I think the only way to make a good feature-length film about Napoleon is to choose a particular episode of his life and focus on that. You can't cram in any more than that and also make a good historical film. It doesn't work.

"You think you're so great because you have knowledge of History!" - Ridley Scott probably

I wish we got a Game of Thrones style show for the Napoleonic Wars. It would feature the politics, diplomacy and intrigue paired with epic set pieces covering the conflict over many seasons, I think it'd be brilliant if done well.

one positive of Ridley Scott's approach to historical accuracy is that, in comparison, he has managed to make Mel Gibson appear as a peer-reviewed history don at Oxford. A statement I never expected to be able to make.

I sometimes wonder what a 3 movie trilogy covering Napoleon's 1814 campaign would look like.

Since the movie seemed to tell the story through the eyes of a salacious British tabloid, what I think it needed was a British newspaper writer as a narrator to tie it together going to the headline along with a cartoon which dissolves into the scene, this makes clear the fiction, the story tracking the writer and the British publics relationship with napoleon with political patrons sharing information and expectations of the spin they want put on it to control the public, showcasing the patrons fears which guide how the public represented by two readers must be manipulated to avoid the fears by changing their perceptions.

"You think you're so great because you have boats!" was the single greatest movie moment I witnessed in 2023. How dare you slander such perfection!

Why is that so many "amateurs" can produce better ideas in their spare time than so-called "professionals" who are paid obscene amounts of money...

It's hard to believe the man who made Napoleon is the same man who made The Duelists

This video makes me so terribly sad. I want to watch this movie (your version, I mean) so badly. Someone give Greg 200 million dollars please.

This reminds me of discussions I had with some of my fellow history teachers regarding Steven Spielberg's movie Lincoln starring Daniel Day-Lewis in the title role. This was a biopic that really only focused on the last 4 months of Lincoln's life and his efforts to win ratification of the 13th Amendment and end the Civil War. One of my colleagues was disappointed that the film didn't cover more of Lincoln's life and political career. I argued, as Greg does here regarding Napoleon, that moviegoers actually got a deeper understanding of Lincoln's political genius and moral character by narrowing the focus onto one particular dramatic event from his presidency rather than trying to tell his entire life story. It's the old maxim: when you try to cover everything, you wind up understanding nothing.

I always thought a mini-series following a group of Napoleon's soldiers who eventually are brought into the Old Guard would be great. That way you still see Napoleon and his Generals, as well as the pivotal battles, but it would be more-so shaped around their ferocious belief in him, only to end up being killed at Waterloo wondering what it was all worth as Napoleon flees from the battlefield.

Not only was this a really interesting and compelling video essay, it was also really high quality. Props to everyone who worked on it!

The death of Prince Poniatowski is a great idea to show the international nature of the Grande Armé and to show the disastrous retreat off Leipzig. However, to give the impression of personal loss to Napoleon, I believe that the death of Marshall Bessières is more appropriate, because it shows how he died needlessly carrying out reconnaissance himself due to the lack of cavalry; while his death was blow to Napoleon, due to their connection. In my opinion, both tragedies could be featured, since both occurred during the battle of Leipzig or close to it.

I love the opening scene to the old Waterloo film, "Abdicated, abdicated, I will not!"

Fascinating proposition. I think you did a great job staying within the ‘notes’/structure restrictions the Director would have imposed yet still came up with a very interesting but much more focused and achievable film.

Napoleon would rather lose again at Waterloo than watch this film.

Greg, this was a fantastic video, and a great idea for a movie. The $250 millions you need to make it is in the mail. You will need a 60-second opening montage during the opening credits to get Napoleon to Russia - just flashes - and I would change your ending very slightly to him coming inside as the rain starts and examining a map so the camera can slowly pan in on the village of Waterloo. No dialogue would be needed at that ending beyond what you've written. Oh, we might have to change the title to "Napoleon and Ney." (And we have to keep Vanessa Kirby recast as Louisa. But you can dump Phoenix for someone else.)

