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The Charge of the Light Brigade

Play trailer Poster for The Charge of the Light Brigade PG-13,  1968,  2h 8m,  History/ Drama Play Trailer Watchlist
Stream Now Watchlist 60% 5 Reviews Tomatometer 60% 1,000+ Ratings Popcornmeter
60% Tomatometer 5 Reviews 60% Popcornmeter 1,000+ Ratings
During the Crimean War between Britain and Russia in the 1850s, a British cavalry division, led by the overbearing Lord Cardigan (Trevor Howard), engages in an infamously reckless strategic debacle against a Russian artillery battery. An inept chain of command and the arrogance of the aristocratic officers nearly destroys the brigade. Interpersonal wars within the unit, including unfaithful wives and a rivalry between Lord Cardigan and Captain Nolan (David Hemmings), heighten the conflict.
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Critics Reviews

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Eddie Harrison film-authority.com Feb 18, 2022
4/5
a politically astute look at failure and blame deserves better than a rather musty reputation suggests Go to Full Review
Penelope Houston The Spectator Jul 12, 2018
It is pretty, but how much of it is relevant? Go to Full Review
Ken Hanke Mountain Xpress (Asheville, NC) Aug 4, 2010
4.5/5
The Charge of the Light Brigade now seems brilliant and to the point. Go to Full Review
Emanuel Levy EmanuelLevy.Com Jun 11, 2005
2/5
Filmcritic.com Jun 19, 2001
2.5/5
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Audience Reviews

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Albus M Mar 30, 2018 Good battle scenes conflict with a slow-moving storyline.
Hagrid M Jul 29, 2017 This isn't a bad film. It's a Far Cry from the 1936 version, both films being very different from each other. it reminded me of Zulu Dawn in many ways except The Charge of the Light Brigade is probably slightly better. Both films start off slow then speed up towards the end as the battles begin. See more
Han S Apr 25, 2017 The (in)famous Charge of the Light Brigade during the Crimean War. Starting from several months earlier, we see the potential origins of and background to the debacle, as seen through the eyes of one of the chief orchestrators of it, Captain Lewis Nolan. Decent but disappointing. The amount of time devoted to the battle, and even the Crimean War itself, is quite limited, around 30-40% of the movie. Instead what we have is a lot of time spent on background and, although some of it is necessary, it is vastly overdone, taking about the first hour or so. These scenes have some interesting sub-plots and do show well the relationships that would doom the brigade, but have a lot of padding and is often quite dull. Plus we go into Nolan's private life and relationships, an area that was unnecessary, uninteresting, badly done and boring. Then there's the segue-providing animation that probably require you to be high to appreciate (well, the movie was made in 1968) - random and often nonsensical. Sort of reminded me of Terry Gilliam's cartoons in Monty Python episodes, except that there they were funny and made more sense. The dullness and inanity of the first 60-70% or so is made up for by the battle scenes of the remainder. Very accurate depiction of what occurred, especially the command issues and communication breakdown that lead to the disaster. The last bit also reminds you how much potential the movie had. By cutting out the fluff from the first half and adding in a more complete picture of the Battle of Balaclava, especially things like the Charge of the Heavy Brigade and the defensive stand by the 93rd Highland Regiment ("The Thin Red Line"), this could have been a great movie. At least this isn't as bad as the 1936 version of The Charge of the Light Brigade, starring Errol Flynn, though would take a lot to be that bad. The 1936 version totally rewrote the history of the charge, it was that contrived and inaccurate. See more
Albus W Apr 20, 2017 While the film takes some liberties with the true event, the film works brilliantly as a broad satire of war, as illustrated by Richard Williams' strange and dreamlike animations. See more
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The Charge of the Light Brigade

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Movie Info

Synopsis During the Crimean War between Britain and Russia in the 1850s, a British cavalry division, led by the overbearing Lord Cardigan (Trevor Howard), engages in an infamously reckless strategic debacle against a Russian artillery battery. An inept chain of command and the arrogance of the aristocratic officers nearly destroys the brigade. Interpersonal wars within the unit, including unfaithful wives and a rivalry between Lord Cardigan and Captain Nolan (David Hemmings), heighten the conflict.
Director
Tony Richardson
Producer
Neil Hartley
Production Co
United Artists
Rating
PG-13
Genre
History, Drama
Original Language
English
Release Date (Streaming)
Sep 16, 2008
Runtime
2h 8m
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