Ridley’s Scott’s ‘Napoleon’ Said to be a “Masterpiece” by Viewer at Test-Screening

Ridley Scott’s “Napoleon” stunned an L.A. moviegoer last night. He’s calling Scott’s epic a “masterpiece.” The film was test-screened at The Grove in Los Angeles last night.

Judging by this reaction, and the fact that not much editing needs to be done, you’d think Apple would want to release this one as their main contender this year instead of “Emancipation,” alas I don’t think that’s going occur. Anyway, here’s the reaction:

“It’s 150 minutes. Covers the sweep of Napoleon's life from his promotion around the time of the revolution, to the end. I think it’s bigger, better and MORE PSYCHOLOGICAL than Scott’s epics like Kingdom of Heaven and Gladiator. Also more political. I think the picture is a masterpiece, or very nearly one. It's the culmination of Ridley's life's work as a filmmaker. His staging of battle scenes on a near-cosmic scale is mind-blowing. Joaquin gives a Brando-like performance, taking some very big risks, and at times verging on the absurd, but always taking the audience with him. As a movie about a nationalist in a time of chaos and disintegration who thinks in terms of pure power, it has a lot of parallels to 2022. It's a great movie and I'll be surprised if there is anything better released in 2023.”

From what I heard a few months back, Apple wants to release “Napoleon” in the summer of 2023. Given that rumors are pointing to “Killers of the Flower Moon” being launched at next year’s Cannes Film Festival, would Apple also want to also world premiere Scott’s film on the Croisette?

Scott has been hit and miss for most of his entire five-decade career, but he’s one of the all-time greats. He’s automatically an all-timer just for “Alien,” “Blade Runner,” “The Duellists,” “Thelma and Louise,” “Gladiator,” “Black Hawk Down,” and “American Gangster.” Not mention his underrated works such as “Matchstick Men,” “The Last Duel,” “Kingdom of Heaven,” and, yes, even “Prometheus.”

I’ve been emailing back and forth with this attendee, trying to get more details on this one. The cut shown is said to be around 2 and a half hours. I’ll be updating this post with more details to follow …