# Napoleonic War Movies? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [June 4, 2014, 9:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/napoleonic-war-movies/690010 "2014-06-04T09:19:40Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 16\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Chihuahua](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/dec6dc/32.png) [@Chihuahua](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chihuahua)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2014, 9:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/napoleonic-war-movies/690010/1 "2014-06-04T09:19:40Z")
Not a terribly popular genre, I know. I’ve watched all the “Sharpe’s” series, “Master and Commander,” and “Waterloo” 1970 version. I hear “Hornblower” is good. Can anybody recommend any other films in this same vein? ---
**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:** [June 4, 2014, 11:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/napoleonic-war-movies/690010/2 "2014-06-04T11:25:25Z")
_[The Duellists](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Duellists)_ is good (as long as you can get past the idea of Keith Carradine and Harvey Keitel as Frenchmen). ---
**Author:** ![C\_K\_Dexter\_Haven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/b2d939/32.png) [@C\_K\_Dexter\_Haven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/C_K_Dexter_Haven)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2014, 12:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/napoleonic-war-movies/690010/3 "2014-06-04T12:27:32Z")
NAPOLEON (1927) is an amazing historical-documentary type movie, if you like silent films: [Napoleon (1927) - IMDb](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0018192/?ref_=fn_al_tt_2) Or are you just asking fiction? ---
**Author:** ![Chihuahua](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/dec6dc/32.png) [@Chihuahua](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chihuahua)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2014, 12:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/napoleonic-war-movies/690010/4 "2014-06-04T12:34:02Z")
> [@](#): > > Or are you just asking fiction? I’ll watch anything that’s worth watching. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2014, 2:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/napoleonic-war-movies/690010/5 "2014-06-04T14:07:29Z")
I’m a big fan of Forester’s books, and loved his Horatio Hornblower books. The adaptations are all good – both the Gregory Peck movie and the A&E Ioan Gryfudd adaptations,m but none of them really get Hornblower right. Forester wrote a lot of war fiction, including Napoleonic fiction. His _The Gun_ was good, and was filmed as _[The Pride and the Passion_ in 1957. It starred Cary Grant, Sophia Loren, and Frank Sinatra (!) It bears a passing resemblance to the book. I’ve recently obtained a copy of the DVD of the Russian version of _War and Peace_, which I highly recommend. There are other versions, of course, including the American one with Henry Fonda (and Herbert Lom as Napoleon), the BBC serial from 1972 with Anthony Hopkins as Pierre, and, I understand, a new BBC serial version. But the Russian version has impressive battle sequences, and enough length to cover the sweeping novel (although the fiuirst BBC version is actually longer) ---
**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:** [June 4, 2014, 2:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/napoleonic-war-movies/690010/6 "2014-06-04T14:19:14Z")
> [@CalMeacham](#): > > I’ve recently obtained a copy of the DVD of the Russian version of _War and Peace_, which I highly recommend. There are other versions, of course, including the American one with Henry Fonda (and Herbert Lom as Napoleon), the BBC serial from 1972 with Anthony Hopkins as Pierre, and, I understand, a new BBC serial version. But the Russian version has impressive battle sequences, and enough length to cover the sweeping novel (although the fiuirst BBC version is actually longer) I came in here to recommend this one, the Soviet-era, eight hour version of _War and Peace_ with 120,000 extras from the Soviet army recreating the Battle of Borodino. Nothing else like it. ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2014, 2:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/napoleonic-war-movies/690010/7 "2014-06-04T14:59:46Z")
> [@CalMeacham](#): > > the Gregory Peck movie Ha-hem. ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2014, 3:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/napoleonic-war-movies/690010/8 "2014-06-04T15:02:16Z")
> [@CalMeacham](#): > > the Gregory Peck movie Ha-hem. 🙂 One of my favorite films. Peck does a good withdrawn, private Hornblower. My favorite scene is when they sink their ship to block the Frenchmen in harbor. Brown is about to fire a cannon through the deck, and Hornblower says, “I’ll do that, Brown.” I don’t recall if Hornblower does that in the novel. ---
**Author:** ![AncientHumanoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ancienthumanoid/32/278_2.png) [@AncientHumanoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AncientHumanoid)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2014, 9:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/napoleonic-war-movies/690010/9 "2014-06-04T21:08:35Z")
**Time Bandits** and **Bill & Ted’s Excellent Adventure** have an interesting take on Napoleonic times. The [Doctor meets him](http://tardis.wikia.com/wiki/Napol%C3%A9on_Bonaparte) from time to time as well. ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2014, 9:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/napoleonic-war-movies/690010/10 "2014-06-04T21:20:23Z")
> [@AncientHumanoid](#): > > **Time Bandits** and **Bill & Ted’s Excellent Adventure** have an interesting take on Napoleonic times. Yeah, like _A Million Ways to Die in the West_ has an interesting take on _The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance._ 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![AncientHumanoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ancienthumanoid/32/278_2.png) [@AncientHumanoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AncientHumanoid)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2014, 9:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/napoleonic-war-movies/690010/11 "2014-06-04T21:25:21Z")
Definitely NOT historically accurate. At least, not _our_ history. ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2014, 10:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/napoleonic-war-movies/690010/12 "2014-06-04T22:38:50Z")
> [@AncientHumanoid](#): > > Definitely NOT historically accurate. At least, not _our_ history. But funny as hell in _Time Bandits_. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Sefton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/5daacb/32.png) [@Sefton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sefton)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2014, 12:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/napoleonic-war-movies/690010/13 "2014-06-05T00:32:31Z")
I’ve heard good things about a movie called [The Duellists](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0075968/?ref_=nv_sr_2), which takes place during the Napoleonic Wars. But I haven’t seen it myself. ---
**Author:** ![Spoke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a88e57/32.png) [@Spoke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoke)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2014, 1:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/napoleonic-war-movies/690010/14 "2014-06-05T01:24:26Z")
Not a war movie, but the Napoleonic Wars are part of the backdrop for [Goya’s Ghosts](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0455957/?ref_=nv_sr_1). ---
**Author:** ![KarlGauss](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/karlgauss/32/3713_2.png) [@KarlGauss](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KarlGauss)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2014, 1:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/napoleonic-war-movies/690010/15 "2014-06-05T01:57:51Z")
> [@C\_K\_Dexter\_Haven](#): > > NAPOLEON (1927) is an amazing historical-documentary type movie, if you like silent films: [Napoleon (1927) - IMDb](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0018192/?ref_=fn_al_tt_2) Although it is a silent film, it is a supreme treat to see _and **hear** _ it when [accompanied by a live orchestra](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=646968) (e.g. [with Carmine Coppola conducting his own music](http://www.amazon.com/Napoleon-Original-Music-Gances-Masterpiece/dp/B000008IT1/ref=sr_1_cc_2?s=aps&ie=UTF8&qid=1401933362&sr=1-2-catcorr&keywords=napoleon+coppola&tag=donations09-20)). One of the ‘cultural’ highlights of my life! ETA: BTW, here is the Wikipedia [list of Napoleonic War films](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_war_films_and_TV_specials#Napoleonic_Wars_.281803.E2.80.931815.29) if anyone is interested. ---
**Author:** ![TonySinclair](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/49beb7/32.png) [@TonySinclair](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TonySinclair)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2014, 1:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/napoleonic-war-movies/690010/16 "2014-06-05T01:59:30Z")
_Love and Death_, starring Woody Allen.