Good concept, poorly executed.

Good films always raise compelling questions, whether the format is fiction or documentary fact.

Exactly the movie you think it is, but not the movie you want it to be.

By the time the dramatic fireworks start popping off, each one feels earned.

I really should hate this film. Like other Flynn films of the time, most notably "They Died With Their Boots On", it plays fast and loose with the known facts of a historical event to the extent of creating a fictitious pretext for the actual charge of the Light Brigade itself and creating imaginary characters like Flynn's Major Vickers and Indian warlord Surat Khan as the main protagonists in the battle, even the Chikoti massacre which triggered the bloody conclusion is based on events which happened three years after the Battle of Balaklava. More importantly, the now known facts about the production's incidental slaughter of numerous horses in the climactic battle scenes can make it somewhat distressing to view, as I found myself inadvertently watching for the deadly trip-wires which sent so many of them to a no doubt nasty death.That's a lot to put aside but still I can't help but admit that this is another golden-age Hollywood classic, utterly entertaining in the "Boy's Own" tradition of so many great films of that era, many of them of course synonymous with Flynn as the leading man. Here, he's at his dashing best as the honourable Major Vickers, for once giving up the love of his betrothed, the ever-present Olivia De Havilland in favour of his weedy brother, in a turn of events as hard to believe as anything else in the fanciful script, who, to revenge the slaughtered innocents by the barbarous Khan, countermands official orders to lead the suicidal attack of his brave 600 cavalrymen into the valley of death, where Flynn inevitably expires in the knowledge that he has at least avenged Khan personally.Excusing director Curtiz's heartless treatment of the poor horses, one can't deny his ability in managing the sheer spectacle of both the massacre at Chikoti and especially the final carnage at Balaklava. In the days before C-Gen special effects capable of creating imaginary thousands in battle, here you actually see, especially in the long-shots, the actual blood and thunder of war in the raw, which makes the heart race just to watch it.Flynn is of course imperious as the gallant Vickers and there's good support for him too in the familiar forms of De Havilland, Nigel Bruce and in a fairly brief role, the young David Niven. No, they don't make them like this anymore, thankfully in respect of the treatment of animals on set, but regrettably in terms of sheer action and story-telling.

The Hollywood studio system's conglomerate of talent was starting to coalesce in the mid to late 1930's into a near perfect production machine of a manufactured communal art form. At times the result could be a dazzling demonstration of the Dream Factory's ability to entertain the masses with a film such as this.A slick, glossy, and proud presentation of an historical event, wrapped in Tinsel Town glitter that reflected its lack of concern for accuracy. It did concern itself with the propaganda potential of mass communication and used it with impunity.What a wonderful looking film. The handsome actors and the sprawling finale that, to this day, still manages to get the heart racing. The lavish costumes and impeccable camera work. The rousing musical score and some very realistic "horror of war" scenes despite the restrictions of the new Hays code. You could call this magnificent and it would not be hyperbole.Yes, there is a racist tone and British Colonialism and subjugation is accepted and even honored. But not that much has really changed, even today, has it? We still use the media to exploit political positions and to propagandize.So turn down the lights, draw the curtains, crank up the sound and let the Dream Factory do what the Dream Factory does. Hooray for Hollywood.

I give it a decent grade for action and drama. But like the poem of the same name, the movie glorifies a fine example of stupidity. The charge accomplished nothing militarily. While the brigade was not completely destroyed, it suffered terribly, with 118 men killed, 127 wounded and about 60 taken prisoner. After regrouping, only 195 men still had horses. The futility of the action and its recklessness prompted the commanding French Marshal Pierre Bosquet to state: "It is magnificent, but it is not war. It is madness." The Russian commanders believed that the British soldiers were drunk.So, the next time someone says, "Ours is not to reason why, ours but to do & die," remind them that it's from a poem about a military suicide run.

I just watched it again--I am now 83. I was unhappy with it the first time because I wanted to see something accurate about the Charge of the Light Brigade, not a made up tale. Even the India part of the film was hash, although I did recognize some scraps of history in it. I can be a little kinder to the film now, Errol Flynn was braver and braver as we expected of him! I think the Charge scene is a bit overrated--check it against the Charge Scene in the 1968 GB version--you can hear the Horses scream! That ought to be enough reality for anyone! I won't watch it again. Errol Flynn was the perfect Robin Hood--that is the film I remember him for.