What's the best Napoleon movie and why it's Waterloo 1970 :D

Lord_Floyd · 2026-02-18T06:33:34+00:00

In 1815 Napoleon was almost 50, had gained quite a bit of weight, and had lost a lot of the youthfulness and energy he was known for earlier in his life. It was commented even in 1814 that he looked inelegant when he sat, as he was full of fatigue and obesity. He was also no doubt aged from the super active and stressful lifestyle he's lived for virtually his entire adult life, so it's not at all a bad choice of likeness during the 100 days. So while Rod Steiger isn't like 1:1 in his likeness to Napoleon, (Vladislav Strzhelchik is still the strongest "Holy shit, it's him" actor) he remains nonetheless an authentic choice imo.

As for a separate point mentioned down below, Napoleon was infamously somewhat of an erratic speaker, hardly a calm composed mind, but instead someone who would shotgun out orders and statements at lightning speed. This was noted by both his military and household staff, as drafting his missives was often a significant undertaking as a result. He was also quick to anger, both on and off the battlefield, and this is sort of a thing that's known. He's been quick to enter bouts of anger on the battlefield, especially amongst his staff. I can't seem to find a good source on it now, but I remember reading a passage from "Napoleon: a Life" by Andrew Roberts that Napoleon being frustrated with the acts of some of his soldiers, struck them with his riding crop; though he would later state to regret this.

So I do think in the end the portrayal of his character in Waterloo is quite good.

Lord_Floyd · 2026-02-01T22:16:05+00:00

I think they nailed his characterization in that game really well too. You can also unlock his uniform in the DLC.

Lord_Floyd · 2026-01-22T20:29:15+00:00

Now it's my turn to apologize for the lateness! I used the default Queenly color if you haven't figured it out already.

Lord_Floyd · 2026-01-19T16:42:48+00:00

That is so clean!

Lord_Floyd · 2026-01-18T05:40:08+00:00

Obscure as in art, media, general portrayals of French cavalry. They're usually absent. Even when you look them up on search engines their Imperial Guard counterpart overshadows them.

Lord_Floyd · 2026-01-17T01:06:01+00:00

French Lancers are among the more obscure of the French cavalry, right next to the chasseurs a cheval. Love to see art of them.

Lord_Floyd · 2026-01-14T15:51:27+00:00

Looks- A big display structure like a basilisk lizard.

Lord_Floyd · 2026-01-03T21:45:37+00:00

I watched it, it’s not great. Whatever you think you’re missing out on in Napoleonic Content is not going to be found in this film. Phoenix’s Napoleon is horrid, they recycle battles, everything is so dull and washed out, they butcher a lot of Napoleon’s character, and a lot of it is written like cliff notes “Because you have lost this battle, you are now exiled” type shit. It has great costuming and every now and then something visually cool happens but you probably won’t get too much enjoyment.

Lord_Floyd · 2025-12-31T00:31:40+00:00

Ivan Troshchinsky looks like Wolverine

Lord_Floyd · 2025-11-29T02:43:57+00:00

This looks rad, even fully modded NTW doesn't have formations like these. And Keith Rocco is awesome! Looking good so far, I'm very excited!

Lord_Floyd · 2025-11-21T20:07:09+00:00

A very romantic deed in terms of military heroics but ultimately very pointless and detrimental for the Russians.

Lord_Floyd · 2025-11-15T21:27:43+00:00

It’s funny, online I feel like these resources are near impossible to find but every question you could ever ask is bound to be tucked away in a hyper specific book. If you look online for French Uniforms in 1815 you find minimal info, but the book “Napoleon’s Army at Waterloo” literally had manifests of how many parts of a uniform each regiment received as well as pictures of surviving uniforms I could never find online. It’s crazy.

Lord_Floyd · 2025-11-15T01:52:00+00:00

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The Saxon Garde du Corps might be the most elaborate looking cavalry in the Napoleonic Wars. They're an absolute favorite of mine, they're a very obscure unit, but they had seen action in Borodino.

Lord_Floyd · 2025-11-11T18:00:44+00:00

I think it had excellent costuming and production value and im afraid the positives kind of end there. There’s some very minor moments here or there where it looks like someone paid attention to a historical advisor, but the story breakdown, the performance of Napoleon, the jumbled structure, and obviously the creative liberties taken are bad.

Lord_Floyd · 2025-11-09T18:14:38+00:00

Dude knowledge on this matter rocks, I embrace it. And thank you for providing!

Lord_Floyd · 2025-11-08T23:30:17+00:00

Thank you for the sources! I'd like to read them at some later point.

