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* SelfServingMemory: After dueling each other for nearly 15 years, Feraud has long forgotten the original cause of his quarrel with d'Hubert (who hasn't), which was Feraud feeling insulted when d'Hubert arrested him for another duel while Feraud was enjoying the company of a female host at her salon. When he's reminded of this by d'Hubert through an intermediate, he actually rewrites his own memory to make d'Hubert an outspoken anti-Bonapartist.
to:
* SelfServingMemory: [[PlayingWithATrope Implied]]. After dueling each other for nearly 15 years, Feraud has long forgotten the original cause of his quarrel with d'Hubert (who hasn't), which was Feraud feeling insulted when d'Hubert arrested him for another duel while Feraud was enjoying the company of a female host at her salon. When he's reminded of this by d'Hubert through an intermediate, he actually rewrites his own memory to make d'Hubert an outspoken anti-Bonapartist.
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* BadassMustache: Both of the leads. Also Badass Pigtails... what?
** BraidsOfAction: As cavalry officers (Hussars), they wear those elaborate braids (plaits) in front of the ears to reduce the damage of sword wounds to the head.
** BraidsOfAction: As cavalry officers (Hussars), they wear those elaborate braids (plaits) in front of the ears to reduce the damage of sword wounds to the head.
to:
* BadassMustache: Both of the leads. Also Badass Pigtails... what?
** BraidsOfAction: As cavalry officers (Hussars), they wear those elaborate braids (plaits) in front of the ears to reduce the damage of sword wounds to the head.Pigtails.
** BraidsOfAction: As cavalry officers (Hussars), they wear those elaborate braids (plaits) in front of the ears to reduce the damage of sword wounds to the head.
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* BraidsOfAction: As cavalry officers (Hussars), they wear those elaborate braids (plaits) in front of the ears to reduce the damage of sword wounds to the head.
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* SelfServingMemory: After dueling each other for nearly 15 years, Feraud has long forgotten the original cause of his quarrel with d'Hubert (who hasn't), which was Feraud feeling insulted when d'Hubert arrested him for another duel while Feraud was enjoying the company of a female host at her salon. When he's reminded of this by d'Hubert through an intermediate, he actually rewrites his own memory to make d'Hubert an outspoken anti-Bonapartist.
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* DoorSlamsYou: Feraud slams the door in front of d'Hubert when he tries to walk away from his challenge, not knowing (or likely caring) that his mistress gets hit by the door.
Deleted line(s) 62 (click to see context) :
* ThereWasADoor: Feraud slams the door in front of d'Hubert when he tries to walk away from his challenge, not knowing (or likely caring) that his mistress gets hit by the door.
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* BackToBackBadasses: [[PlayingWithATrope Enforced and subverted]] when the fifth duel is interrupted by Cussacks amid the snowy forests of western Russia. d'Hubert and Feraud abandon their duel and use their pistols to kill and/or route the Cussacks, creating one instance where they shoot the same enemy with opposite arms thereby spreading their backs against one-another. After they successfully route the Cussacks and agree to duel later, d'Hubert offers Feraud some liquor to celebrate their collaborative success, but Feraud almost completely ignores it.
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* WhiteShirtOfDeath
to:
* WhiteShirtOfDeathWhiteShirtOfDeath: Worn by both Feraud and d'Hubert during their [[SwordFight third duel]], so it follows that this is also their most gruesome and bloody duel. [[spoiler: Neither dies, though.]]
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Changed line(s) 29 (click to see context) from:
* GetItOverWith: [[spoiler:After d'Hubert wins the final duel, Feraud eggs him on to kill him. D'Hubert lets him live with his defeat instead.]]
to:
* GetItOverWith: [[spoiler:After d'Hubert wins the final duel, Feraud eggs incites him on to kill him. D'Hubert lets him live with his defeat instead.]]
Changed line(s) 58 (click to see context) from:
* TakeAThirdOption: d'Hubert does.
to:
* TakeAThirdOption: When the obvious choices are d'Hubert does.dies or Feraud dies, d'Hubert creates a third option [[spoiler: by winning the final duel: that they both live out the remainder of their lives free of one another, with Feraud unable to challenge him again]].
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Changed line(s) 25 (click to see context) from:
* FateWorseThanDeath: Near the end of the movie, d’Hubert tells Feraud: [[spoiler: "You are now my bitch!"]] in more polite, eighteenth-century terms.
to:
* FateWorseThanDeath: Near the end of the movie, d’Hubert tells Feraud: [[spoiler: "You are now my bitch!"]] in more polite, eighteenth-century nineteenth-century terms.
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Changed line(s) 14 (click to see context) from:
** As cavalry officers (Hussars), they wear those elaborate braids (plaits) in front of the ears to reduce the damage of sword wounds to the head.
to:
** BraidsOfAction: As cavalry officers (Hussars), they wear those elaborate braids (plaits) in front of the ears to reduce the damage of sword wounds to the head.
