Film Napoleon (Dir. Ridley Scott)

Sweet Square

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Weird little neeky cnut? Sure. Charismatic Tyrant-warrior-king*? Eeeeeh….Even in those clips he comes across as a mumbly introverted little goober - which he’s great at, but would be a pretty weird pitch for Napoleon.
The same month

I am going to bed with my heart full of your adorable image… I cannot wait to give you proofs of my ardent love… How happy I would be if I could assist you at your undressing, the little firm white breast, the adorable face, the hair tied up in a scarf a la creole. You know that I will never forget the little visits, you know, the little black forest… I kiss it a thousand times and wait impatiently for the moment I will be in it. To live within Josephine is to live in the Elysian fields. Kisses on your mouth, your eyes, your breast, everywhere, everywhere.
I don’t love you anymore; on the contrary, I detest you. You are a vile, mean, beastly slut. You don’t write to me at all; you don’t love your husband; you know how happy your letters make him, and you don’t write him six lines of nonsense…

Soon, I hope, I will be holding you in my arms; then I will cover you with a million hot kisses, burning like the equator.
 

dumbo

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I just hope it's not supercilious boomer Ridley who made Last Duel and Martian and instead we get super senile tomber Ridley that made Alien Covenant.
 

Mockney

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The same month
This is still more Trump than Joker/Commodus

I know you weird mumblecore cinephiles want everyone to be the most awkward losers imaginable, but sometimes you just need a big fascist alpha cnut to sell your sexy Emperor epic

Tom Cruise 90s Napoleon for the win (narrowly beating out a Luc Besson/Jean Reno version, purely because Besson would’ve made Josephine 12 and scored it to impenetrable trance)
 
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nimic

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Napoleon was a great general and a great statesman. And also a hypocrite, tyrant, racist, slavery-re-enabler, mass-murderer kind of guy.

I hope this is good.
 

P-Ro

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I haven't heard or seen the word neek since the noughties.
 

Rooney in Paris

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You think you’re saving cinema, but It’s people like you that made a Timothy Chalamet Wonka prequel reality. You knew not what you wraught. Thy sow thine own cringe good sir
Listen, I once dated a girl who had dated Chalamet and she told me I was much nicer and less boring than him.

Which I know has nothing to do with your post but I felt it was important to share.
 

InfiniteBoredom

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Napoleon was pretty awkward in person in his youth, especially with women. Josephine basically entrapped him for her own benefits at the encouragement of one of her many paramours.

It’s easy to be glorified if you have successes, and he had astounding successes, but I would always take accounts about his wits and charisma with a pinch of salt.
 

Belisarius

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I'm a bit skeptical about this- it's a film right and not a tv series? I think this could be like Alexander and be far too much of a task to fit everything meaningful in the man's life into a three hour film and it looks like they're covering quite a lot rather than focusing on a specific point. Also the last book i read on Napoleon depicted him as a very witty guy with a lot of charm; Phoenix is a great actor but he seems a bit dour in the clips.

It could be great I just feel tv epics are better for historical figures like Alexander, Hannibal, Caesar, Genesis etc.

And when am I getting my Hannibal vs Scipio epic? :mad:
Why not a Belisarius epic?
 

Phil Jones Face

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This is still more Trump than Joker/Commodus

I know you weird mumblecore cinephiles want everyone to be the most awkward losers imaginable, but sometimes you just need a big fascist alpha cnut to sell your sexy Emperor epic

Tom Cruise 90s Napoleon for the win (narrowly beating out a Luc Besson/Jean Reno version, purely because Besson would’ve made Josephine 12 and scored it to impenetrable trance)
I think you're being a little harsh here.

Napoleon wasn't Casanova. Nor was he Napoleon Dynamite. He was incredibly complex and his writings and actions show his fluctuating emotions and mood swings. He was an unstable genius, the sort of role Phoenix excels at.

He was sensual, erotic, caring, loyal and at the same time decisive, brooding, melancholic and impulsive. Yes, Phoenix might struggle to show Napoleons charisma, but I think (hope) a much more "human" adaptation is long overdue.
 

André Dominguez

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I am actually awaiting something good out of it. Napoleon actually had great ideas and concepts for the society, and he actually did some good reforms not only in France, but in other countries that he occupied. Unfortunately, the way he tried to impose it on Europe was totally wrong, as expected from an imperialist mindset.
But in the end he was the main culprit for Europe's economy to completely collapse. Portugal and Spain never recovered from the Napoleonic wars, the colonies went into a total anarchy because European colonizers had to move their armies to Europe, trading routes were compromised, etc, etc.
 

Vidyoyo

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I was on a train recently and had the sudden thought it's been 40 years since Scott made Blade Runner and that somehow he's still a big name in the industry despite not making a film I've enjoyed in 23 years (Gladiator).

Thanks for reading my blog.
 

Irwin99

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I was on a train recently and had the sudden thought it's been 40 years since Scott made Blade Runner and that somehow he's still a big name in the industry despite not making a film I've enjoyed in 23 years (Gladiator).

Thanks for reading my blog.
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....I really liked Prometheus. I just want to say i'm sorry to everybody of the human race, but somebody had to like that film and I did!
 

Vidyoyo

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....I really liked Prometheus. I just want to say i'm sorry to everybody of the human race, but somebody had to like that film and I did!
Yeah I could see what he was going for but still have no idea why he did it in an Alien movie.

