The Charge of the Light Brigade

Rating:
Summary: Truly Definitive Work
Review: Tony Richardson's classic Charge of the Light Brigade is a definitive version of the most famous military blunder of Britains military history. Closely drawn from Cecil Woodham-Smith's "The Reason Why", it is a perfect social and military analysis of the military and officer class structures, and a darkly amusing parody of the political forces which motivated Britain to the Crimean War. Satirical animated sequences drawn from the political cartoons from the contemporary nineteenth century "Punch" magazine are used to close one act and open another throughout the movie - a highly entertaining and unique feature in cinema. The casting is superb, particularly Harry Andrews as Lord Lucan and Trevor Howard as Lord Cardigan. Outstanding performances are given by all - Sir John Gielgud as Lord Raglan and of course David Hemmings as Captain Nolan, the tragic anti-hero and oneof the prime suspects in the commission of enquiry into who was to blame.

Technically I find the movie flawless. The uniforms were all designed for the movie and the wide-screen DVD format shows the scale of production to wonderful effect. The guns recoil properly as if they were actually being fired and the obscuring smoke of the battle at Alma are shown to true effect. Some films are done right and others not. If you had problems with the battle scenes and staging of "The Patriot" but thought that "Last of the Mohicans" got it right, then you can be assured that this movie, being more like the latter then the former, got it right.

I believe that no one will make another version, nor ought to. This account of the Crimean campaign and Balaclava will never be bettered and will stand the test of time as the truly definative work on the subject. I have long loved this movie and was never more happy to view it in the full screen format. This film is intelligent, and what's more, it treats its audience as if we are intelligent also - no Hollywood insults to be found in this sound English movie. I highly recommend it to collectors with a taste for classic military drama and to the historical buffs.

Rating:
Summary: Some good history, some bad
Review: As a depiction of history, this film of "The Charge of the Light Brigade" is considerably more accurate than the Errol Flynn film of the late 1930's. The costumes are, for the most part authentic, and the military material is drawn from real events, even if there are some alterations (such as the actual victim in the "black bottle" incident) made evidently for the sake of brevity and drama. Once nice touch is that the actual number of men and horse (670) who actually participated in the Charge were in fact used in this re-creation of the event, so the viewer does have some sense of how things actually looked. Where the film most flagrantly departs from history is in the interaction of some of the characters, depicting for example a sexual liaison between Lord Cardigan and Fanny Duberly, something which never happened. Made in the late 1960's the film had a very definitely anti-imperialistic ideological agenda, but is still a worthwhile depiction of the mid-Nineteenth Century British Army at war. Trevor Howard is excellent as a blockhead Lord Cardigan.

Rating:
Summary: Forgotten epic...
Review: A 1968 production, "The Charge of the Light Brigade" is both epic, and odd.

Made during the twilight of the epic film (when the studios were finally starting to realize they were going to lose the audience wars with television), this is a unique film that does not in any way say "Hollywood".

The picture is a British affair, and very anti-war. Much time is devoted to showing the pomposity and ignorance of the ruling class, who think that war is a wonderful enterprise full of glory and honor. More thought is given to not ruffling the feathers of political allies than it is to drawing up battle plans.

The film has a very strange atmosphere. It's part documentary, part soap opera, part auteur classic. The film has a hint of Peter Greenaway's work about it, with odd character interaction, and a strange voyeuristic feel. On top of that, there are odd animated segments sprinkled throughout the picture that express the patriotic fervor and thinking of the day. Now, all that may sound like a negative criticism, but the film, despite the stranger elements on display, is very compelling, and seems to be very accurate in regards to the events and atittudes of the men involved.

The highlight of the film is, of course, the Charge of the Light Brigade against heavily fortified Russian positions. The ignorance and incompetence of the commanders still persists even in the face of tragic disaster. The film is a very strong dissertation on the stupidity and the cause and effect of war, using the famous Crimean battle as a foundation.

And the charge itself? Brilliantly brought to the screen by director Richardson.

Rating:
Summary: (...) is all wrong here!
Review: The four stars are NOT for the film with Errol Flynn ,BUT for the 1968 British film by Tony Richardson featuring John Gielgud, Trevor Howard, Vanessa Redgrave and David Hemmings.
There can be no doubt (...) got it all wrong here!
This film is well worth seeing,although it is not a remake of the Curtiz film! It's a more accurate account of the actual facts, all done in the line of the British cinema and it's love for historic detail.

Rating:
Summary: I read the book and I find the video very good
Review: The book, The Reason Why, was great. It is too bad that a movie could not be made closer to the book, but I don't think that would be possible. As it is, the movie presents enough to let the viewer know what happened, and in a very interesting way. Of course, the romance was added, but still a great movie, and an accurate portrayal.

Rating:
Summary: Where was Lord Look-On..?
Review: Simply put, this has got to be one of 'the' best big screen dramatisations of war in the Victorian era. It knocks spots off Zulu (how can you even think of depicting Chard and Bromhead without their characteristic handlebar moustaches? )

The casting is superb. Gielgud is brilliant as the well-meaning but ineffectual & absent-minded Commander-In-Chief, Lord Raglan. Harry Andrews glowers and booms as Lord "Look-On", Lieutenant General of the Cavalry Division. Trevor Howard "is" the irrascible Lord Cardigan (quote of the month about his "cherry bums": "If they can't fornicate they can't fight, and if they can't fight I'll flog their backsides raw for all their fine looks!")David Hemmings provides the requisite "dash and fire" as the ill-fated Nolan.

This movie is very clever, setting the scene in England first by illustrating the differences between the genteel and idle lives of the officers and the sordid lives of the common troopers. There is also an interesting sub-plot to do with the breaking to the ranks of a Sergeant Major.

The depiction of military folly, absurd rivalries and infighting amongst Raglan's senior officers, sickness and disease whilst campaigning and of course such battle sequences as the taking of the river Alma, really make this movie. It's marred only by some very stupid sub plots concerning Lord Cardigan's supposed affair with Mrs. Duberly, as well as Hemming's own adulterous affair with the Vanessa Redgrave character, which - aside from illustrating some obscure point about Victorian morality & sexual repression - I couldn't figure out what was the point!

The sequences of the actual charge "into the valley of death" could have been dealt with better and the film comes to a strange and abrupt ending right afterwards. However, minor quibbles aside, as a military history buff I was impressed by how accurate the film-maker attempted to be when depicting the sequence of events, from the heart-failure of the French commander, to Ragland's insistence on husbanding his cavalry brigades to the derision of the rest of the army, to the refusal of Sir Colin Campbell to form his men up shortly before the battle of Balaclava.

And who could forget the splendid Victorian cartoon animated sequences!

They really ought to make a movie of Flashman At The Charge next, I think.

Rating:
Summary: My favourite Military Film
Review: Each time I see this film, I notice something else,whether it be the sailor lifting the Highlander's kilt or the correct uniform of the Royal Horse Artillery gunners at Calamity Bay. The film is a good source of information for the Military History Buff and although Tony Richardson was given the correct details of the uniforms of the Light Brigade(which he obviously chose to ignore)the accounts at The Alma and the indignities suffered by the rank and file are factural. Magnificent Battle scenes make this a far better movie than the poor Errol Flynn film.What would have made this film better would have been including the cut out footage of the Charge of the Heavy Brigade. This footage could have replaced the silly (untrue)seduction scenes of Fanny Duberly and Lord Cardigan. I look forward to seeing a further remake some day, with everything correct, including the thin red line, The Charge of the Heavy Brigade and finally The Charge of the Light Brigade, maybe titled BALAKLAVA. Much the same way as Zulu and Zulu Dawn. Let's hope its not too long.