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* ThereWasADoor: Feraud slams the door in front of d'Hubert when he tries to walk away from his challenge, not knowing (or likely caring) that his mistress gets hit by the door.
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* CoveredInScars: The fencing master D'Hubert trains with so he'll be better prepared for his third duel.
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Changed line(s) 22 (click to see context) from:
* DisproportionateRetribution: :D'Hubert's patronising manner when sent to arrest him gets on Feraud's nerves, so he challenges him to a duel then and there, and keeps the feud going for decades.
to:
* DisproportionateRetribution: :D'Hubert's D'Hubert's patronising manner when sent to arrest him gets on Feraud's nerves, so he challenges him to a duel then and there, and keeps the feud going for decades.
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* DisproportionateRetribution: :D'Hubert's patronising manner when sent to arrest him gets on Feraud's nerves, so he challenges him to a duel then and there, and keeps the feud going for decades.
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* TheMedic: d'Hubert's friend Dr. Jacquin who he sends to tend to Fereaud after their first duel.
to:
* TheMedic: d'Hubert's friend Dr. Jacquin who he sends to tend to Fereaud Feraud after their first duel.
Changed line(s) 44 (click to see context) from:
* OneBulletLeft: The final duel is fought with each person having only two pistols.
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* OneBulletLeft: The final duel is fought with each person having only two pistols. Once the first shot is fired, they're down to this trope.
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Deleted line(s) 20 (click to see context) :
* {{Cossacks}}
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* FireForgedFriends: Averted; even fighting together though the frozen hell of Napoleon's retreat from Moscow isn't enough to make Feraud put aside his grievance.
to:
* FireForgedFriends: Averted; even fighting together though against {{Cossacks}} during the frozen hell of Napoleon's retreat from Moscow isn't enough to make Feraud put aside his grievance.
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* TheDeterminator: Feraud turns down several opportunities to end the feud in a face-saving manner.
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* OneBulletLeft: The final duel is fought with each person having only two pistols.
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* FireForgedFriends: Averted; even fighting together though the frozen hell of Napoleon's retreat from Moscow isn't enough to make Feraud put aside his grievance.
* MoodWhiplash
** The opening scene where the girl herding some geese runs into a menacing Hussar, who turns out to be acting as second to Feraud's duel.
** We jump right into the middle of the third duel, with [[CombatBreakdown both parties already exhausted and bloody.]]
** The opening scene where the girl herding some geese runs into a menacing Hussar, who turns out to be acting as second to Feraud's duel.
** We jump right into the middle of the third duel, with [[CombatBreakdown both parties already exhausted and bloody.]]
* TheReasonYouSuckSpeech: d'Hubert's girlfriend goes to Feraud at this camp the night before their second duel, telling him that he duels only to work out his spite on others.
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* WhiteShirtOfDeath
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* SpiritualSuccessor: To ''Film/BarryLyndon''.
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Not a trope.
Deleted line(s) 36 (click to see context) :
* NapoleonicWars
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Changed line(s) 41 (click to see context) from:
* TheQueensLatin: All the characters are French but most of the cast except the two American leads are British. Ridley Scott actually wanted the leads to be played by two established British actors, see WhatCouldHaveBeen on the Trivia tab.
to:
* TheQueensLatin: All the characters are French but most of the cast except the two American leads are British. Ridley Scott Creator/RidleyScott actually wanted the leads to be played by two established British actors, see WhatCouldHaveBeen on the Trivia tab.
Changed line(s) 46 (click to see context) from:
* SceneryPorn: Not just the exterior landscapes, but the interiors as well since Ridley Scott photographed them to look like still life paintings.
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* SceneryPorn: Not just the exterior landscapes, but the interiors as well since Ridley Scott Creator/RidleyScott photographed them to look like still life paintings.
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Two French cavalry officers in Napoleon's Grande Armeé have a disagreement. It can only be resolved, of course, with a duel. And another, and another, and another, as they meet half a dozen times over more than a decade. They duel with cavalry sabres, with smallswords, with pistols. Despite their failure to kill one another, the fiery Gabriel Féraud keeps challenging the cool, more rational Armand d'Hubert, long after Féraud has forgotten the original slight.
to:
Two French cavalry officers in Napoleon's Grande Armeé Armée have a disagreement. It can only be resolved, of course, with a duel. And another, and another, and another, as they meet half a dozen times over more than a decade. They duel with cavalry sabres, with smallswords, with pistols. Despite their failure to kill one another, the fiery Gabriel Féraud keeps challenging the cool, more rational Armand d'Hubert, long after Féraud has forgotten the original slight.
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The first part isn\'t really a spoiler.
