, with the French giving ground slowly so that the allies thought they were winning, drawing them into a tactical trap. The icy lake part is true, but a bit overdone here. Overall, a complete misrepresentation of the battle, not even close.
more than a bit overdone - the frozen-over water being destroyed by cannon fire as the allies retreat is not only debated on whether or not it even happened, but also only resulted in scores of casualties according to known accounts.
There were two or three Russian bodies found near a lake, the whole story of fleeing Russians drowning is a total myth.
It's a movie. What do you want an exact reenactment? Go to one of those then.
@@NobodyQuiteLikeMe Wow, someone pissed on your ammunition bread and took your brandy ration this morning?
@@NobodyQuiteLikeMe Not even an exact reenactment, just an even basic attempt at staying authentic to the original events. Even if the details are wrong, uniforms, wrong flags or something like that, you could try at least to present something that is at its core the experience of the battle for those involved. Napoleon's victory at Austerlitz was a captivating mix of strategic genius, applied military theory, and tactical opportunity. It shaped Napoleon's reputation in Europe and lives on as his masterpiece until this day. This scene presents a mind-numbingly simple plan ("what if we hide and then surprise them") and tries to pass it off as an example of Napoleon's genius. I understand when people make a point about "we had to change some things to make it a more entertaining movie," and that logic totally applies in a lot of cases. But so many times, the real history is just as fascinating and cinematically spectacular as the crackpot fever dream mishmashes of semi-historically adjacent events that filmmakers decide to put onscreen.
Waterloo 1970,is a great film.
Yes !!!
Soviet Union version of War and Peace is 100% way better..
ua-cam.com/video/bIij-KQ0jYU/v-deo.html
Soviet Union's War and Peace is 100% way better..
ua-cam.com/video/bIij-KQ0jYU/v-deo.html
The non-CGI cavalry attacks are really cool. There's this one aerial shot of the attack on the Wellington squares that nobody has ever topped.
Because of the weather, French canon didn’t work once falling on the mud at Waterloo . If not the story will not have been the same … English people don’t realise that you have been difficult to invade because you have the sea, so if you don’t have the natural element things won’t be easy . And just a reminder , the 3 lions are a Normandy symbol as Guillaume le Conquérant invade England and never leave it :)
As I stood on the cold, frosty plains of Austerlitz, I could see the vastness of the battlefield stretched before me, bathed in the pale morning light. The air was thick with the breath of thousands of men and horses, their anticipation palpable, almost electrifying. My heart pounded not with fear, but with a fierce determination. The fog clung to the ground, a veil that hid the enemy’s movements, but I knew, as clearly as I felt the hilt of my sword in my hand, that today would be ours.
I had studied the terrain, every rise and fall of the land, every village and stream. Pratzen Heights loomed in the distance, a seemingly impregnable stronghold. But I knew its true value and how to draw the enemy into my grasp. The Allied forces, Austrians and Russians, outnumbered us. They believed they had the advantage, that my army was weak and divided. Let them think so.
My soldiers were seasoned, disciplined, their loyalty unshakeable. I had spent the previous night speaking to them, instilling in them the belief that we were not just fighting for France, but for the future of Europe. They would follow me anywhere, even to the gates of Hell, and today I would lead them to victory.
As the sun began to rise, burning through the mist, I gave the signal. The French forces, hidden in the low ground, surged forward with the precision of a well-oiled machine. I watched as the Allies, drawn in by our apparent weakness, moved to occupy the heights, just as I had planned. Their center was weakening, their forces stretched thin. The time had come.
With a swift command, I unleashed the main assault. My troops, led by the formidable Marshal Soult, charged up the slopes of Pratzen Heights. The surprise and confusion in the enemy ranks were evident, even from where I stood. The Allies faltered, their lines broke, and the French soldiers, with bayonets gleaming in the sun, drove them back relentlessly.
I could feel the tide turning, the momentum shifting irrevocably in our favor. The cries of victory from my men were music to my ears. The enemy, realizing their grave mistake, attempted a retreat, but it was too late. The battlefield was ours.