Greg, please continue to produce these fantastic looks at historical movies. It’s really some of the best content on this channel. You’ve got a real talent for this.

Well summarized Greg! The limitations are realistic and your revision is exactly the type of movie I would love to see brought to screen. The revisions make a ton of sense for portraying the best and worst of Napoleon. And since we already have a Waterloo movie it makes sense to focus on this portion of his life. I only hope that Scarpa doesn't make Cleopatra a disaster as well.

Just finished watching the video. I initially subbed because I loved the 1813 wargaming campaign. When I saw this, I was instantly intrigued by the concept, and after finishing, I really enjoyed the video.

Napoleon and Josephine is an interesting story. Most wargamers just want the battles, but I would prefer a Game of Thrones style series focused on characters and politics.

Fascinated by your rewrite. As you say. there is no other individual in history (and I include religious figures and roman emperors) whose life could not be summarised easily in celluloid. Even Abel Gance's five (or is it seven) hour attempt only goes as far as 1796! Probably one of the most comprehensive production so far.

The ending for a part 2 would be interesting to show the fates of 3 Marshals; Ney, Bernadotte and Murat, Ney executed for devotion and as scapegoat, Murat for his greed in trying to retain the crown of Naples and Bernadotte being crowned King of Sweden. Each would require cameos during the film of course.

Excellent job Greg , your version would be far superior indeed. To truly make a movie at least capture the true essence of the character.

Now that's a movie I would fund! Well done Greg!

If I was to make a theme for a Napoleon show/movie I would portray it as what if Napoleon had writen about his life before he died like he said he would when in exile. He would act as the narrator of his life, giving context and presenting his true emotions over what he had done, his triumphs and mistakes, supported by a member of his Guard that came into exile with him and was with him from the start which allows him to add to the narative and context.

The best way to describe the original film is a first draft of a British fan fiction of Napoleon.

You are correct Greg, you should pick one Marshal to zoom in on and I think you've made the perfect choice. Bravo on this presentation!

my "idea" going into the movie was that it would be Napoleon retelling his greatest hits from exile on St Helena. that (to me) would explain the older Phoenix in scenes that took place early in his career. It also would account for jumping around the timeline. that was evidently not the case as soon as the movie opened

If I were a movie director, I would have to look back on the historical records, the dates, the ages of the historical characters, the accuracy of the weapons, clothes, places, and everything that will make a historical film very intriguing to watch.

The main issue with Scott's Napoleon is not its inaccuracies or choices of artistic deviation. It was simply bound to fail as a single movie. Napoleon's life, successes and impact on Europe has so much content that it simply can't fit into a single film. Either it should've been a film series or a full multi-season series, with each movie/season focusing on a campaigns or chapter of his life. Take a look at Waterloo (1970), which only focused on the Hundred Days

The main problem with this movie is that was made by people that really dislikes Napoleon. It is such a negative portrait that the audience should be surprised how he could achieve so much.

Brilliant I wish only your version gets done Forward immediately to Ridley

Kingdom of heaven: Director’s cut is an amazing movie with historical inaccuracies but it’s characters and narrative are talking about the world now, they’re a background for contemporary arguments/thought, at least that’s the way I view it. But Napoleon is a complete different monster such as you stated. I just wish they did these types of movies concentrating themselves on Rome, Ancient Greece, revolutionary France, etc. but they deserve and need a TV show or a miniseries, not movies!

This is excellent, well thought out. Great work.

Please do the sequel: WELLINGTON. Act 1- India. Act 2- Spain and Portugal. Act 3- Waterloo. You can even use Phoenix again!

I don't suppose you'll get a call from a big director/ producer but if you do i look forward to watching the final film.

I, for one, welcome LWTV's new era of movie essays

Well done! Really liked your analysis and plan for a rewrite. If I were a studio exec, I'd green-light this!