Changed line(s) 22 (click to see context) from:
* DuelToTheDeath: [[spoiler:Subverted constantly, which is why they keep dueling. At the last duel, d'Hubert takes Feraud's shots and lives [[TakeAThirdOption but refuses to fire]] at all, meaning d'Hubert "owns" Feraud's life. And then he lets him go.]]
to:
* DuelToTheDeath: [[spoiler:Subverted Subverted constantly, which is why they keep dueling. At [[spoiler:At the last duel, d'Hubert takes Feraud's shots and lives [[TakeAThirdOption but refuses to fire]] at all, meaning d'Hubert "owns" Feraud's life. And then he lets him go.]]
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Changed line(s) 8 (click to see context) from:
RidleyScott's first feature film examines Féraud's consuming obsession, and d'Hubert's inability to say no to another potentially fatal challenge. The screenplay is based on the short story "The Duel" by Creator/JosephConrad. Winner of the Best Debut Film award at the 1977 Cannes Film Festival.
to:
* CruelMercy: [[spoiler:D'Hubert wins the final duel with Feraud with one bullet remaining. By the rule of combat Feraud's life now belongs to d'Hubert and he forces Feraud to finally submit to his notions of honor instead. Feraud is to leave d'Hubert alone forever and live out his life knowing that his archrival defeated him.]]
* GetItOverWith: [[spoiler:After d'Hubert wins the final duel, Feraud eggs him on to kill him. D'Hubert lets him live with his defeat instead.]]
Changed line(s) 26 (click to see context) from:
* HonorBeforeReason: A subversion in honor is what keeps Feraud to continue challenging d'Hubert even after he forgets the original insult.
to:
* HonorBeforeReason: HonorBeforeReason:
** A subversion in honor is what keeps Feraud to continue challenging d'Hubert even after he forgets the original insult.
** A subversion in honor is what keeps Feraud to continue challenging d'Hubert even after he forgets the original insult.
Changed line(s) 30 (click to see context) from:
* InHarmsWay: Seems to be the ''real'' reason for Feraud's constant duelling, both with d'Hubert and others. He's bored by the long lulls between fighting and looks for any excuse to fight someone.
to:
* InHarmsWay: Seems This seems to be the ''real'' reason for Feraud's constant duelling, both with d'Hubert and others. He's bored by the long lulls between fighting and looks for any excuse to fight someone. [[spoiler:When he no longer has anyone to fight at the end and is only an old forgotten General he looks like an empty shell.]]
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Shoehorned Example. May-September romances were judged to be a different trope.
Deleted line(s) 35 (click to see context) :
* MayDecemberRomance: d'Hubert is a couple of years older than Adele. Not that big an age difference but enough to make him reluctant to marry her at first.
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Moved to the Trivia tab.
Deleted line(s) 26,27 (click to see context) :
* HeyItsThatGuy: Pete Postlethwaite is giving d'Hubert's general a shave!
* HeyItsThatVoice: MikeHammer is the narrator!
* HeyItsThatVoice: MikeHammer is the narrator!
Changed line(s) 41,44 (click to see context) from:
* TheQueensLatin: All the characters are French but most of the cast except the two American leads are British.
** Ridley Scott actually wanted the leads to be played by two established British actors, see WhatCouldHaveBeen.
* RealLifeRelative: Keith Carradine's girlfriend at the time, actress Christina Raines was cast as d'Hubert's wife Adele.
** Ridley Scott cast his two sons as d'Hubert's young nephews.
** Ridley Scott actually wanted the leads to be played by two established British actors, see WhatCouldHaveBeen.
* RealLifeRelative: Keith Carradine's girlfriend at the time, actress Christina Raines was cast as d'Hubert's wife Adele.
** Ridley Scott cast his two sons as d'Hubert's young nephews.
to:
* TheQueensLatin: All the characters are French but most of the cast except the two American leads are British.
**British. Ridley Scott actually wanted the leads to be played by two established British actors, see WhatCouldHaveBeen.
* RealLifeRelative: Keith Carradine's girlfriend atWhatCouldHaveBeen on the time, actress Christina Raines was cast as d'Hubert's wife Adele.
** Ridley Scott cast his two sons as d'Hubert's young nephews.Trivia tab.
**
* RealLifeRelative: Keith Carradine's girlfriend at
** Ridley Scott cast his two sons as d'Hubert's young nephews.
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Moved to the Trivia tab.
Changed line(s) 57 (click to see context) from:
* WhatCouldHaveBeen: Ridley Scott wanted the two leads to be played by OliverReed and Michael York (Athos and d'Artagnan in ''Film/TheThreeMusketeers1973''), but the small budget and [[ExecutiveMeddling studio decisions]] forced him to choose from a list of less well-known but more affordable Hollywood actors.
to:
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Changed line(s) 19 (click to see context) from:
* CoolBigSis: D'ubert's sister Leonie.
to:
* CoolBigSis: D'ubert's d'Hubert's sister Leonie.