As the day wore on, the carnage was immense, but so too was the glory. I rode among my troops, acknowledging their bravery, their sacrifice. This was not just a battle won, it was a masterpiece of strategy, a demonstration of the power of France under my command. The world would remember this day, the day Napoleon Bonaparte brought Europe to its knees.
And as the sun set over the blood-soaked fields, I knew that this victory would cement my legacy. The Battle of Austerlitz was not just a triumph of arms, but a testament to the brilliance of my leadership. My empire would endure, for today, I had shown the world that I was not merely a general, but a master of war.
And not a single upvote.
Young people don't read anything longer than a few sentences. Sorry for your (apparently) wasted effort.
@@yalcnbey5834 It's a pitty
Ridley Scott est le dieu du film. Il n'y a pas d'autres lettres, d'autres mots à employer.
Il reste, devant tous, un réalisateur qui s'apparente au réalisation et pensée de Léonard de vinci. J'ai vécu sur Amboise pendant 10 ans et la beauté de la réalisation de ces hommes met le cran au dessus de ce que je me suis imaginé.
Les enfants ont besoin de ces modèles pour construire un avenir en adéquation avec leur valeur futur.
Hard to believe they had 0 clue that water is under the ice 😂
The snow hid it! It was only by luck that guy found it
especially as timid as those horses looked while walking on it lol
To paraphrase the late, great Douglas Adams: Almost, but not quite, entirely unlike the Battle of Austerlitz.
A real sinker of a movie.
Someone took the time to make it....
And from the guy that gave us Gladiator and Alien...i guess his time is over.
Love it in the 5:19 mark when the cavalrymans Sabre flopped in the wind.
Must be an OSHA sabre.
You'll never hear, "you'll put your eye out."
OSHA says it all….😂
Sabres were flexible weapons. They are known to be floppy. You can see youtube videos of swordmasters it and you can see how much they wiggle. Sabres are designed to be cutting weapons, not necesarily thrusting.
awww yes, The Josephine Movie plus that napoleon dude.
I loved, and still do, the 1970 Waterloo movie. And given the technological advances since, had ultra-high expectations of this movie, the potential, what could be achieved, and was SO looking forward to it. I wish I hadn't have bothered.
A complete and utter let-down. You can, perhaps, forgive and forget some of the historical inaccuracies, but with something like Austerlitz, which was Napoloeon's masterpiece, you'd expect them to get a smidgeon of it right. Sadly, not.
I mean, even at the Battle of Waterloo... when they announce Blucher and the Prussians have arrived. In this debacle, Wellington looks to his right. The Allies were in the North facing Napoleon to the South. The Prussians came from the East, which when you're looking South is to the left. A small thing, but when you can't even get the basics right, what hope is there for the rest of it. Total garbage.
Left was to the right back then, few people know.
@@capablemachine
Bravo, Scott
The film doesn't show the truth. On the right flank, where the retreating Russian-Austrian army was defeated by the third corps of General Davout, at that moment Napoleon was in the center, he was not in that area.
It's a shame for the great Napoleon. The brilliant victory at Austerlitz was turned into a farce. It was a great battle! With the complete defeat of two armies. And indeed, part of the retreating drowned in the river. It's just a fight for the village.
That ice is really thick. I feel like some of those cannon balls coming in at a shallow angle would have just skipped across the top.
What relationship does this action scene have with the actual Battle of Austerlitz?
Pure coincidence
Relativity mostly. In that the relationship was as close that they shared the same name and not much more....
there were no lakes at Austerlitz battlefield..but small ponds..
Hopefully the miniseries being developed by Steven Spielberg for HBO will be better
I hope it still will get done, now that this movie was unsuccessful. I fear people in Hollywood will ascribe the failure to the topic rather to the movie simply being bad.
Apple TV+ could've made this into a series for streaming. Two seasons. Season 1 could've been the French Revolution. Season 2 could've been Napoleon.
If it is half as good as HBO’s Rome, I would watch it.
