Napoleon’s story has so much potential to make a great movie yet for some reason we don’t have it

"Send in the infantry, take their position on the higher ground!" *Infantry charges down a hill*

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.

Now that I've seen this, I start to wonder if all that stuff in "Alien" really happened the way Ridley Scott showed it.

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.

"Pay no attention to the mass of people retreating, focus all cannon fire on one single rider getting away for some reason."

I think this movie actually surpasses Braveheart for historical errors.

I have been poisoned and I need to vomit immediately, so I came here... Thank you Riddley Scott you save my life.

I usually love Joaquin’s performances, but here it feels like he is the joker character who was asked to play Napoleon

The underwater camera man is the real hero…..

This is an insult to the tactical masterpiece of real Austerlitz battle.

At least Scott didnt show us scene where Napoleon is riding on the ice horseback with mini cannon on his both hands. ...

It's like they deliberately decided to save money by having no historical consultants on the film whatsoever.

This fantasy lacks sharks in the water. 😂

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...

It is a pity they didn't show the pivotal moment of the battle where Napoleon called in an airstrike.

Waterloo 1970,is a great film.

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.

Napoleons's Austerlitz whole battle plan: staring intensively and having his cannons under blankets.

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?

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.

Ridley should have used Bigfoot to attack at his battle scenes because his battles are pure fantasy.

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.

Hard to believe they had 0 clue that water is under the ice 😂

when your lead actor LOOKS like he's trying to act there's a problem.

It’s like Ridley Scott is on a mission to ruin his own reputation these last few years

Well about the only historical thing about this is there was a battle of Austerlitz…

A real sinker of a movie.

It's about historically accurate as Mel Gibson's the Patriot

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."

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.

there were no lakes at Austerlitz battlefield..but small ponds..

To paraphrase the late, great Douglas Adams: Almost, but not quite, entirely unlike the Battle of Austerlitz.

At 5:43 someone's bayonet isn't on properly.

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.

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.

After "Kingdom of Heaven" you actually believed Ridley Scott was going to make a historically accurate film about Napoleon?

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.

They color-grade these films so much that it might as well be B&W

'Battle scenes' straight out of cowboys and Indians. just looove Napoleons accent.

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.

If you listen closely you can hear the sound of the Emperor himself rolling in his grave.

The Ridley Scott school of history, I have heard that this did happen on the ice but there are a great many inaccuracies in the movie like Napoleon charging with his men on horseback at Waterloo he was sick that day he was told to rest because he was not feeling well that’s when Ney launched the cavalry charge against Wellington’s infantry squares.

7:25 ICE, IT'S A TRAP!!!

Is this where the Time Bandits would show up?

It’s physically painful to see that, in a movie about Napoleon, made my a self-proclaimed history enthusiast, Napoleon’s greatest victory gets…10 minutes of screen time.

cannonballs sending ppl flying when they land crack me up, theyre not a charge, it doesnt launch you into the air

Nice game. Beautiful graphics. Almost realistic. Where can I find this game?

Phoenix is like 50 something. Wasn’t Napoleon in his early 20’s?

Imagine being 19 years old young man. You join the army and get shot on first battle. Then you die and no one even remembers you. So much glory.

the guy who said "God fights on the side with the best artillery" is apparently hidding his artillary until the battle is alread won for some reason.

unbelieveable shit

What in Ferauds musket ball laden braids was Ridley Scott thinking….

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.

Hopefully the miniseries being developed by Steven Spielberg for HBO will be better

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'm sorry for my english, it's impossible that they were didn't feel cold without coat at winterstorm during a fight.

Wow the French didn't lose a single soldier what a brilliant General

I'd like t go magnet fishing that lake

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.

Good that Napoleon is dead, otherwise he 'd die now laughing seeing this scene.

Best scene in the movie, and that’s saying a lot.

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.

It probably depicts a battle. Not Austerlitz, though

I cant wait to get this on 4k

Great portrayal of Napoleons tactics , they should of done it how it really happened would of been more intriguing

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. 😂

Napoleon sounds completely American when shouting orders

“I like your sleeves. They’re real big.” -Napoleon (Dynamite)

What the hell is that in a three-cornered hat and a gray overcoat? Oh, yeah. I see - "poor Yorick"!

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).

The radio system could use a small update

The opposing army didn't think to scout the terrain? A giant lake covered in ice, perhaps we should try and go around 🤔🤔

One would think the Austrians would know the terrain since they are fighting in their homeland. Plus, it's weird to see the Russians speaking Russian but the Austrians speaking English.

What a disgracefully fictionalized, and as a result severely diminished version of the great battle of Austerlitz... Smh. Vive l'empereur! 🇨🇵🇨🇵🇨🇵

French with American accents...i mean at least try to give it a go

I agree with a lot of the comments here about language unfortunately, American movie audiences hate subtitles. Personally, I love the authenticity, and offhand I can only think of two movies where it’s been Tora Tora Tora and Ron Howards, the Alamo, which was a mediocre movie but The scenes with Santa Ana were done in Spanish and it’s the bright spot of the movie. The actor who played Santa Anna did a great job very intense.

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.

Joaquin Phoenix is to Napoleon, as Caesar Romero is to the Joker.

Man these comments are golden 🤣😭🤣

if this was a movie about a fictional person that never existed this I would say would have to be a good movie with an interesting story (in my opinion)

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.

cette fiction est un ratage total , juste ''romancé'' a l'américaine , orienté , inintéressant et historiquement faux....adieu !

Pelos comentários em idioma Inglês percebo que não gostaram do filme ou de algumas cenas.Eu do Brasil gostei porque isto é Cinema e não uma foto ou filmagem original da história. O Diretor Ridley Scott tem seu mérito e visão cinematográfica. Aplausos do Brasil!

“But he is little boy who will make a terrible mistake” 😂 This movie is hilarious when you stop taking it seriously.

If you high off da cart this scene actually goes hard d

Excellent Battle Plans:

That's why Napoleon was Emperor of France alongside Alexander III of Macedon. They are considered the greatest military strategists of all centuries. Austerlitz was a Carnifina.

According to someone, Napoleon liked to play with sunflower seeds in his spare time with his generals.

What a Joker!

This movie had tremendous potential, but the script was terrible.

Por isso que Napoleão Imperador da França ao lado de Alexandre III da Macedônia. São considerados os maiores estrategistas militares de todos os séculos. Austerlitz foi uma Carnifina.

One of the greatest tactical battles of all time is now an infantry charge, then a cavalry charge and then some canons shooting into ice? This should be illegal!!!

This was a truly horrible movie. They had to try very hard to screw it up so badly.

I was so excited about this movie. Then the wrong actor was cast. & the inaccuracies. I will never see it. No way. He is NOT Napoleon

I will say Ridley Scott blew it when he was trying to make the Napoleon movie, first for Toulon it looked accurate but then he left Napoleon's Italian campaign which became the spearhead of his reputation, and the fact that the Battle of the Pyramids took place 40 miles north of the Pyramids, not right next to the Pyramids, he left out the Second Italian campaign, and Austerlitz Napoleon didn't have the high ground he had the low ground but the movie portrayed him having the high ground, and he left the Prussian campaign, Eylau, Friedland, the Penninsular war, the March onto Leipzig, the Battle of the Nations, & Napoleon's endgame which were either left out or messed up completely in Ridley Scott's film, the trailer made it look cool but by the time the movie came out it was a major flop, next time there's another Napoleon movie have a French director who speaks English help lead the narrative of that movie

Holding out for the 4 hour version to be an improvement. Similar to Kingdom of Heaven’s extended version being better.

The reason for the high casualties in American Civil War both sides studied Napoleon tactics at West Point the rifled Springfield or Enfield were far superior in range and accuracy. One had asked Lee after war who was the best Southern General. His replies someone I have never met that would Nathan Bedford Forrest. His tactics more common sense more like Native American not Napoleonic.

This director is British :)