There are short kings, and then there are short kings — the ruthless dictator Napoleon Bonaparte, rumored to be somewhere in the neighborhood of 5 feet 6 inches, was very much the latter. But there was absolutely nothing short about director Ridley Scott’s reimagining of the famous Frenchman, which was simply titled “Napoleon” and went on to garner mixed reviews upon its release in theaters late last year. Our own Chris Evangelista wrote in his review that the compromised theatrical cut “feels like it only scratches the surface. It’s a CliffsNotes tour through the life of Napoleon Bonaparte.” That might seem paradoxical for an historical drama clocking in at 157 minutes long, but most agreed that the film only ever breezed through the major highlights of Napoleon’s military campaign and personal life with his lover Joséphine (Vanessa Kirby), otherwise leaving all sorts of nuance and depth on the cutting room floor.
Today’s news takes one step closer to giving us the epic that Scott originally envisioned. If you remember, the notoriously grumpy filmmaker somewhat undercut the debut of his own film by revealing that a four hour-long extended cut was in the works, with diehards like us anxiously awaiting updates on when that might finally come to pass. Well, all these months later, it’s finally happening … though it’s not quite the supersized director’s cut we were promised. Read on for all the details!
Ridley Scott’s extended cut of Napoleon is now streaming on Apple TV+
Today, Apple TV+ announced that the official director’s cut of “Napoleon” is now available to stream for subscribers, complete with an additional 48 minutes of never-before-seen footage. (For those who struggle with math like me, that amounts to an expanded runtime of roughly three and a half hours.) That ought to go a long way towards fleshing out director Ridley Scott and writer David Scarpa’s rather exaggerated take on the historical figure, which was filled with silly asides like Napoleon screaming at Englishmen for bragging about having boats or his downright pathetic attempts to solicit sex from his wife Joséphine or that ahistorical moment where his army fires cannonballs at the pyramids of Giza. (Don’t worry, history buffs, the show-stopping Battle of Austerlitz on that frozen lake did actually occur, at the very least.)
The streamer also released a new trailer celebrating the announcement, which you can watch below.
This new version has been retitled as “Napoleon: The Director’s Cut” and will include more footage dedicated to Joséphine, Napoleon’s ill-advised invasion of Russia and his subsequent downfall, and even an entire battle sequence that was excluded from the theatrical cut. According to the press release, “The director’s cut delves deeper into Josephine’s origin story and features more extravagant costumes, new larger-than-life sets, and the previously unreleased Battle of Marengo scene. The audience is also given more details about Napoleon’s demise, from his attempted assassination to his failed invasion of Russia.” Yeah, that sounds like a whole lot of backstory and context that probably should’ve been included the first time around, especially for a movie that basically went straight to streaming!
I, for one, welcome every second of new footage about our short, would-be French overlord.
