Waterloo – 1970
Director
Sergei Bondarchuk

Writers
H.A.L. Craig (story)
H.A.L. Craig screenplay and
Sergei Bondarchuk screenplay collaboration &
Vittorio Bonicelli screenplay collaboration
Mario Soldati (dialogue: Italian version)

Producers
Tom Carlile associate producer
Dino De Laurentiis executive producer
Dino De Laurentiis producer
Richard C. Meyer associate executive producer

Cast
Rod Steiger – Napoleon Bonaparte
Christopher Plummer – Arthur Wellesley, Duke of Wellington
Orson Welles – King Louis XVIII
Jack Hawkins – Gen. Sir Thomas Picton
Virginia McKenna – Duchess of Richmond
Dan O’Herlihy – Marshal Michel Ney
Rupert Davies – Lord Gordon
Philippe Forquet – Le Bedoyere
Gianni Garko – Gen. Drouot
Ivo Garrani – Marshal Soult
Ian Ogilvy – William De Lancey
Michael Wilding – Sir William Ponsonby
Sergo Zaqariadze – Marshal Gebhard Blücher (as Serghej Zakhariadze)
Terence Alexander – Lord Uxbridge
Andrea Checchi – Sauret
Donal Donnelly – Pvt. O’Connor (as Donald Donnelly)
Charles Millot – Marquis Grouchy
Yevgeni Samojlov – Vicomte Pierre Cambronne (as Eughenj Samoilov)
Oleg Vidov – Tomlinson
Charles Borromel – Mulholland
Peter Davies – Lord Richard Hay
Veronica De Laurentiis – Magdalene Hall
Vladimir Druzhnikov – Gerard (as Vladimir Drujnikov)
Willoughby Gray – Capt. Ramsey
Roger Green – Duncan
Orso Maria Guerrini – Officer
Richard Heffer – Capt. Mercer
Orazio Orlando – Constant
John Savident – Gen. Muffling
Jeffrey Wickham – Sir John Colborne (as Jeffry Wickham)
Susan Wood – Sarah
Gennadi Yudin – Chactas (as Ghennady Yudin)
Isabella Albonico – Lady Webster (uncredited)
Guglielmo Ambrosi – 1st Sergeant (uncredited)
Antonio Anelli – Molien (uncredited)
Camillo Angelini-Rota – Dr Vitrolles (uncredited)
Rino Bellini – Coulincourt (uncredited)
Vaclovas Bledis – Colson (uncredited)
Armando Bottin – Legros (uncredited)
Adrian Brine – Capt. Normyle (uncredited)
Vladimir Butenko – Lancer with Napoleonic Hat (uncredited)
Paul Butkevich – Officer with Wellington (uncredited)
Lanfranco Ceccarelli – Rumigus (uncredited)
Aldo Cecconi – King Charles X (uncredited)
Massimo Della Torre – Cambaceres (uncredited)
Andrea Dosne – Lady of the Court (uncredited)
Allan Elledge – 3rd Sergeant (uncredited)
Andrea Esterhazy – Duke of Richmond (uncredited)
Félix Eynas – Patsy (uncredited)
Franco Fantasia – Delessart (uncredited)
Guidarino Guidi – Fat Man (uncredited)
Valeri Guryev – Fainting Soldier (uncredited)
Valentin Koval – MacMahon (uncredited)
Vladimir Levchenko – Drummer (uncredited)
Vasili Livanov – Percy (uncredited)
Rodolfo Lodi – Joseph Fouche (uncredited)
Jean Louis – Oudinot (uncredited)
Karl Lyepinsk – Gen. August Gneisenau (uncredited)
Oleg Mikhajlov – (uncredited)
Ivan Milanov – Soldier with Ney (uncredited)
Boris Molchanov – Gen. Bertrand (uncredited)
Viktor Murganov – Somerset (uncredited)
Aleksandr Parkhomenko – Wounded Officer (uncredited)
Filippo Perego – Saint-Cyr (uncredited)
Vasili Plaksin – Maitland (uncredited)
Lev Polyakov – Kellerman (uncredited)
Giuliano Raffaelli – McDonald (uncredited)
Georgi Rybakov – Taylor (uncredited)
Giorgio Sciolette – Marshal Berthier (uncredited)
Attilio Severini – Boudin (uncredited)
Irina Skobtseva – Maria (uncredited)
Valentin Skulme – Tamburo Maggione (uncredited)
William Slater – 2nd Sergeant (uncredited)
Sergio Testori – Marbot (uncredited)
Colin Watson – McKevitt (uncredited)
Kristian Yanakiyev – Larrey (uncredited)
Rostislav Yankovsky – Flahaut (uncredited)
Igor Yasulovich – Officer of the 13 Square (uncredited)
Andrei Yurenyov – Corporal (uncredited)

Review by Theo Robertson

Waterloo (1970/I)
This has got to be one of the worst directed epics I have ever seen . Moments into the movie we see an almost sublime jump cut close up of Napoleon`s eye as he talks to his right hand men . I`ve no idea what this was to signify . I guess that perhaps director Sergei Bondarchuk was a fan of spaghetti westerns
And as the film goes on the more I found myself asking what the hell the director was doing . Did Mr Bondarchuk ever read a history book ? Did he ever read ANY book . Come to think of it have the people who are praising the movie at this site been watching the same movie as me ?

There`s several films called WATERLOO and I`m commentating on the one starring Rod Stieger as Napoleon and Christopher Plummer as the Duke Of Wellington – I`ve no idea what what everyone else has been watching because this is only slightly accurate* script wise – totally inaccurate visually . For example Wellington picked his ground well after a rain storm to lessen the effect of French cannon fire ie the wet ground would cause cannon balls to stick in the ground but according to this movie not only did French cannon balls explode like a bomb but they also exploded into fire balls. Look at the battle scenes where there`s literally hundreds of fireballs from cannon fire , it looks more like a napalm strike from APOCALYPSE NOW rather than a great battle from 1815 . Let me just repeat that cannon balls in those days were made out of solid metal . They weren`t filled with explosive so they didn`t explode and jellyfied petrol (Napalm) hadn`t been invented yet so no fireballs either.

I also can`t help noticing how badly edited the fight scenes are . In fact they resemble those seen in the John Wayne debacle THE GREEN BERETS and it`s often difficult to make out what`s going on . If you`re going to have a spectacular battle might it not help that the audience can see what`s happening ?

* I`ve got to be pedantic and criticise the numerous times the red coats are called ” The English Army ” , it`s actually The British Army . Considering there`s umpteen times Scottish bagpipes are heard I thought someone would have realised there`s a difference between the two . Oh and the British Army was led by the Duke Of Wellington on that day who wasn`t an Englishman as referred to here but was in fact Irish born