10 Blood-Stirringly Epic Cinematic Charges

2. The Charge Of The Light Brigade (1936)

The Charge: The Charge of the Light Brigade

In 1852, during the height of the Crimean war, British cavalry charged against a Russian battery placement across an open field due to miscommunicated orders. The result is one of the most infamous military blunders, which was then immortalised forever by Alfred Tennyson in his poem, The Charge of the Light Brigade. This 1936 adventure film, starring Errol Flynn and Olivia de Havilland, is based upon the real life event but takes heavy influence from Tennyson’s poem, which results in a powerful piece of cinema, poetically capturing the bravery of the men as well as the futility of the charge.

Errol Flynn, as the heroic Major Geoffrey Vickers, leads the charge. Hundreds of horses flood the valley and come under fire from the Russian cannons. Men and horses alike are slain, but onwards the cavalry charges, urged forward by Vickers. The pace is thrilling, the camera darting back and forth between the action as cannons fire, men fall, and horses charge. Bolstered by Max Steiner’s dramatic score, this is perhaps one of the most influential charge scenes in cinematic history.

Unfortunately, despite its cinematic excellence, this scene has become as famous for its animal cruelty. Using over 125 horses to film the scene, the production utilised trip wires to make the horses fall, which resulted in the death of 25 horses. Rightly so, it was very controversial at the time of release and led to many reforms to prevent animal cruelty on film sets. Although tragic, it is arguable that this element of realism is what makes the scene so visceral, actually seeing the physicality of the charge.