Like his last Indiana Nursing Home Jones movie
@user-kg8ik1qq6l the last Indiana Jones was directed by James Mangold, not Stephen Spielberg
I had so much hope for this movie after watching the trailer. Twenty minutes into it, me and my wife wanted to just walk out from boredom. Some parts were interesting, yes. However, we just could not get into this one.....and I love history.
C'est hélas bien résumé, un film tellement décevant à tous les niveaux. Comment rater à ce point l'histoire extraordinaire d'un Grand homme et stratège militaire comme NAPOLÉON. En plus d'une mise en scène gâchée, Joaquin Foenix est très mauvais dans l'interprétation de l'empereur et Ridley Scott peut-être trop vieux pour une telle entreprise sur grand écran ? Triste à dire, un film qui a sombré dans les abysses comme les ennemis de la FRANCE sur le lac gelé d'Austerlitz, sa plus grande victoire stratégique, écrasante ce 2 décembre 1805. VIVE LA FRANCE 🇲🇫
@@Masquevertdupatriotetsonopinel , I agree. This is not Ridley Scott's finest work. His involvement was one of the biggest reasons I wanted to see this in theaters.
I share the feeling, I saw midway with my wife, spent a good part telling her yes it happened, the hour after the details not covered by the movie, we both saw napoleon, I spent the movie saying it didn't happen, our it didn't went like this, didn't bother to explain after the details, it was disappointing,
@@Masquevertdupatriotetsonopinelbut if it was about shaka zulu, you can bet they would get all the details right.
@@rudy8146 🇨🇵 👍
Scott created one of the best sword battle sequences on film to date with the Opening Battle from Gladiator, however this was not just simply filming action, it was the editing, keeping the camera in a field of 180 degrees, not using ONE single aerial shot, and most importantly....the music the great Hans Zimmer. ALL were missing in this battle, along with any sense of scale, and lacked all intensity, shock or awe....
Funny Enough Hans Zimmer actually wrote music for a battle on the ice with Roman Soldiers (Not Gladiator).....Lets see who remembers it first.
Is this where the Time Bandits would show up?
Lol. Nice!
Kevin! 😂😂
😂
YES!
@@kevinedwards7206"Here's to stinking Kevin!"
Nice game. Beautiful graphics. Almost realistic. Where can I find this game?
Making a Napoleon movie never works and this movie was the WORST of all of them. In truth, you'd need an HBO series and 10 seasons to capture it all. Everything about his life was extraordinary, his ambition was unrivaled and his genius and energy astonished his rivals and his tactics were studied in every war college. Like the great men of old that he admired, he knew the only way to be great was to be audacious. His Italy campaign alone would take 2 full seasons to do it justice. You could easily split this battle into two episodes, it was so epic in scale.
Kutuzof, the Russian Major General in charge of the army warned Alexander, the Russian Tsar that Napoleon was NOT to be underestimated and that he sensed a trap but Alexander would have none of it, he had the numbers, the high ground and from HIS perspective, the French were in a dire situation. By the end of the battle, Alexander was found crying in a hay bale inside a stable in utter shock and completely distraught.
As an Austerlitz survivor I can confirm this scene is not a true depiction of the battle.
Sir Ridley had produced some classics in the past and judging by recent interviews he believes he’s above reproach or criticism. The fact is, is that this is an absolute turd of a movie and he will never see it for what it is. Awful.
After "Kingdom of Heaven" you actually believed Ridley Scott was going to make a historically accurate film about Napoleon?
Kingdom of Heaven was never meant to be historically accurate he even admitted to the fact and honestly Kingdom of Heaven directors cut is a fantastic movie.
He did the Battle of Hattin right by not depicting it at all, only the aftermath showing the field littered with arrows and the army generally destroyed by lack of water.
It's about historically accurate as Mel Gibson's the Patriot
But at least the Patriot is still a good movie. And it also doesn't pretend to be historically accurate. Its main characters and their story are all fictional. History in the Patriot is just the backdrop for the fictional story. Napoleon on the other hand pretends to tell the real story of Napoleon, who is not a fictional character but a real historical person.
All we need now is freaking T-rex to randomly pop up 😂
That would have been an improvement
You mean a cyber T-Rex with dual plasma guns, right? ;) Cause I know I heard one roar in the background while the cannons fired!
