Rating: 
Summary: UNIFORM INFO
Review: Actually, I am looking forward to watching this DVD but in the meantime want to confirm that the 11th Hussars regiment, who were involved on The Charge, did indeed wear cherry-colored overalls, according to historian Mark Adkin.The 11th was one of 5 regiments to make the charge and the only one with that attire.
Rating: 
Summary: Foolish
Review: Why make a historical epic where so many lives were lost into a comedy? This film is in poor taste. It's a great production but 180 degrees in the wrong direction. No matter how close I try to get to this film it remains distant.
Rating: 
Summary: cgarge of the light brigade
Review: a very good movie--was promptly shipped and in just the condition promised...very impressed
Rating: 
Summary: Bloody and Graphic Satire
Review: Director Tony Richardson seems to be making a point on political and military misguidedness through images of the ridiculous combined with the harshness and brutality of the British military and blood shed on the field of battle. This is not a comfortable film to watch. I am not sure this film makes its point. However, of note is the great screen clash of personalities between the obstinate and brutal Trevor Howard and the level headed and dashing David Hemmings. Hemmings never looked better. The climax is a bit obscure which leads me to ponder what Richardson really had in mind here.
Rating:
Summary: Perfect but for the lancers overalls color, and Nolan's reg.
Review: I loved the movie, bought it on VHS, and finally got it on DVD.
GREAT ACTING, plus fantastic CONTEXT of the period. Only sorry mistake is the color of the overalls of the 17th lancers, grey?, dark blue?, one doubts depending on sources, but definitly not cherry red (only Cardigan's Regiment of Hussars used that peculiar color wich provided the regiment with their nickname "cherrybummer's").
Also for the sake of the script Captain Nolan is made part of the 11th Hussars when he was on leave (attached to the staff) from his true regiment the 15th Hussars...
Probably minor points.
If you are interested on getting more info about the Charge itself get Mark Adkin's excellent book about it and be perplexed to the detail obtained in a highly readable account...
GREAT!.
PS: And the cartoons ARE VERY GOOD! and with the aesthetichs of the time too!.
A pity the movie was so antimilitaryst back then... (Vietnam time you know...) but I think it was well balanced as a whole because the logistics and generalship (specially the english) were appallingly low...
One of my favourite war movies of all time.
Rating:
Summary: Historical authenticity does not make a movie
Review: It's hard to know how to rate this film, because the cultural authenticity (from costumes to early Victorian slang) is amazing and it clearly has something to say, but it does not make for enjoyable viewing, even for one who likes dramas and tragic endings. The cartoons are far and away the best part of the film, capturing both the public consciousness and the manipulation of it that led to this disastrous campaign - and at the same time, catching the viewer up in the whole "Rule Britannia!" spirit as the chorus swells). I had first seen this film when it was released, had only vague memories of it - and hoped it was better than I remembered. In fact, it was worse, in terms of lacking any depth of character or narrative cohesion. Far too much screen time is given to driving home the point, again and again, that those in charge were idiots - criminal idiots. For the same history and authenticity, a more coherent description of the action, and a far greater level of enjoyment, I recommend George MacDonald Fraser's "Flashman" books. And I do wish we could have seen some of the genuine heroism of the other actions - the Thin Red Line, the Charge of the Heavy Brigade, etc.