This was so high effort. Really good video!

I was expecting another video about the historical nature of the film (Not that there is anything wrong with that.) and was pleasantly suprised at this most unique video. Thumbs up for the passion as I imagine it must have been a lot of work.

Loved the video! And loved the movie you came up with! Would have loved to see it on screen. And yes, it sounds way better than the one just out.

Imagine a multi season tv show covering his entire life, it would be incredible with so much more depth than a single movie. imagine Vikings but Napoleonic.

A five hour "Director's Cut" won't un-frozen-lake Austerlitz, LOL

Awesome video, love all your content on history movies

Really incredible work in this video, from the contents to the presentation.

This is one of the best you tube videos I have ever seen. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

A lot of hard work and dedication went into this rewrite. Thanks for taking the time and sharing with us. I wonder how it might have worked if Scott had made the main character not Napoleon but a fictional character? In a turn like the excellent board game, Legion of Honor, we see Napoleon and the major historical players move through history but experience the story through our every man, a junior officer who rises up through the ranks and whose eventual demise is tied to Napoleon's hubris. It worked in Gladiator, and it obviously couldn't have hurt.

As a historian-to-be and history fanatic, shivers of joy were running down my spine hearing your version and your ideas for a Napoleon-movie 🥰 Just one minor change: I would change the death of prince Poniatovski with those of General Duroc or Mortier, which died just months before the battle of Leipzig, because they were both closer more intimate friends. Especially the death of Duroc through a canonball impected Napoleon, since it dragged on for two days. So Napoleon had to watch Duroc die a very painful and slow death.

Bravo Greg and Team! Well done. You always impress me as to how much you truly understand history.

I know Chalamet is busy with Dune but, the 28 year old French-American actor would’ve been perfect for a ‘two actor method’, Chalamet for the Italian campaign to Phoenix’s tired, aged Emperor Napoleon, struggling with gout.

Thanks for the vid, clearly our Gregg is a man of many talents. Maybe a cameo as the Tsar in this new release? Your take on films failure is spot on. If you want to do Napoleons rise and fall, a mini series is the way to go, plenty of everything that makes a good story present if well written and focussed and allowed enough time to tell. War and Peace redone recently managed that. But as per your challenge, if it has to be a film, then a much tighter focus is required and you ve clearly given some thought on how to achieve that. Well done

Great script Greg! Love your ending. I am glad to say that I correctly guessed your choices about time period, the opening scene and the main female lead before you revealed them. ❤🎉

"You think you're so great because you have boats!" show the greatest of British Navy and the insignificant of French/Napoleon,this makes British heart pumping with joy.

Outstanding video. Fun to watch. I think it would be a great movie.

It's absolutely baffling that ridley scott got someone so inexperienced as a writer for this.

Absolutely brilliant content!

Excellent screenwriter! The focus on 1812-14 is very interesting, however maybe the British/American public would miss the British in the movie. To characterize Napoleon as an evil leader I would focus on the Egyptian campaign which was deadly for the French soldiers and the people of Egypt too. So many battles, so bloody fightings. So evil orders in that campaign. The main character would be Kléber and his death a great ending especially if you compare it with the rise of Bonaparte at the same time. Cheers!

fascinating & educational. I learned so much about movie writing here.

I really liked this idea for a script. I too love Ridley Scott, and really wanted to see this on the big screen. Circumstances prevented that, and now I'm glad they did - I am not a big fan of ignoring History for the sake of Art. Some divergence yes (Gladiator), but not that much!

This is impressive. A solid outline on its own terms, but also a clever fix of everything wrong with Scott's film. Using the retreat from Moscow, the German Campaign of 1813, and Napoleon's first exile to structure the rising and falling action works very nicely. If you were to write a full draft, just remember: 'show, don't tell'. I like your use of novelistic prose, but it's something professional readers will often critique in a screenplay. You can almost always trim your action lines more than you think. Have you seen the Abel Gance film? It covers Napoleon's childhood, his return to Corsica, Toulon, 13 Vendémiaire, and ends with his entry into Italy in 1796. The chase sequence on Corsica has the most incredible wide shot. It's good stuff.

