Sergei Bondarchuk directs this 1970s drama starring Rod Steiger and Christopher Plummer. After his abdication Napoleon Bonaparte (Steiger) is exiled to the island of Elba. However, he escapes to be reunited with his generals and troops and mounts a last desperate bid for power at the Battle of Waterloo. He has, however, reckoned without the British forces led by Arthur Welsley the Duke of Wellington (Plummer), who has just returned from a successful campaign in Spain.
A film that will never be equalled for its spectacle and dramatic power" says the stirring trailer on this otherwise sparsely featured DVD. Taking the story of the Napoleonic Wars to Bonapartes final defeat, Waterloo is an unofficial continuation to director Sergei Bondarchuks own 70mm super-epic War and Peace (1968). The climactic battle of Waterloo is shown in the second half of the film and re-enacted with such stunning realism by a cast of around 20,000 extras that it looks like documentary footage from history itself (some 20 years later, Gettysburg, 1993, did the same for the American Civil War). Those who hailed the groundbreaking impact of Saving Private Ryan should see Bondarchuks films, as for sheer scale and intensity--if not bloodiness--they make Spielbergs hit look like an amateur video. Without ever attempting a French accent, Rod Steiger makes a commanding Napoleon, Christopher Plummer a worthy adversary as Wellington, while the supporting cast led by Orson Welles, Jack Hawkins and Virginia McKenna is excellent. The DVD transfer is richly detailed and clear, though the print itself could have done with just a little restoration. Though dated, Abel Glances Napoleon (1928) remains definitive for many, perhaps explaining why Stanley Kubrick eventually abandoned his planned Napoleon film, instead making the 18th Century period epic Barry Lyndon (1974). --Gary S.Dalkin
Waterloo is the 1970 epic period war film directed by Sergei Bondarchuk and produced by legendary producer Dino De Laurentis. It depicts the story of the preliminary events and the Battle of Waterloo and is famous for its lavish battle scenes. Starring Rod Steiger as Napoleon Bonaparte and Christopher Plummer as the Duke of Wellington with a cameo by Orson Welles as Louis XVIII of France, and Jack Hawkins all contribute fine portraits of great men against a magnificent backdrop of battle and bloodshed.
First time on Blu-Ray in the UK. Waterloo is the 1970 epic period war film directed by Sergei Bondarchuk and produced by legendary producer Dino De Laurentis. It depicts the story of the preliminary events and the Battle of Waterloo and is famous for its lavish battle scenes. Starring Rod Steiger as Napoleon Bonaparte and Christopher Plummer as the Duke of Wellington with a cameo by Orson Welles as Louis XVIII of France, and Jack Hawkins all contribute fine portraits of great men against a magnificent backdrop of battle and bloodshed.
STARE INTO THESE EYES... Discover deep within them the unspeakable terrifying secret of BLACK SUNDAY... it will paralyze you with fright! Legendary Scream Queen Barbara Steele (Shivers, Caged Heat) stars in this classic slice of gothic terro from the father of fantastic Italian cinema Mario Bava (Lisa and the Devil). A beautiful witch is sentenced to death for her evil deeds by her own brother, condemned to die by having a metal mask hammered onto her face before being burnt at the stake. As she passes, she puts a terrible curse on all her future descendants as the spikes of thedeath mask pierce her flesh... But when two unwitting travellers discover her final resting place and worse, drip blood on her resting corpse, they unleash her once again in all her stunningly beautiful, terrifying glory... Baned in the UK on its release, Black Sunday is a groundbreaking film that opened the door for Spaghetti horror in all its gory glory.
Giovanni Falcone and Paolo Borsellino are ''excellent cadavers'' - a Sicilian term to distinguish the assassination of important political figures from the hundreds of ordinary people killed by the Mafia. These two courageous prosecutors risked their careers and lives to bring the Cosa Nostra to justice and their deaths galvanised the Sicilian government into destroying the Mob once and for all. Aided by mafioso turned informant Tommasso Buscetta the legendary ''Godfather of Two Worlds'' extradited from Brazil their crusade culminated in the greatest Mafia trial in history at which 475 men were indicted. Starring award winning actors Chazz Palminteri and F. Murray Abraham this is a portrait of two tragic heroes who in life combated a violent subculture rampant with corruption and in death exerted their greatest influence.
Winner of the Silver Lion at the Venice Film Festival in 1961 and the Best Italian Film of the Year this a true classic of Italian cinema. A morality tale. Can people shake off their past? Will others alllow them to? Four prostitutes abandon their 'working girl' lifestyle after a change in the law closes their bordello. They open a restaraunt. Flourishing successful and happy they find that their past comes back to haunt them as they are reported to the police and forced to co
This collection features a trio of films directed by 'the master of the macabre' Mario Bava. Black Sabbath (1963): Italian horror master Mario Bava's spine-tingling horror anthology. In the first tale A Drop Of Water a woman steals a ring off of the finger of a corpse only to be haunted by the angry spirit of the ring's owner. In The Telephone a woman is harassed by phone calls from the dead. Finally Boris Karloff plays a vampire-like creature in The Wurdalak who feeds off the blood of its family. The Girl Who Knew Too Much (1963 aka The Evil Eye): The mystery of the Alphabet Murders in Rome was left unsolved ten years ago. When Nora Davis (Roman) travels there on vacation she gets tangled in a web of death starting with Edith an old friend of the family. As Nora tries to find some help for Edith she witnesses the stabbing murder of yet another woman. She soon discovers that the murder actually happened ten years ago to Emily Craven and that the Alphabet Murderer is looking for is still looking for the letter 'D'. The Mask of Satan (1960 aka Black Sunday/Revenge of The Vampire): Buxom B-movie queen Barbara Steele stars in this atmospheric film about the long dead evil Princess Asa and her brother who are accidentally brought back to life. Asa goes on a quest to murder her twin descendent Princess Katia (also played by Steele) and seduces many unknowing victims along the way.
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