I've seen things you people wouldn't believe. Attack carriages on fire off the shoulder of Austerlitz. I watched C-cannons glitter in the dark near the Mönitz Lake. All those moments will be lost in time, like cannonballs in the frozen lake.
Man these comments are golden 🤣😭🤣
Absolutely ridiculous film.
The battles were run as if they were in Roman times. Troops chaotically charging each other. Napoleon himself giving verbal orders to artillery.
Bad enough to be called childish.
I thought Napoleon did give direct orders to the artillery. I read that in some battles he personally was helping with the artillery, actually physically pointing the guns in the right direction. He was already commander of la Grande Armée then. So I would believe that he did give direct orders to the artillery.
7:25 ICE, IT'S A TRAP!!!
If only Admiral Ackbar were there to see such a thing. If he were there he would have been able to find a way to have the majority escape. Or at the very least maintain a more organized withdrawal. Guy was in a rag tag band of minor combat capable ships but was able to hold off a major enemy fleet and a massive fortification but still gave them a severe bloody nose even before the station was confirmed to be weak and about to be destroyed.
Yes, I know he was fictional, and an admiral is different from a field commander. But the tactics used were still sound and just using one of SW most famous lines "IT'S A TRAP!"
First thing I thought as well 😂😂😂😂😂 Mind programming of 70’s/80’s kids.
Literally the first thing I thought of was Admiral Akbar when that line was shouted.
"Take the position on the higher ground!" *Charges down the hill*
As always every scene by Sir Ridley is pure art,great score too.
Phoenix is like 50 something. Wasn’t Napoleon in his early 20’s?
At The start of The movie, yes. Im Not a History Buff But Hes in His late thirties or something Here.
napoleon died at 51 and was 26 at the battle of austerlitz
36 at the battle of Austerlitz
Did the french speak english back then ? 🤔
people back then looked much older
3:53 that was probably that dudes highlight of his career 😂 yk acting wise he’s probably always wanted to act like that 😂😂
Yet, you’re a nobody who’s never amounted to anything.
What in Ferauds musket ball laden braids was Ridley Scott thinking….
Haha, Funnily enough, I think that Fereaud was a better depiction of Napoleon than this movie
This is disgusting.
The people that don't know history would be so damaged if they think this was true
It has absolutely nothing to do with the real battle
You can't make a great movie about napoleon, because he needs a hit series to really get in-depth on who he was, the setting around him and the many battles etc...
Much of this scene was shot in the same location as the opening scene from Gladiator, and also the siege from Robin Hood.
Ridley likes this bit of Hankley common in Surrey UK...
This portrayal of Napoleon ranks with "The 300".for inaccurate portrayal of history as to be almost comedic.
Thank you
at least that was based on a comic and no-one with 1/2 a brain should have taken it for the actual events.
That hole scene is an absolute BS, we know how the battle went, from the previous days to the first hours to the final moment, what they show here is a complete crap.
It’s just a movie dude chill
@@Wildcat221 it's a movie that incorrectly shows actual events
Nappie had good batteries in his walkie talkie
Where's the scene when the Millennium Falcon swoops in and gives Luke a free shot?
This was a truly horrible movie. They had to try very hard to screw it up so badly.
I'm sorry for my english, it's impossible that they were didn't feel cold without coat at winterstorm during a fight.
soldiers where always marching and in movement. like skiing you don't get cold that easy. they propably had more coats and fur at campsites. but this movie obviously doesn't give a damn about historical accuracy nor the accurate costume design.
They color-grade these films so much that it might as well be B&W
Makes everything look like a video game - fake and cheap. Sigh.
I have a 4th Great Grandfather who fought in Napoleons Grand Armee. He and 1200 French soldiers were captured by the Spanish during the Peninsular War. Ordered to take no prisoners, the Spanish started cutting their captives down. My 4th Great started singing, "Our Father" in Latin, and the Spanish stopped slaying and claimed, "This man must be a righteous man of God!". He was Catholic, and so we're the Spanish. They let him live, and he spent the remainder of the war in prison. Once released, he made his way home to the Alsace, packed his belongings, and made his way to Illinois, USA. We've been here ever since.
