We all know little bits and pieces about the Battle of Waterloo. I knew the names of the two army leaders, that it was the battle that ended the French Empire, and obviously ABBA told us "My my, at Waterloo Napoleon did surrender. Oh yeah!". I found out that Stanley Kubrick had drafted a screenplay and made preparations for a film about the Napoleonic battles, but the poor reception of this film meant that this project had to be shelved and was never completed. It may have been a box office failure, but it was rated well by critics, and I was still up for watching it. Basically, in 1814 French Emperor Napoleon Bonaparte (Rod Steiger), facing certain defeat from the Sixth Coalition, abdicates at the demand of his marshals. He is banished to Elba with 1,000 men but escapes and returns to France. Marshal Michel Ney (Dan O'Herlihy), serving Louis XVIII of France (Orson Welles) is tasked with recapturing him, but he and his army defect to Napoleon. King Louis flees, Napoleon triumphantly enters Paris, and the European powers declare war. The Prussian Karl Freiherr von Müffling (Coronation Street's John Savident) interrupts a prestigious ball hosted by the Duchess of Richmond (Virginia McKenna) to warn Arthur Wellesley, the Duke of Wellington (Christopher Plummer), that Napoleon has invaded Belgium. Realising that Napoleon has got between the British and the Prussian Armies, Wellington decides to halt the Grande Armée at Waterloo. The French fight the British to a draw at Quatre-Bras but defeat the Prussians at Ligny. Field Marshal Gebhard von Blücher ignores his Chief of Staff, General August von Gneisenau (Karl Lyepinsk) to retreat and instead moves north to Wavre to stay close to Wellington. Napoleon, enraged that Ney has allowed Wellington to get past him, directs 30,000 men under Marshal Emmanuel de Grouchy (Charles Millot) to pursue Blücher (Sergo Zakariadze) and keep the Prussians from rejoining the British, while he leads his remaining force against Wellington. The battle of Waterloo, delayed so the ground will dry after the previous night's storm, starts shortly after 11:30 am with cannon fire from the French. Napoleon causes a diversion with an infantry attacking Wellington's right flank, the Chateau of Hougoumont, but Wellington refuses to divert forces. Napoleon then attacks the allied left with the Comte d'Erlon's infantry corps. General Sir Thomas Picton (Jack Hawkins), dressed as a civilian having lost his uniform after losing his mule, successfully halts the attack but is killed. The renowned Union cavalry brigade of William Ponsonby (Michael Wilding), including the famous Royal Scots Greys, pursue the French, but go too far across the battlefield and are isolated from the rest of the Allied force, and are cut to pieces by Napoleon's lancers, and Ponsonby is killed. Napoleon realises Blücher's army, not Grouchy's force as initially thought, have been spotted coming from the east, but keeps this from his army. He then suffers stomach pain and is temporarily withdraws, leaving Marshal Ney in charge. Ney, in his desperation to win before Prussian intervention, misinterprets a reorganisation of troops as a retreat and leads a cavalry charge, which results in heavy losses. Napoleon returns and rebukes his marshals for letting Ney attack without infantry support. But he hopes that Wellington's line has been worn down. The British strongpoint of La Haye Sainte falls, and Napoleon sends the Imperial Guard to fight them. As they advance, they are attacked by the hidden Maitland's Guards Division. This devastates French morale, and the arrival of the Prussians makes matters certain. After refusing to surrender, the last of the French Imperial Guard are annihilated by close range cannon fire. After the battle, Wellington wanders among the dead who are being organised by rank. He laments "next to a battle lost, the saddest thing is a battle won". In the end, Napoleon, who had declared that he would die with his men, is forced to surrender, he is dragged by his marshals from the field and later departs in a carriage for Paris. Also starring Rupert Davies as Lord Gordon, Philippe Forquet as La Bedoyere, Gianni Garko as Drouot, Ivo Garrani as Soult, Ian Ogilvy as De Lancey, Terence Alexander as Lord Uxbridge, and Andrea Checchi as Sauret. Despite lacking a French accent, Steiger is magnificent as the calculating military dictator, especially in his raging moments, and Plummer is good as the posh British leader. I am not going to pretend I understand all the political mumbo-jumbo, I just paid attention to the lead performances, the immaculate costume design, and the exciting battle sequences, all together it is an alright historical epic war drama. It won the BAFTA for Best Art Direction, and Best Costume Design, and it was nominated for Best Cinematography. Good!