Actual Napoleonic history is amazing, intricate, compelling and full of everything a film could wish for. Why anyone, like Scott would think he could make something better, is an example of pure hubris.

damn good re-write, i was thinking for the opening sequence we can do the following (while taking a bit, but not too much historical liberty): 1) open in the middle of the battle of Berezina (can also put in some elements from the battle of krasny) - epic action + battle music 2) the main Russian force has arrived and began their assault on the French stragglers 3) Napoleon has already crossed the bridge, while Ney is still trapped on the far side 4) Ney rallies the men and announces that no fighting man is leaving alive and they shall all die here for the emperor 5) Miloradovich brags to Kutuzov that they shall have multiple French Generals as their prisoners tonight 6) with great reluctance the entire Young Guard division is sacrificed to hold off the Russian assault until sunset 7) Napoleon holds a council with his marshals to discuss the strategic situation that night - this can serve to provide more background: there might be a coup in Paris rumor is spreading that Napoleon has been captured or killed, Minsk where most of the French supply is stored has fallen to the Russians, Napoleon should abandon the army and travel secretly through Europe to Paris to rebuild the army etc

I'm fussy about video essays. Very. Fussy. And you nailed it. I especially agree on the importance of writing.

Favourite episode(s) definitely is this spring 1813 campaign. Love the strategic discussions and fog of war! Already started making my own hex map!

Great work Greg. Still haven’t seen the film and have no intention of wasting 2-4 hours of my life. But, your video was excellent and I agree what more interesting period to show Napoleon and his best and his worst!

This is brilliant, Greg. Really looking forward to seeing Spielberg's seven-part series. I have still not recovered from the shock of watching the 2023 film :)

Great proposals and ideas. That would be a great script. Maybe a few minor characters could appear too, with a minor role or at least mentioning indirectly: (1) Louis-Nicolas Davout (as a not much rewarded and yet best and most faithful general until the end), (2) André Masséna (as a great but cruel general, allowing for a reminder of previous Italian campaigns), (3) Joachim Murat (to represent Napoleon's nepotism), (4) Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington (also to mention his roles in Spain and that campaign which contributed to Napoleons real failures on land warfare), and (5) a reference to Horatio Nelson and British fleet's role in defeating Napoleon in reality. For all of them together, maybe just 15-20 more minutes - even with indirect reference in dialogues - would complete a bit the overall picture providing at least a minimal reference to British main role and their historical characters and facts, which are almost forgotten in Scott's movie.

As a novel writer of scifi epics I agree with this whole video! One day we may get a 3 hour movie going over Naploen's milltary career in it's entirty but the chances are very small that could ever happen with the 2023 movie's production value. Which your version would be epic and should have been 100% what the movie should have been.

Thanks for the video. I am really impressed by how you rewrite the script… and how that probably supports your other videos, I guess, explaining the high quality of Little Wars TV. But there is one issue: omitting Waterloo. As wargamer and hobby historian I understand. And agree. I fully agree. But, there is a but: a Hollywood movie like this needs things that the audience at large recognises, as you well put it at the start with the retreat from Russia. When I watched the movie I think, but didn’t check, that perhaps more than 90% of the audience had never heard of the battle of Leipzig. And they still didn’t as you rightly mention. I might well have been the only one missing it, amongst a lot of other things. There is no escaping Waterloo in any Hollywood movie on Napoleon. And I deliberately use the word “escape” because I would love to have it omitted. But we can’t. I think. Centuries of our educational system somehow… missed Leipzig. And the Prussians. And 1814… And… the list goes on… To most I think the sequence is: Berezina - Elba - Waterloo - St. Helena. And that is what is shown… And I understand this kills the option for sequel. But there too is a but. Hollywood already has found it for us: prequel!

