Is Ridley Scott's Napoleon Historically Accurate?

Delve into the exhaustive breakdown of Ridley Scott's film "Napoleon." This critical analysis dissects the movie's deviations from historical truth, highlighting missed opportunities and major inaccuracies in its portrayal of Emperor Napoleon Bonaparte's life and pivotal battles. From misrepresented sequences like the Battles of Austerlitz, Borodino, and Waterloo to omitted critical events like the Battle of Marengo, the film's liberties with history are unveiled. Discover the discrepancies between the movie's depiction and actual historical events, shedding light on the significance of these alterations. Explore the implications of historical fiction in cinema and share your thoughts on the film's approach to storytelling. Have you seen "Napoleon"? Join the conversation on historical accuracy in movies and the impact of fictionalized history on our understanding of the past.

Script: Jonathan Woody

00:00 Intro
01:59 Pacing
03:24 Egypt and the “Missing” Marengo Sequence
05:41 Coronation
06:28 Battle of Austerlitz
08:43 Battle of Borodino
11:55 Waterloo
17:42 Conclusion

#Documentary #Napoleon #Movie

[andreascj]

I have always been amazed by film makers that shows stories that are less interesting that the real history.

[Youbeentagged]

During the movies, I had friends asking me why the artillery didn't shoot at the squares.

This is why geography is important in movies.

(The answer is that the English were actually behind a slope, where the French artillery could not see them. The English weren't just outside, in the most vulnerable position to artillery and infantry.)

[JohnnyElRed]

I like that this video is more centered in filling in the blanks with useful information and correcting the deviations, than criticizing the film itself for having them.

[caracalla]

Just imagine Kings and Generals and Epic History TV collaborating with Scott's 200mil budget on a Napoleon Series. That would be the greatest historical product ever conceived.

[srjable]

Ridley Scott went on the attack of Napoleon, but Napoleon never interrupted an enemy whom was making a mistake, so Napoleon let him does his thing… at the end Napoleon Is victorious towards Ridley Scott

[georgepatton]

The damn film was too busy "deconstructing" the character, just like every lazily written history movie ever, not too mention they put all the effort into overly dramatizing Josephine and Napoleon relationship, while ignoring why and how history remember him in the first place, and the movie is not bombastic enough for mainstream audience, so the movie piss off everyone

[SuperAerie]

My first thought when the movie was over was "yeah now I really understand the criticism the movie gotten", and starting to have doubtful opinions after 10 minutes is also not a good sign.
And besides all the unhistorical-things I still think its simply a bad movie. I have fairly high tolerance for stuff deviating from the source material either its history or books & can stand it as long as it still good entertainment, this had way to many jumps all over the place and was just a mess. So completly agree on the notion that any movie-goer that doesnt have an understanding of what happend the int the frenche revolution will be very confused to just about everything. Maybe the director cut improves it...

[giantsk]

The best thing to come out of Ridley Scott’s movie is the amount of Napoleon content we have gotten across YouTube. The movie itself was an entirely anti-bonapartist franciphobic caricature of the great man.

2:32 I was genuinely excited that somebody was making a movie about Napoleon backed with an enormous budget, the possibilities seemed endless. But we got a terrible representation of his life and really an assassination of his character. They should’ve called it Josephine or Josephine and Napoleon. Or at least they should’ve focused on one particular period of his life.

Imagine making a movie about one of the greatest military geniuses of all-time and showing next to none of that. Jesus, Assassin’s Creed Unity had a better portrayal of Napoleon Bonaparte.

[bbd]

This Movie was, for me, the most anticipated Movie in years - i was so excited. Also, this movie, for me, was the biggest disappointment in recent memory. Thanks for this video, it sure points out the Glaring Mistakes and Omissions made by Ridley Scott. Dammit, Napoleon could have been such an Epic Movie.

[Jungles_of_Lustria]

I really appreciate this video! There are definitely glaring gaps in the movie and serious inaccuracies however I hope that the extended directors cut provides us more when it comes out and if we are lucky perhaps there will be a fully edition that is 6 hours long!

[Tayvin]

You can't just fit Napoleon's career into a single movie, even if it was over 4 hours it wouldn't be enough. Napoleon deserves an entire series of movies, at least a trilogy, or a long tv series spanning his rise to power, his reign, and his fall. This would also give other key figures more time to shine as well, such as Napoleon's Marshals, they're just as deserving of the spotlight as he is. In fact, I want a series that focuses on his Marshals now that I think about it.

[NixonRules]

I saw Napoleon with my friend, who's familiar with history but not a history buff / nerd like I am. He really did not understand what was going on in the film, which I think shows it is just a poorly made movie. He said it was just a series of vignettes about major battles or moments in Napoleon's life that had no context or meanining within the film. He actually lost the plot after the failed invasion of Russia and was so bored he fell asleep during Waterloo.

There are also a number of scenes from the trailer that were not in the film, probably in the extended edition. There's a shot of Napoleon climbing onto a burning carriage on its side and gazing around at the crowd around him, which I believe was a depiction of the assassination attempt where someone tried to set off an explosive next to his carriage as it passed by.

[johnforsyth]

The largest omission that I noticed was the complete lack even mentioned the Peninsular War in Spain. I do enjoy historical fiction. Which is exactly what this movie is.

[zaccaria]

I feel if Scott wanted to accurately portray Napoleon properly, he could’ve done a 3 part trilogy epic if it was meant to span his whole career. One movie on his early years as general 1793-1799 titled “The General” ending with the Coup against the Directory, another from 1799-1804 titled “The Consul” that ends with him being crowned as emperor, and finally a film covering 1805-1815 titled “The Emperor” covering Austerlitz, Borodino, retreat from Russia, Exile and Waterloo.

[Mankorra_Gomorrah]

Ironically, I think that this is a movie that would have benefitted from being broken into 2 or even 3 movies. It seems that the main interest was napoleons relationship with his wife Josephine but when you title your movie “Napoleon”, and advertise it with intense battle scenes, not many people will go in expecting a slow, tragic romance. It feels like they knew this and added parts about his campaigns more to not falsely advertise than because it was the actual focus.

Of all the historical figures, I don’t think napoleons life is one that is ready made for a tragic romance. Instead it would have been both easier and more popular to do a more traditional retelling of his campaigns, political rise, and inevitable fall.

[goldenfiberwheat]

Napoleon’s life is too eventful for a single movie. Some people are famous for doing one thing and their lives can be made into a movie (ie desmond Dawes, Charlie Brown (no not that one), Leo majors) but some people define entire eras and need a tv series instead (Napoleon, hitler, etc)

[normanstewart]

According to the film, Napoleon left Elba because he was jealous of Josephine's socialising with Tsar Alexander. But Josephine was already ten months dead when he left Elba. He must have been brooding over it for a long time.

[jvl]

Most glaring omission is Napoleon’s age, being played by an actor in his fifties with Josephine played by an actress much younger. In reality, Josephine was older than Napoleon. I guess you can call this artistic license as well. I do feel film makers do a have a responsibility presenting historical facts correctly, less we fall into the trap of historical revisionism.

[Juandiegostefan]

Probably the best video of this month, excellent work m8, kings and generals should review more historical movies, a new awesome series

[samfarrah]

We need an epic TV series made on this time period so much happened it simply can’t be condensed in to a single movie