At over £12 million, it was one of the most expensive films ever made at the time. Dino De Laurentiis had wanted to make it for 10 years, but his production company couldn't afford it. Then Mosfilm stepped in, contributing over £4 million, 20,000 soldiers, a full brigade of Soviet cavalry, and vast numbers of engineers and laborers to prepare locations and facilities for 48 days of shooting in the Ukraine. If it had been made in the West without the Red Army's assistance, it would have cost 3 times as much. To recreate the battlefield, the Soviets bulldozed 2 hills, deepened a valley, laid miles of roads, transplanted 5,000 trees, sowed fields of rye, barley, and wildflowers, and reconstructed 4 historic buildings. The production included Italian and Russian technicians, English and French advisors, Yugoslav stuntmen, and actors from America, Canada, England, Ireland, Italy, France, and Russia.
When filming Napoleon's abdication speech, producer Dino De Laurentiis ordered the cameraman not to load a new reel of film in order to save costs. The film ran out before Rod Steiger finished delivering his speech, and he was not pleased.
This historical war epic film was, at the time it was made, one of the most expensive pictures ever made.
The picture was a commercial failure. Producer Dino De Laurentiis blamed the poor performance on the film's lack of stars.
It was joked at the time that the director was in charge of the seventh largest army in the world.
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