Waterloo (1970 film)
Waterloo (Russian: Ватерлоо) is a 1970 Soviet-Italian film directed by Sergei Bondarchuk and produced by Dino De Laurentiis. It depicts the story of the preliminary events and the Battle of Waterloo, and is famous for its lavish battle scenes.
It stars Rod Steiger (portraying Napoleon Bonaparte) and Christopher Plummer (portraying the Duke of Wellington) with a cameo by Orson Welles (Louis XVIII of France). Other stars include Jack Hawkins as General Picton, Virginia McKenna as the Duchess of Richmond and Dan O'Herlihy as Marshal Ney.
The film includes some 15,000 Soviet foot soldiers and 2,000 cavalrymen as extras – it was said that, during its making, director Sergei Bondarchuk was in command of the seventh largest army in the world. Fifty circus stunt riders were used to perform the dangerous horse falls. These numbers brought an epic quality to the battle scenes.
Read more about Waterloo (1970 film): Plot, Production, Cast, Trivia and Mistakes, Reception