If only Ridley Scott had had access to you. Well done, sir!

That's impressive, to go beyond criticism and show how it could be better. Great work Greg, that's the film I wish I'd seen!

Fantastic! Well done Greg! This actually made 30 minutes of the 3 hours I wasted late last year worth it because I could engage meaningfully with your rewrite. Here in the UK most Napoleonic Wargaming mostly centres around 100 days or the Peninsular so it is good to see the 1812-1814 period getting the love it deserves. A film like yours would bring this fantastic period of history to a wider audience. Given Oliver Stone’s treatment of history with Alexander it is a shame he didn’t do Napoleon - although who knows what accent he’d give a Corsican!

This is a great idea and already enjoy the opening scene more

Make this movie! Hire an artist to story board it like a comic book and voice actors to bring it to life.

Great video. I would love to see your script as an actual movie!!! What is the song at the intro?

Excellent work!!

Excellent stuff!

Very impressive work, Greg. Cheers! From a frenchy.

You nailed it. Your exercise makes so much sense & that's probably the problem. Too bad Ridley wasn't able to watch this video prior to his latest. Send Spielberg the video. You never know.

This is a film I need to see. Great job!

Great job, I would most certainly prefer your version over what I have seen of Ridley Scott's Napoleon. It always baffles and saddens me that Hollywood ignores real history full of all the drama and tragedy of the human experience.

This is masterful….great work!

Greg. This video was better than the movie! Two words:: crowd funding. You got this!

This movie needed a full rewrite! Good idea for a video.

I'd love to see this film. Really interesting take!

Well done Greg! I couldn’t bring myself to watch the film, but would certainly pay good money to watch your version. Thanks for an excellent video. Keith from UK.

I would love to see your script on the big screen. Nice work! The focus on Leipzig and its aftermath would be really interesting. Also... kudos for the original use of the "mot de Cambronne" ! 😄

Great stuff fellows, I loved it! My favorite this season, we'll of course the 1813 campaign

The movie ending with a Animal House-type ending crawl with what everyone did after the movie ended. Like Bernadotte becoming king, etc etc.

Dude if I was a billionaire I would throw $$$ at this script and sail it! Greg you have a gift sir! Love this channel gentlemen! Curious to you welcome wargamers into your club as guests? Would love to play with you guys sometime!

Excellent ... and sad too; your script is the movie we all wanted to see. I'm a huge Ridley Scott fan, but I have to remain silent if asked to defend 'Napoleon'. Well done to you Greg and the team.

fun fact Ridley is Diddy's neighbor. imagine skimming Nepoleon books while trying to ignore Diddy parties in the background.

Superb video, well done and explained. Greetings from (untouched, unmentioned in the film) Napoleon´s Spanish ulcer

absolutely splendid

Yes! Do a Kickstarter! Make the film! Little Wars Cinema! 😁

Greg, as a screenwriter I have to say you NAILED this as an idea. I’ve yet to see Scott’s film, regardless your idea is really solid! One of my favourite episodes: a lesson in history and art 👍🏼👍🏼

Greg, this is brilliant. I confess, when you signaled a "surprise" woman, I hoped it would be Madame Mere, his mother, such an anchor was she to his life. But your three women are far superior. [Though he was surrounded by women - his sisters should be mentioned.] Your choices are good ones - commanders like Ney can explain themselves to the viewer who doesn't know all the history. An actual plot: disillusionment! Man versus man, man versus himself. Betrayal. Abdication. There's more than one tragedy locked in this story.

Maria Louisa was a pawn in the game, IMHO. Exploring her emotional life would take you well beyond the end of your film, through her remarriage, the death of their son, and her life's end. Of all Napoleon's entourage, though, she strikes me as the only intellectual cipher. You give her a character arc better than she deserves, IMHO. I don't see leaving him as her own choice, but you could sell it. Good job!