Rating:
Summary: room for improvement,but historically more accurate .
Review: a fine anti war costume drama.no glory to be found in this charge,only brutality,incompetance and death.all war movies should follow this film's example(and 84 charlie mopic)

Rating:
Summary: Entertaining film, but confused history
Review: The Charge of the Light Brigade is a very interesting and exciting film. Relying heavily on Cecil Woodham-Smith's book, "The Reason Why", it presents a very thorough look at public attitudes toward the war and the life of the common soldier. Trevor Howard is magnificent in his portrayal of the pompous Lord Cardigan. Historically speaking, however, many incidents or quotes are attributed to the wrong character in an apparent effort to bolster the main characters in the film. With explanatory interruptions, the film could be an invaluable visual aid to anyone teaching the history of this period. END

Rating:
Summary: A truly great film on a disappointing DVD
Review: The Charge of the Light Brigade is one of those films that disappointed me on a first viewing (like many, I was expecting an epic adventure film) but which I love more each time I see it.

Charles Wood's delicious use of language makes the dialog a joy to listen to, and for the most part the performances do it justice - not just the likes of Trevor Howard, Harry Andrews and John Gielgud's delightfully vague Lord Raglan, but also the smaller roles like Norman Rossington's broken Sergeant and Alan Dobie's impoverished officer Mogg, who makes up in jovial and ignorant arrogance what he lacks in wit. It's an astonishingly ambitious film, and for the most part succeeds, painting a portrait not just of a time and place but a whole state of mind - it's not just the bungles of the Crimean War and the casual cruelty of the army in Richardson's sights but the blind stupidity of Britain's entire Victorian class system.

The film is even brave enough to have its nominal hero, David Hemmings' Captain Nolan, be as inadvertently unsympathetic as the superiors he rails against - he might seem more enlightened, but he'll still thoughtlessly finish off his men's breakfast (in one of several scenes cut for this DVD) or push away a wounded soldier. As careless with his men as Raglan is, you can see his point when he dreads the day when professional soldiers like Nolan will run a modern army - "It will be a sad day for England when her armies are led by men who know too well what they are doing- it smacks of murder."

Perhaps it's that lack of someone to root for that helped kill the film at the box-office (along with Richardson's refusal to have press screenings because he felt critics were not intelligent enough to appreciate the film), but I'd still love to see the four-hour rough cut footage emerge from its prison in the BFI's vaults some day. Several stills exist of deleted scenes (such as Cardigan's encounter with Russian troops on his return from the charge: they let him go in respect of his rank in reality) and although his part as a Russian Prince was otherwise completely cut, Laurence Harvey can still be briefly glimpsed in the theatre scene (along with Donald Wolfit playing MacBeth).

What gaps were left by the cuts and budget restrictions (not that the film isn't genuinely spectacular) are admirably filled in by Richard Williams stunningly imaginative and witty animation - old woodcut prints come to life as the British lion puts on his policeman's helmet to stop Russia assaulting Turkey - and John Addison's magnificent score. Amazingly, the pity of it all is not lost under the wit, with the starkest of endings as the generals argue over whose fault it is while flies buzz around dead horses. A truly great film.

Sadly, this is not a great DVD.

The transfer is for the most part fine, but the animation sequences and the all but unreadable credits do suffer. What really disappoints is the fact that, like the previous laserdisc issue, this is a heavily cut version missing some 6-7 minutes. The ommission of Vanessa Redgrave's horrendous singing may be a merciful release, but the ommission of a reel from the Crimea scenes (including the flogging scene of a sentry who inadvertently shot at Raglan and Cardigan subsequently rewarding the flogged man for his bravery) are definitely not. The only extra is a trailer.

Sadly, it appears that despite releasing a video of the longer version (minus a few seconds of vicious horsefalls), the BFI's R2 DVD is the same cut version, albeit with slightly better extras (an interview with Richard Williams and a silent version of the Charge). Very disappointing.