I also never bothered with Alien Covenant. Do you reckon it's worth a watch?
 

Irwin99

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Yeah I could see what he was going for but still have no idea why he did it in an Alien movie.

I also never bothered with Alien Covenant. Do you reckon it's worth a watch?
I'd give it a go but personally I was really disappointed in Alien Covenant because i actually wanted more about Elizabeth Shaw and the Engineers and their culture etc. but it felt like they inserted Aliens in the film just to appease fans of the classic movies and the result was something that satisfied neither Prometheus fans or Alien ones. Ridley seems obsessed with AI and while it's an interesting subject i'm not sure it's the right series to explore that theme.

Having said that, Michael Fassbender was really brilliant in both films it's a just a shame the rest of the movies didn't match his performances.
 

Sweet Square

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I was on a train recently and had the sudden thought it's been 40 years since Scott made Blade Runner and that somehow he's still a big name in the industry despite not making a film I've enjoyed in 23 years (Gladiator).

Thanks for reading my blog.
I haven’t seen it but the director cut of Kingdom Of Heaven is supposed to be very good.
Can't he just release a 30 second TikTok?
:lol:
 
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RedDevilQuebecois

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:drool:
Oh yes!:drool:

Speaking of Ridley Scott's works post-Gladiator, I enjoyed some of them because of the storytelling and the cinematography aspects. Black Hawk Down still remains my favorite contemporary war movie and nothing has come close in the genre since then. The director's cut of Kingdom of Heaven is excellent at deepening the ties between the various characters involved. I have yet to see The Last Duel, but I read rave reviews about it.

There was a time when he said that he wanted to make a movie that depicts the Battle of Britain as his magnum opus. I guess that project has taken the backseat, at least until the sequel to Gladiator is out in November 2024.
 

Sweet Square

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The director's cut of Kingdom of Heaven is excellent at deepening the ties between the various characters involved. I have yet to see The Last Duel, but I read rave reviews about it.
I really enjoyed The Last Duel. Really well done drama with great performances and action scenes.
 

Redplane

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I really enjoyed The Last Duel. Really well done drama with great performances and action scenes.
I liked the last duel but I also felt it dragged a bit too much at times. In a way it is probably one of his cheapest movies in that the world in it feels very very small. Perhaps that was the intent (?).
I just think it should have fleshed out the characters a bit more than it did. I did not care much for any of them, which I think is a miss in a movie that tries to be all about emotion.
 

Rooney in Paris

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I haven’t seen it but the director cut of Kingdom Of Heaven is supposed to be very good.
Yeah it's a clear improvement on the theatrical release, it's just better all around. It's a very good film that could have been great with a stronger lead. Strange days when Bloomie the charisma vacuum was getting these leading roles.
 

Redplane

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Yeah it's a clear improvement on the theatrical release, it's just better all around. It's a very good film that could have been great with a stronger lead. Strange days when Bloomie the charisma vacuum was getting these leading roles.
Agreed. He was clearly miscast but even so the rest of the actors do a well enough job to distract from it enough to prevent it from falling into mediocrity. The directors cut of that movie is still one of my all time favorite epics despite its flaws. Historically speaking they clearly took a LOT of liberties with some things. Even so I understand it made for a better movie. It may even be the last movie of that scale, somewhat reminiscencent of the epics of old though maybe I am forgetting something released since then.
 

RedSky

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I thought Bloom was pretty good in Kingdom of Heaven, not every knight has to be a hard nosed, muscular behemoth. I'm biased mind as I love Kingdom of Heaven, brilliant film.
 

Rooney in Paris

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Agreed. He was clearly miscast but even so the rest of the actors do a well enough job to distract from it enough to prevent it from falling into mediocrity. The directors cut of that movie is still one of my all time favorite epics despite its flaws. Historically speaking they clearly took a LOT of liberties with some things. Even so I understand it made for a better movie. It may even be the last movie of that scale, somewhat reminiscencent of the epics of old though maybe I am forgetting something released since then.
The Great Wall
I thought Bloom was pretty good in Kingdom of Heaven, not every knight has to be a hard nosed, muscular behemoth. I'm biased mind as I love Kingdom of Heaven, brilliant film.
Meh, got nothing to do with his physique. He's just a very weak actor.
 

FrankDrebin

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Yeah I could see what he was going for but still have no idea why he did it in an Alien movie.

I also never bothered with Alien Covenant. Do you reckon it's worth a watch?
Listening to his directors commentary on the film, you get a sense from his tone that he wasn't bothered making it.

Stark contrast to Prometheus where he loved the whole creative process. Kinda helped that he and crew were getting p*ssed every day.
 

Rooney in Paris

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Ah right though given what seems like a much smaller and less impressive actor lineup, and much more use of CGI, I'm not sure I'd quite consider that to be in the same category. Though I did enjoy it for what it is.
I was actually being sarcastic, though I've not actually seen it. One Sunday evening, after a long weekend of drinking, I tried putting it on, but I turned it off after 20 seconds (no kidding). Just couldn't watch it for some reason.
Maybe in other films, no complaints for me in KoH though. Thought he played the role very well.
We'll have to disagree on this one, he was quite clearly the weakest part of the film, and stood out amongst an otherwise strong cast. He didn't ruin the film, but it could have been elevated further with a proper strong lead.
 

Reiver

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Surprised any director would try and portray Napoleon again after what is surely the definitive interpretation in Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure.