Reviewed by Major J G H Corrigan MBE, who was an officer of the Royal Gurkha Rifles until his retirement in 1998, when he became a freelance military historian. He is the author of Sepoys in the Trenches: The Indian Corps on the Western Front 1914-1915 (1999) and Wellington: A military life (2001).

RATING: 7/10

Italy/USSR 1970
Director Sergei Bondarchuk
Screenwriters H A L Craig and Sergei Bondarchuk
Cinematographer Armando Nannuzzi
Music Nino Rota
Cast Rod Steiger (Napoleon), Christopher Plummer (Wellington), Orson Welles (Louis XVIII), Jack Hawkins (General Sir Thomas Picton), Virginia McKenna (Duchess of Richmond), Dan O'Herlihy (Marshal Ney), Rupert Davies (Lord Gordon), Ian Ogilvy (William de Lancey), Michael Wilding (Sir William Ponsonby), Sergo Zaqariadze (Marshal Blücher)

Dino de Laurentiis' 1970 production Waterloo was the most ambitious film ever made of the campaign. With a handful of stars and a supporting cast of thousands (literally), it was said that, during its making, director Sergei Bondarchuk was in command of the seventh largest army in the world. The military extras were all supplied by the Soviet army, and the film was largely shot in the then Soviet Union.

Overstating the case
The film begins with Napoleon's forced abdication in 1814, after the battle of Leipzig. As the British contribution there was confined to one rocket artillery battery, to say (as the film does) that British forces were involved in Napoleon's defeat is rather to overstate the case.

We next see Bonaparte landing in the south of France, having escaped from Elba with his vestigial army of the Imperial Guard. The confrontation between Bonaparte and the 5th Regiment of the Line and the return of Marshal Ney to his old allegiance are combined into one incident. (Ney actually appeared four days later, after Napoleon had left Grenoble, so Napoleon's offer to 'show Ney's red head' to the crowd could not have happened.) In Paris, Louis XVIII is shown departing, although Orson Welles' brilliant portrayal of the Bourbon king is rather more sympathetic than Louis deserved.

The film rapidly moves to the duchess of Richmond's ball in Brussels on the night of 15 June, when the (incorrect) impression given is that this is the first knowledge Wellington has of the French advance across the border – knowledge imparted by John Savident (better known as Fred Elliot in Coronation Street) portraying the Prussian General Muffling. Scant attention is paid to Ligny where Napoleon attacked the Prussians on 16 June, and Quatre Bras where Ney took on the Anglo-Dutch. However, the point is made that the Prussian commander Blücher is determined to stand by his promise to support Wellington.

Correct order?
All this is merely the run-up to the battle of Waterloo itself. Most of the phases of that conflict are shown, although not necessarily in the correct order. Perhaps inevitably for English-speaking audiences, the British (a minority of the troops on the Allied side) receive much more attention than the soldiers of the Netherlands and the minor German states.

The location is well chosen. The slopes are rather steeper than they were on the real field of battle, and the sunken roads more sunken and in the wrong place, but a visitor to the authentic battlefield would recognise it. La Haie Sainte is particularly well constructed, Hougoumont Farm less so.

Looted pig
There are the inevitable historical inaccuracies, but considerably fewer than in films such as Cromwell. The incident during the night of 17/18 June when Wellington catches a soldier of the 27th Inniskillings with a looted pig in his knapsack could not have happened. Wellington spent that night writing orders in his main headquarters in Waterloo village, three miles away, and the 27th did not arrive anywhere near the battlefield until well into the morning of 18 June. In any case, Wellington would not have promoted the man – his views on looting were well known.

At the beginning of the battle, Napoleon is seen pointing at Hougoumont Farm and ordering a diversionary attack there. Hougoumont tied up far more French troops than it should have, all day and to no avail, precisely because Napoleon could not see the farm from his command post and was not aware of what was happening there.

The famous charge of the Union and Household heavy cavalry brigades against d'Erlon's French corps is exciting and dramatic – although it seems that only the Scots Greys took part – but they were certainly not galloping on the day. The previous night's rain had produced going that would be described in racing parlance as 'hock deep', and no horse would have been capable of more than a slow canter, and that for a short distance only. The same point applies to the French cavalry charges against the Allied right flank – wonderfully filmed and a choreographic and organisational triumph. In reality, by the time the French came over the Allied ridge, they were going at no more than a laboured trot.

Modern fillings
Both armies are shown drawn up on forward slopes. In fact, Wellington, true to his usual custom, had his infantry on the reverse slope, out of sight of the French. General Lambert was nowhere near Hougoumont, but on the Allied left centre; and fire-control methods of the time did not actually permit overhead fire by artillery (except by howitzers at Hougoumont). The British Guards faced the Imperial Guard in a four-deep line, not in a column.

Although the drill master has done a wonderful job in teaching Soviet conscripts French and British drill of the time, there are irritating lapses, such as the French 'present arms' and the British salute with the sword, which are simply wrong. In general, the uniforms are very good, with the exception of the costume department's version of the British pack, which is shown as being much more practical than it actually was. And too many of the dead are shown with modern fillings in their teeth.

Dispensing gin
Characterisation varies. Rod Steiger makes a good Napoleon, while looking a little older than the emperor actually was (he was 46). Christopher Plummer is perhaps a little too flippant as Wellington, and inclined to show emotion, which the Great Duke took pains to ensure he never did. A British soldier wondering why people kill each other is totally out of character for the time, as is the RSM dispensing gin (in reality, done by sergeants). Jack Hawkins is a superb Picton and Serghez Zakhariadze a convincing Blücher. Ivo Garriani shows Soult as the industrious, well-meaning officer that he was, without making the point that he was hopeless as a chief of staff. Dan O'Herlihy is good as Ney – the hotheaded, brave-to-a-fault and not overly intelligent favourite of Napoleon.

It is always easy to find fault in a film such as this, but the majority of my criticisms are minor. In general, the film does give a good impression of the battle, and is a far better representation than most of the genre. Commercially, it was a flop. It deserved better.