Joaquin Phoenix as Napoleon?

[Wim]

Well... slightly disappointed.
Spectacular battle scenes, nice camera work and after all not too long for a historic movie.
But...
Napoleon speaking English? American production, I know, but the Russians spoke Russian and the Germans spoke German, so it would have been nice to hear a francophone Napoleon and compatriots.
The fact that Scott cherry picked the savoury details of the relation between Napoleon and Josephine didn't really bother me (he's director so he can choose whatever he wants).
CGI was sometimes too obvious, but probably inevitable.
Characters sometimes gave a dull impression.
Lots of (minor) historical errors, e.g.: Napoleon mentions the Belgian frontier. Belgium was born in 1830 and was never called like that before.
Joaquim Phoenix is too old for this role, wrong typecasting.
Bad movie? No, but I expected something better.

Too late now to elaborate (11.15pm), going to bed now.

[George K]

Thanks for your thoughts.

Worth seeing on a big screen, or will it be good enough for a reasonably-sized TV?

[Renauda]

As much I anticipated Joachim Pheonix in this role, he had an impossibly hard act to follow from the onset against Rod Steiger’s portrayal of Napoleon in Waterloo (1970).

I’ll wait for the Blu-ray.

[George K]

@Renauda said in Joaquin Phoenix as Napoleon?:

Rod Steiger’s portrayal of Napoleon in Waterloo

Link to video

[Renauda]

@George-K

That’s a fairly decent and entertaining synopsis of the film.

Certainly one of my time favourites. Steiger was about the right age too when he did it - 44 years old

[Wim]

@George-K Big screen is imho better most of the time, but a reasonably-sized tv will do

[Renauda]

@Wim

I agree cinema is better. I just find the cost of going to the cinema has gotten out control. Besides that I dislike crowded venues such as cinemas, concerts and sport events and try to avoid them whenever possible. I am the sort who goes to the grocery store 5 minutes before they unlock the doors at 7 am. on Wednesday or Thursday mornings just to avoid other shoppers (and take full advantage of soon to expire mark downs of perishables).

[George K]

@Renauda you're our most lovable misanthrope.

[Renauda]

Harumpff.

[Mik]

I’m not a big fan of crowds either.

[George K]

Four hour cut next year:

https://www.techradar.com/streaming/ridley-scotts-napoleon-is-getting-an-epic-four-hour-cut-but-only-on-apple-tv-plus

[Aqua Letifer]

I'll watch it then. The recent version seems like it's missed the mark. I don't mind a 4-hour movie if it's good.

[George K]

The Thread:

https://threadreaderapp.com/thread/1728292482121941213.html

[bachophile]

caption this

[Renauda]

@bachophile said in Joaquin Phoenix as Napoleon?:

So you were told that we get off at what station? ….Waterloo Station?

[Copper]

The (American) Civil War was the first war to use railroads, encouraged by President Lincoln — himself a former railroad lawyer — who understood how vital they were for moving men and supplies.

https://www.pbs.org/opb/historydetectives/feature/civil-war-innovations/#:~:text=The Civil War was the,for moving men and supplies.

[George K]

@Renauda said in Joaquin Phoenix as Napoleon?:

So you were told that we get off at what station? ….Waterloo Station?

I took the Lake Shore Limited from Waterloo to Chicago...

[Renauda]

@Copper said in Joaquin Phoenix as Napoleon?:

The (American) Civil War was the first war to use railroads, encouraged by President Lincoln — himself a former railroad lawyer — who understood how vital they were for moving men and supplies.

https://www.pbs.org/opb/historydetectives/feature/civil-war-innovations/#:~:text=The Civil War was the,for moving men and supplies.

Not entirely accurate. The Prussians were the first to use the railway in war - as troop transport during the First Schleswig War a dozen years before the US Civil War:

https://historum.com/t/first-schleswig-war-transport.2712/

[Copper]

The Wiki description is slightly different

The American Civil War in 1861–1865 was the first large war in which railroads were both a major tool and a major target of military action.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Military_railways#

[Renauda]

Good for WiKi.

Either way, there were no railroads during Napoleon’s time to move his or his enemies’ armies and supplies.