There a pretty good bit where a column of French are marching up to a line of Russian cavalry. At the last moment the horsemen peel away and reveal a battery of cannon. Blammo.
What a cliché. The same thing was done in ‘Galaxy Quest’, only with asteroids, not cannons 
teremtii. I was able to watch the first part, which ended after the death of Andrei’s wife in childbirth, and his coming to terms with it. By that time I was having a hard time concentraing as I was getting sleepy.
It helps if you readjust your sleep schedule several days in advance. 
The action picks up once Napoleon invades Russia. Until then, it’s mostly a soap opera.
Ah, the rich tapestry of life! 
But like I said, I didn’t know about it until less than a day before.
There is a Youtube clip from the movie I wish I could have seen in place, showing the arrval of the Tsar at a ball. It’s an incredible shot done in one VERY long take. The costumes alone must have been hard to organize
As was mentioned in Final Cut (in reference to Cimino’s Heaven’s Gate), the movie was financed by an entire country (the Soviet Union). They could afford it. (At least back then…)
Also, it was filmed over several years. So the actress who played Natasha really did age the way she does in the movie.
If you’re going to watch that clip, ya better watch this one, too. Great camera work-- very Stephen Spielberg. You get the dizzying effect of the waltz. I didn’t realize there were so many variations in the way partners were permitted to hold each other. Quite sexy.
“If you ever (blahblahblah) again (pregnant pause), I’ll kill you.”
“Look at me. . .LOOK AT ME!”
“Auuuggggghhhhhh” (sweeps everything off of table/desk/counter)."
As he would be the first to acknowledge, Spielberg stands on the shoulders of giants. He was a fiscople of Vincente Minnelli, whose Madame Bovary came out when Spielberg was three years old.
What was revolutionary about this in 1949 was how Minnelli’s camera waltzed right out onto the floor with the dancers, rather than shooting from above or the sidelines. Clearly a scene whose influence would be felt in many films, and many directors, to come.
The strangling victim with the knife or gun just out of reach
Tiptoing around the bloody vanquished corpse of your opponent who, with a musical sting, suddenly grabs your ankle
It’s like nobody but Rhett Reese and Paul Wernick have ever heard of the Mozambique Drill.
…Until his or her flailing hand lands on a letter opener or pair of scissors!
Yeah, what’s with this ability to stab someone to death in the back, with a pair of household scissors, during a wild struggle, through clothes?
I can see maybe the victim falling on pointy scissors or one of those old-fashioned desk spindle thingies, because the person’s whole body weight is applying downward force, but c’mon-- Grace Kelly reaching behind that guy and stabbing him through his overcoat? (Great movie – Dial M for Murder)
Which is exactly what the police say in Hot Fuzz when (in an obvious Dial M for Murder homage) a character is stabbed to death with her own gardening shears: “She must have slipped and fallen on them!”
‘One punch knocks a bad guy out for as long as the plot requires, without hurting them too badly’.
or…
‘protagonist doesn’t want friend or love interest to follow them into danger, so slugs them into unconsciousness (for their own good) so they won’t tag along’.
Even a head injury that causes just a few seconds of stunned grogginess is likely a concussion, and any head injury that causes prolonged unconsciousnesses probably means severe drain bamage.
And, of course, no man, woman, boy, girl, robot, android, or dog obeys the command, “Wait here!”
… Like Kirk did to Shanna on Triskelion. Right after they’d been making out. Ouch! 
She bounced back quick, though. And she even forgave him in the end. 
Castle did once. Of course, Beckett had handcuffed him to the steering wheel, but he waited.
Of course the perp she was chasing ended up running right by the car, where Castle could swing open the door and knock him silly, just in time for Beckett to arrive and take her cuffs back.
Ah, yes- being smacked by the unexpected car door. 
Didn’t something like that happen in that Eddie Murphy/Nick Nolte movie… was it 48 Hours?