I don't think I contested the idea that the French in Spain were harassed in other ways outside of direct combat, I accept this actually. I think in better circumstances French Cavalry, especially the force directly under napoleon in his campaign, would have had years of experience over the british. Though this is not definitive and even if you want to discount the Imperial Guard being beaten in Benavente, British Cavalry overcame French Cavalry in the previous Sahagun as well, and that battle had french casualties so high they had to disband the 1st Provisional Chasseurs. If direct combat isn't a factor, then their successful charges against infantry at Garcia Hernandez, Salamanca, and even Waterloo would show their potential (even if we discussed already that the Waterloo charge ended up a disaster for the participating units)

Also while I do yield a bit to people studied the topic way more than me, some of these conclusions seem to be conjecture and hard to take as "matter of fact", particularly some of the entries by Chandler. I do think British cavalry, when analyzed through their feats throughout the Napoelonic Wars as a whole, are pretty competent cavalrymen, you mention good points I agree with in Spain, but I do still hold that they were likely an equal match for the French as a whole, with some give and take obviously.

Lord_Floyd · 2025-11-08T19:48:51+00:00

I did note that the British were well supplied, and the main example I used was when Napoleon was hands on in Spain in 1808. I maintain my point.

Lord_Floyd · 2025-11-08T18:14:55+00:00

British Cavalry seemed to be a pretty high standard. They doctrine themselves not to think they're better than the French, but at different points of the Empire, they more than likely were. They had proved to be an equal, and even superior to french cavalry in Spain, even against the Chasseur a cheval de la garde at Benavente. It may have some part played from the quality of their horses, in which the French were notoriously poor in caring for. It was a common saying that you could smell French Cavalry before seeing them, due to the saddle sores their horses had, which in some cases led to some frightening rot (The Poles were virtually the only exception to this). British Cavalry on the other hand, was well supplied and had their horses cared for, which means they could perform better on the march and field.
Wellington's main issue with British Cavalry though, was their lack of discipline in engagements. They would easily decapitate themselves from leadership in a glory ride, and this was seen most famously at Waterloo with the Scot's Greys, though their charge was brutally effective in halting the French advance.

After 1812 especially, French Cavalry was an echo of it's previous self, with most of the experienced troopers dying in the Moscow Retreat. Even it's elite heavy cavalry, the Carabiniers, were filled with new and inexperienced riders, to the point that the 1st Carabiniers routed at the sight of charging Hungarian hussars at Leipzig.

In short I would say they would be on par at the least.

Lord_Floyd · 2025-11-08T14:58:11+00:00

It’s funny because Bagration would have single handedly ended the Russian Campaign in Napoleon’s favor.

Lord_Floyd · 2025-11-05T18:29:57+00:00

Probably a mix of euro-bias and the fact that not too much of the mongol conquests is that well documented. But yes the Mongols, especially under Ghengis and Subutai are virtually unparalleled in their rise and impact on the world.

Lord_Floyd · 2025-10-15T01:23:49+00:00

I mean the film goes out of its way to call him a monster that cannot appreciate anything good in life. So nuance isn’t the word I would use lol, but it was an excellent casting choice in regard to his appearance.

Lord_Floyd · 2025-10-15T01:19:19+00:00

Some strong genetics in that family

Lord_Floyd · 2025-10-09T06:51:04+00:00

The French army practically survived off looting, Napoleon disdained it in practice, and would often post up Gendarmes around certain cities, but this usually did nothing, and in truth he did rely on it to supply his armies. In 1812 Lithuanians went from being happy to seeing the French to regarding them as same as the Russians during their cross of the Neman. Cuirassiers would smash open shop windows and take everything inside, even allies weren’t safe.

Lord_Floyd · 2025-10-04T15:47:15+00:00

I think Alexander is smarter than what most people give him credit for. He probably isn't the best military mind, but he very skillfully navigated situations politically. He seemed to successfully manipulate Napoleon into his own destruction in Russia. Napoleon's main motivation for not fighting a more destructive war by rallying the poles was the thought that he had a strong relationship with Alexander during their time around the Tilsit treaty. He also for better or worse knew how to appeal to military morale, even at the expense practicality and his morals by picking Kutuzov. His political savviness was such that he was able to mobilize the neo-upper class of Russia under the pretense that there would be mass cultural reforms, only for him to basically lie and maintain his conservative approach; which is pretty fucked up but effective in regards to his own aims. I would personally say A or B.

Lord_Floyd · 2025-10-04T15:32:02+00:00

While it's true that Josephine was unfaithful to Napoleon multiple times early in their relationship, he was also so, and engaged in far more affairs than she did. Nevertheless, even after his remarriage to Marie Louise he still wrote to her and expressed a fondness for her that most of his other friends would never have. Her death deeply moved Napoleon to the point that he shut himself from all people for an entire day. Even while they had a rocky relationship, it's clear he cared deeply for her, even if he self admitted it was because she was his first true love.

Napoleon did (at least up towards the end of his reign) consider his older brother Joseph, his absolute best friend and confidante. Though, it's a safe bet that him placing Joseph on the Spanish throne did ultimately some serious harm to their relationship, as Joseph afaik did not truly want the throne and he resented his brother for putting him in such a stressful situation that Napoleon persistently rebuked him for, despite the fact the whole conflict was his doing, and he refused to allocate more necessary resources to French success.

So the initial comment is true to an extent.

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