Rating:
Summary: The Charge of Simplicity
Review: I must say after having read many of the previous reviews regarding this movie that I found some to be astonishingly (and far too) self-patronizing. From one extreme review of the movie describing it as a highly under-rated anti-war movie to another indicating that the movie had no scope due to its lack of actual detailed battle scenes. In all honesty, this is a very well done "tongue-in-cheek" movie about how inept are those in control and capable of usurping values from others. In that regard it might very well be a good comparison to what occurred to the United States in Vietnam. "What others?" one might ask. My simple reply is that those "others" are those that fight and die for their country. In this sense, the movie, with very dry humour, depicts how those placed in control by other inept individuals in power as elected representatives of their domain (country) delegate their lack of responsibility to their subordinates. In this sense the movie is very much anti-war. The other interesting aspect of this movie is with regard to the dark, dry humour of how the British (not unlike our politicians that went to the first battle of Manassas, for a picnic with their family, and finding themselves in danger flee in panic) were simply expecting yet another entertaining day and found themselves in somewhat of an unpredictable situation. Most people miss just how capable the British are of stepping outside of their minds and skins and observing themselves in a very self-critical manner. I know of no other society that can do this better than the British. There is a certain confidence in their character that allow them to do this is such an open and honest manner. The Charge of the Light Brigade demonstrates just how good they are at self-examining themselves and others that follow their paths through history. Drinking their tea and eating their biscuits, the high command of the British Army witness their very finest (the Light Brigade) charge to their deaths in defense and honour of their country. It has been a while since I watched this movie and am attempting to obtain a copy to watch it again and I admit that I am rusty with regard to the fabulous quotes contained in it ...but that is why I want to obtain a copy! I want to revisit those scenes of absolute idiocy depicted in this movie such as, while one officer is drinking his tea he says: "I say, I think that we might be losing this battle?" The battle scenes are, indeed, very distant for the most part and I can understand a person being disappointed with not being given more detailed demonstrations of what took place during that famous charge. However, as stated, one has the alternative of watching the older version for that. This second version, it seems, is driven by a need to state a different kind of message. It is a message about ourselves and our own indeptness by allowing such [people] to have power and control over us, our fathers, our mothers and our sons and daughters. It's about politicians.
Rating:
Summary: An engaging historical drama... Chaaaaaaaaaaarge!!!
Review: A prideful vendetta between bullying English Lord Cardigan and a talented but hot-tempered junior officer is set against the disasterous British rout at the hands of Russia during the Crimean War. I can't speak to the supposed historical innaccuracies of this Tony Richardson film, since most of what I know about the infamous Charge I've learned from either Tennyson's rah-rah romantic poem, or Douglas Frasier's sardonic Flashman novels (with which it shares a certain mordant, antiauthoritarian darkness), but I did find it pretty entertaining and well-produced. It's also quite similar to Peter Wier's "Gallipoli," although this is more bluntly class-conscious and hysterical in tone. Richard William's animated sequences, used in the titles and interludes, are wry spinoffs of Gilded Age cartoons, and prefigure Terry Gilliam's animation in the "Monty Python" series. The closing battle is a bit muddled, but the drama of the first half is engaging.
Rating: 
Summary: The Charge is very Light indeed!
Review: Others have written about the storyline so I won't get into that here. With a film like this, you anxiously wait for the climax which is of course the charge of all those British into the history books. Save your money and your time. The charge in this version is the biggest dud since Madonna's film career. You sit there and ask yourself what everyone got so excited about. At least in the version with Errol Flynn you had some semblance of men blindly (if herocally and stupidly) charging to their deaths. You don't even see much here though. The charge itself is a dull cantor with awful editing and by the time its over all you feel is a great let-down. There's no grand sweep which we expect in films like this and nothing that even comes close to the historic feel the poem about the 600 inspires. Buy the Flynn movie. It may not be history but it's awfully exciting!
Rating:
Summary: Epic yes! Historically accurate maybe....
Review: The movie and its actors portray and excellent cinematographic account of the recreation of the battle of Baclava. In my opinion Trevor Howard does a terrific job in portraying the pompous and pedantic Lord Cardigan, who was mainly responsible for the carnage... altough some spread the blame among Lord Raglan (his superior) and Cardigan brother in law. That is from a movie perspective.
On the historical perspective tough, I found that some of the details of the real engagement were missing and I found the affair that developed betweent Lord Cardigan and the wife of one of it's officers was innecesary on the movie, it was well portraiyed in the film that Cardigan was a womanizer with no need to dwelve on the subject more. Finally, too much attention is given to Cap. Nolan, who besides delivering the fateful message and creating the confusion of the attack order or not to attack order, did not contribute much to the campaing. But then, if that had been the case the movie would have been a documentary because we had no hero...
Overall I recommend the film, the wardrobe details and the recreated Crimean landscape is stunning, but on the historical aspects of the film wich could have been included without altering the storyline, my recomendation is less than enthusiastic.
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