Austerlitz

This ambitious effort from Abel Gance deals with the same period in French history as his brilliant silent epic NAPOLEON, focusing on the titanic battle between the "emperors"' armies and their overwhelming opposition. Although there is an undeniable grandeur to THE BATTLE OF AUSTERLITZ, it is nearly impossible to judge Gance's original intent in its radically edited (read `shred to ribbons') videocassette format. Even the battle scenes (which were so stunning in NAPOLEON) are disjointed and meaningless here. The $4-million price tag for this opus was staggering at the time, nearly bankrupting its producers, yet today one can pick up a public domain copy of the vid...