Charge of/Brigade

The costumes are just unbelievable. There are literally thousands of actors and extras in the movie, all in historically correct livery. The battle scenes alone are worth the price of the DVD. I marveled at the attention of detail and huge spectacle displayed on the screen.

On the other hand, movie is a bit heavy handed in its treatment of the politics of the period. For example, there are several sections where the action switches to animated sequences. These segments both explain some of the overall political situation while providing a simplistic, but biting satire of the whole colonial British ambition.

The attitudes and behavior of the British Officer corps and upper class in general are savagely treated. Scene after scene depicts British upper class stupidity. From the officer who insists on finishing his soft boiled egg instead of leading his troops at a critical point in battle to Lord Cardigan's kinky one night stand with a junior officer's wife on the eve of the battle, the movie goes to great length to destroy the credibility of the British officer class. With such petty buffoons running the show, it's hard to imagine how the British built such a vast and wealthy empire.

For background sets, unifroms and period feel this movie has few equals. Only the 1968 Waterloo movie can compare with its sets and costumes. The historical accuracy of these sorts of things is what maks this movie a visual treat. The storyline itself is a little hard to follow at times. Depictions of regimental life in the cavalry is excellent, but the Britishisms of the actors are also hard to understand. The story provides striking contrasts between the upper and lower classes in Victorian England, but the droppy romance between Captain Noland and Captain Morris's wife seems contrieved. Although both actual characters, I doubt they knew each other so well, as they were both in different regiments. The adulturous affair is added for plots sake.

Lord Cardigan is brilliantly played by Trevor Howard, although a number of his famous controversial "Black Bottle" scenes have been combined and attributed to Noland and him. Again this didn't happen, but it is a minor alteration for plot and it does not hurt the movie. It allows us to still see the characters of Cardigan and Noland accurately within the context of the film.

Lord Raglan in all his feebleness is also wonderfully portrayed by Sir John Gielgud. The movie accurately shows the Victorian mindset of the British army which was shockingly conservetive but incredibly brave. More details on the battle of the Alma as as well as the events leading up to the Charge at Balaklava would have been nice. Perhaps the editing axed out the Charge of the Heavy Briagde and the 93rd Highlanders Thin Red Line. These episodes would have placed the Light Brigade Charge in better perspective.

Still, the depiction of the charge is extremly good and must rank as one the best shown on film. The fact that the director actually used 600 men and horses for the scene is an indication of how much detail was used for this film. This kind of production value is not seen much these days. Cinema and history buffs should love this movie. It deserves to be watched several times as dialogue and rich scenes should be savored over and over again. This movie is crying out for a directors cut DVD or VHS edition as there must be a lot of footage that was removed.