# Napoleon (Ridley Scott movie) **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** movies, documentary-bio\ **Created:** [July 11, 2023, 1:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/napoleon-ridley-scott-movie/986896 "2023-07-11T13:49:13Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Smapti](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smapti/32/17938_2.png) [@Smapti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smapti)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2023, 10:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/napoleon-ridley-scott-movie/986896/21 "2023-07-12T10:05:21Z")
> [@Cervaise](#): > > Remember when _All the Money in the World_ was a few weeks from release and Kevin Spacey was outed as a slimeball so Scott chopped him out and reshoot all his scenes with Christopher Plummer and had the movie recut and ready to go on schedule? I can’t think of another filmmaker who could have achieved that. Zack Snyder’s _Army of the Dead_ cut Chris D’Elia from the film in post and replaced him with Tig Notaro after he got caught sexting teenage girls. > **[Army of the Dead | Filming](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Army_of_the_Dead#Filming)** > > Principal photography for Army of the Dead began on July 15, 2019, in Albuquerque, New Mexico, and moved to Albuquerque Studios in August. Filming in Atlantic City, New Jersey, began in September, where the Atlantic Club Casino Hotel and the Showboat Atlantic City, both closed in 2014, were used for interior scenes and on-location filming. According to the New Jersey Motion Picture and Television Commission, $25 million from the film's budget were used for production in Atlantic City. Snyder also... ---
**Author:** ![WhyKickAMooCow](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/9fc29f/32.png) [@WhyKickAMooCow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WhyKickAMooCow)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2023, 10:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/napoleon-ridley-scott-movie/986896/22 "2023-07-12T10:20:23Z")
Anyone who thinks 2hr38min is a bit brief could do worse than watching the 1927 silent move of Napoleon’s life. Depending on the version you could enjoy 5hr30min or so. ---
**Author:** ![Cervaise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cervaise/32/16693_2.png) [@Cervaise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cervaise)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2023, 10:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/napoleon-ridley-scott-movie/986896/23 "2023-07-12T10:52:17Z")
Yeah, but that was done in six months, whereas Scott managed the trick six weeks before scheduled release and made the original date. ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2023, 11:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/napoleon-ridley-scott-movie/986896/24 "2023-07-12T11:05:45Z")
> [@mordecaiB](#): > > Apparently he’s going to keep making movies until they drag his corpse off the set. I want to see who goes first - him or Clint Eastwood. ---
**Author:** ![APB](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/8e8cbc/32.png) [@APB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/APB)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2023, 12:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/napoleon-ridley-scott-movie/986896/25 "2023-07-12T12:06:25Z")
> [@WhyKickAMooCow](#): > > Anyone who thinks 2hr38min is a bit brief could do worse than watching the 1927 silent move of Napoleon’s life. Depending on the version you could enjoy 5hr30min or so. And which only gets as far as the invasion of Italy. ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2023, 3:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/napoleon-ridley-scott-movie/986896/26 "2023-07-12T15:36:03Z")
> [@Smapti](#): > > I mean, it’s not the _first_ time Joaquin Phoenix has played an emperor in a Ridley Scott film. The way he played Commodus was closer to Napoleon than what this trailer would suggest. ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2023, 3:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/napoleon-ridley-scott-movie/986896/27 "2023-07-12T15:42:37Z")
> [@WhyKickAMooCow](#): > > Anyone who thinks 2hr38min is a bit brief could do worse than watching the 1927 silent move of Napoleon’s life. Depending on the version you could enjoy 5hr30min or so. Trying to explain the life of one of the most important human beings who ever lived in two or three hours is a hell of a challenge. The best biographical films usually look at a small snippet of a person’s life and focus on how THAT tells you about just enough of the person to be an interesting story. “The King’s Speech” doesn’t go into George VI’s time in the Navy in WWI or post-war crap but you get a solid feel for the man. “12 Years A Slave” doesn’t tell us how Solomon Northrup learned to play the violin. ---
**Author:** ![Sage\_Rat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sage_rat/32/399_2.png) [@Sage\_Rat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sage_Rat)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2023, 7:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/napoleon-ridley-scott-movie/986896/28 "2023-07-12T19:19:47Z")
> [@RickJay](#): > > Joaquin Phoenix is a very odd choice to play Napoleon Bonaparte Besides your list of reasons that he’s inappropriate, I’ll also add his age. If the movie is principally concerned with Nappy’s relationship with Josephine then that would be from about 1795 to 1810. Napoleon would be 26-41 years old. Joaquin is currently 48 and looks more like 52-55. They’d need to de-age him for most of the movie. It’s too late to recast now but someone like Adam Driver would have been a better choice. ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2023, 7:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/napoleon-ridley-scott-movie/986896/29 "2023-07-12T19:56:51Z")
> [@RickJay](#): > > The best biographical films usually look at a small snippet of a person’s life and focus on how THAT tells you about just enough of the person to be an interesting story. “The King’s Speech” doesn’t go into George VI’s time in the Navy in WWI or post-war crap but you get a solid feel for the man. “12 Years A Slave” doesn’t tell us how Solomon Northrup learned to play the violin. Or _Lincoln_ from 2012, which mostly took place over the course of a single month in 1865. ---