It is not shown here but an AC-130 was providing aerial gunfire support orbiting over the battlefield
It probably depicts a battle. Not Austerlitz, though
Oh I don’t miss hearing “stand to!” Every morning around 7 during my 5th combat tour we’d stand to until noon. The Taliban would attack between those times every day like clockwork. They liked getting themselves deleted early in the day most days. 😂
And yet they won! Funny old world....
How many friends of yours "got deleted" on tour or are you just a hometown gatherer of kindling?
Well I lost 41 of my comrades in the 56 total months I spent in Iraq and Afghanistan. I was a fighter and not a gatherer of kindling 😂 What about you? Ever been in the fight?
@@dane0phelps Tour of Duty?
@@dane0phelps Everyday is a fight when you lose friends. Have they told you about stolen valour at school? If you're not 12, which everything you have said so far almost confirms, I'm sorry your loss has made you bitter. Confide your trauma with professionals
The radio system could use a small update
😂😂
Why? You can hear it, you cant grap the signal and ist directed. It´s perfect. Except if the weather is bad :-P
Scott is a fantastic storyteller. From Sci-fi to history he creates the most fantastic works Him, Spielberg, and Cameron set a standard of movie making creativity that can never be surpassed, only emulated.
Ridley got a first hand account of how this went down from Gianni Russo. Isn't that wild?
Non sense, nothing to do with Austerlitz. Difficult to portray such a battle in a 10 minutes clip. There is actually a good old movie about Austerlitz, and a good old one on Waterloo (1970).
In fairness Austerlitz would need a 2 Hr movie of its own to portray it properly .
In my opinion why not ? Why not a Napoleon series of 4 or 5 movies culminating with Waterloo ? Hollywood spits out Aquaman & all the other Marval garbage
I haven't seen this movie, although I have always had a deep love of military history, especially that of Napoleon and Alexander the Great. I think I will continue not seeing it.
Joaquin Phoenix is to Napoleon, as Caesar Romero is to the Joker.
He was my second favorite joker after Jack Nicholson. You give Phoenix too much credit.
@@gusfifo818 Heath Ledger #1
Uhhh more like Jared Leto
In Waterloo, british infantry used flamethrowers against french cuirassiers lead by ironmasked Josephine
Napoleon, one of the most iconic commanders in history. Napoleon the movie, 99% about him and Joséphine, 1% a brief summary of his battles
Napoleon sounds completely American when shouting orders
I heard he also killed three bullies on a subway who were making fun of his laugh. But that may just be a rumor.
unbelieveable shit
French prepping the white flags at 1:40.
Lol
I see whoever directed this watched "The Long Night" episode of GoT and thought it was the best thing ever.
I live close to Austerlitz (Slavkov) battlefield. Believe me, everything was different then its shown in movie. Battlefield was situated on heights, on waved landscace. There are no big mountains like depicted in movie. The main infantry attack (so named Lion's jump) didn't come from heights but went from valley of Golden creek. French infantry were hidden in the valley all the night. Then Early morning this infantry had to move about 5 kilometers to the flank of the Austria+Russians armies. During their movement they were lucky. Thanks to the fog they could not been spotted and the Austrian+Russians opponents were perfectly suprised by their flank attack. I could enumarete with others differencies.
One of the worst movies I‘ve ever seen
Good that Napoleon is dead, otherwise he 'd die now laughing seeing this scene.
If you high off da cart this scene actually goes hard d
Never saw this. Did Scott include the B-52 that Napoleon used at Waterloo, too?
Many other comments point out that this IS NOT Austerlitz, and they are absolutely right. It infuriates me that they butched Napoleon so hard, he is probably the single most influencial person is European history, if not in French history. This is such bullsh*t, if you're a history lover like me, DON'T WATCH THIS. I've no idea what Ridley Scott was vaping when he thought of this, it's sad to see the comparison between this and Waterloo (1970)
What a Joker!
This director is British :)
He’s actually a jock, born in South Shields though, Scottish family. Explains his disdain for the English