**Author:** ![crowmanyclouds](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crowmanyclouds/32/19884_2.png) [@crowmanyclouds](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/crowmanyclouds)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2023, 2:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/napoleon-ridley-scott-movie/986896/30 "2023-07-13T02:42:52Z")
I hope the movie addresses why Bonaparte never intervened in the Feraud and d’Hubert kerfuffle. ---
**Author:** ![Terminus\_Est](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terminus_est/32/3087_2.png) [@Terminus\_Est](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Terminus_Est)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2023, 5:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/napoleon-ridley-scott-movie/986896/31 "2023-07-13T05:03:30Z")
On the other hand, Best Picture winner _Gandhi_ from 1982 spanned the entire length of the Mahatma’s career, from his days as a young lawyer in 1893 South Africa to his assassination in India in 1948. According to IMDB, the running length was 3:11. ---
**Author:** ![mcgato](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ac8455/32.png) [@mcgato](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mcgato)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2023, 1:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/napoleon-ridley-scott-movie/986896/32 "2023-07-13T13:01:12Z")
> [@WhyKickAMooCow](#): > > Anyone who thinks 2hr38min is a bit brief could do worse than watching the 1927 silent move of Napoleon’s life. Depending on the version you could enjoy 5hr30min or so. I saw a restoration of the 1927 movie back in the early 1980s in Chicago. I think it was the 4:00 version with Carmine Coppola directing an orchestra. It had some triptych scenes, which were pretty cool. I honestly don’t remember much about the movie, though. ---
**Author:** ![Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/elmer_j.fudd/32/1211_2.png) [@Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elmer_J.Fudd)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2023, 1:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/napoleon-ridley-scott-movie/986896/33 "2023-07-13T13:48:11Z")
> [@mcgato](#): > > I honestly don’t remember much about the movie, though. I saw that back in the ‘80s, too. All I remember is the snowball fight. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2023, 11:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/napoleon-ridley-scott-movie/986896/34 "2023-07-18T23:55:10Z")
> [@Terminus\_Est](#): > > Maybe Ridley Scott is saving the Hundred Days for the sequel. Napoleon 2: Electric Waterloo ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2023, 12:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/napoleon-ridley-scott-movie/986896/35 "2023-07-19T00:02:03Z")
> [@RickJay](#): > > Trying to explain the life of one of the most important human beings who ever lived in two or three hours is a hell of a challenge. > > The best biographical films usually look at a small snippet of a person’s life and focus on how THAT tells you about just enough of the person to be an interesting story. “The King’s Speech” doesn’t go into George VI’s time in the Navy in WWI or post-war crap but you get a solid feel for the man. “12 Years A Slave” doesn’t tell us how Solomon Northrup learned to play the violin. I agree. Two and a half hours will make for a long film but it will only be enough time for Scott to do a “greatest hits” biopic if he tries to cover all of Napoleon’s career. As you noted, most great biographical movies focus on a single period in their subject’s life. ---
**Author:** ![Gyrate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gyrate/32/3588_2.png) [@Gyrate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gyrate)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2023, 11:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/napoleon-ridley-scott-movie/986896/36 "2023-07-19T11:17:04Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > Napoleon 2: Electric Waterloo Nice. ---
**Author:** ![Wolf333](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolf333/32/3460_2.png) [@Wolf333](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wolf333)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2023, 2:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/napoleon-ridley-scott-movie/986896/37 "2023-07-20T14:01:08Z")
Well done. ---
**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2023, 1:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/napoleon-ridley-scott-movie/986896/38 "2023-07-24T13:54:37Z")
Looks like Spielberg is making the Kubrick Napoleon project still. > **[Steven Spielberg developing Stanley Kubrick's Napoleon is the GOAT director...](https://www.gq-magazine.co.uk/culture/article/steven-spielberg-stanley-kubrick-napoleon)** > > The iconic director died having never made his epic Napoleon biopic ---
**Author:** ![Sage\_Rat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sage_rat/32/399_2.png) [@Sage\_Rat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sage_Rat)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2023, 4:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/napoleon-ridley-scott-movie/986896/39 "2023-07-24T16:35:00Z")
I feel like if Kubrick’s version was all that great, it would have moved into production at some point. Not to mention that AI wasn’t all that impressive nor Kubrick’s other backlog project, Eyes Wide Shut. To be certain, I’d hope for it to be good but I’ll keep my expectations tepid, for the moment. ---
**Author:** ![Omar\_Little](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/omar_little/32/269_2.png) [@Omar\_Little](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Omar_Little)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2023, 10:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/napoleon-ridley-scott-movie/986896/40 "2023-07-25T22:19:26Z")
Thread tag - documentary I doubt this will be classified as a documentary…a biopic maybe. The dialogue will be fictionalized into a script. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/napoleon-ridley-scott-movie/986896.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/napoleon-ridley-scott-movie/986896.md?page=3)