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[[quoteright:300:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/5149ZHCDVSL__SL500_AA300__9912.jpg]]
->''The duellist demands satisfaction. Honour, for him, is an appetite. This story is about an eccentric kind of hunger. It is a true story and begins in the year that Napoleon Bonaparte became ruler of France.''
-->-- '''Opening narration'''
Two French cavalry officers in Napoleon's Grande Armeé have a disagreement. It can only be resolved, of course, with a duel. And another, and another, and another, as they meet half a dozen times over more than a decade. They duel with cavalry sabres, with smallswords, with pistols. Despite their failure to kill one another, the fiery Gabriel Féraud keeps challenging the cool, more rational Armand d'Hubert, long after Féraud has forgotten the original slight.
RidleyScott's first feature film examines Féraud's consuming obsession, and d'Hubert's inability to say no to another potentially fatal challenge. The screenplay is based on the short story "The Duel" by Creator/JosephConrad. Winner of the Best Debut Film award at the 1977 Cannes Film Festival.
----
!!This film contains examples of:
* BarehandedBladeBlock: And why it's a really, really bad idea.
* BadassMustache: Both of the leads. Also Badass Pigtails... what?
** As cavalry officers (Hussars), they wear those elaborate braids (plaits) in front of the ears to reduce the damage of sword wounds to the head.
* BasedOnATrueStory: Conrad based his story on the real duels that two French Hussar officers fought in the Napoleonic era. Their names were Dupont and Fournier, whom Conrad disguised slightly, changing Dupont into D'Hubert and Fournier into Féraud.
* BeardOfEvil: Fouché (who was clean-shaven in real life).
* BlingOfWar
* CombatBreakdown: The third SwordFight goes on for so long the duellists are gasping for breath, propping themselves up on their swords, and occasionally mustering the strength to make wild roundhouse swings at each other. The duel is ended by their seconds when they discard their swords and just start [[WimpFight wrestling each other]].
* {{Cossacks}}
* DuelToTheDeath: [[spoiler:Subverted constantly, which is why they keep dueling. At the last duel, d'Hubert takes Feraud's shots and lives [[TakeAThirdOption but refuses to fire]] at all, meaning d'Hubert "owns" Feraud's life. And then he lets him go.]]
* FateWorseThanDeath: Near the end of the movie, d’Hubert tells Feraud: [[spoiler: "You are now my bitch!"]] in more polite, eighteenth-century terms.
* {{Flynning}}: Averted; see ImplausibleFencingPowers.
* FourStarBadass: After Napoleon's initial defeat and exile both d'Hubert and Feraud are promoted to brigadier general. Feraud remains loyal to Napoleon and fights with him when he returns and is finally defeated at Waterloo. d'Hubert joins the army of King Louis XVIII.
* GorgeousPeriodDress: Napoleonic uniforms and Empire waist gowns.
* HeyItsThatGuy: Pete Postlethwaite is giving d'Hubert's general a shave!
* HeyItsThatVoice: MikeHammer is the narrator!
* HonorBeforeReason: A subversion in honor is what keeps Feraud to continue challenging d'Hubert even after he forgets the original insult.
-->'''d'Hubert:''' He's most unreasonable!
-->'''Jacquin:''' The enemies of reason have a certain blind look. Feraud has that look, don't you think?
** d'Hubert also has his honor to think about, which is why he keeps ''accepting'' the foolish challenges. But d'Hubert [[spoiler:also keeps Feraud - who sided with Napoleon - from imprisonment after Waterloo, becoming essentially the last person left who cares about Feraud's fate.]]
* InHarmsWay: Seems to be the ''real'' reason for Feraud's constant duelling, both with d'Hubert and others. He's bored by the long lulls between fighting and looks for any excuse to fight someone.
* ImplausibleFencingPowers: Subverted. The duels are fairly realistic and often quite brief. {{Flynning}} is also avoided.
* KnewItAllAlong: After d'Hubert refuses to rejoin Napoleon when he escapes exile Feraud claims he knew d'Hubert was a traitor all along and that's why he challenged him to duel in the first place.
* NapoleonicWars
* TheMatchmaker: d'Hubert's older sister Leonie, who sets him up with his wife Adele.
* MayDecemberRomance: d'Hubert is a couple of years older than Adele. Not that big an age difference but enough to make him reluctant to marry her at first.
* TheMedic: d'Hubert's friend Dr. Jacquin who he sends to tend to Fereaud after their first duel.
* TheMountainsOfIllinois: The retreat from Moscow goes through a desolate mountain range (supposedly quite near to the Niemen).
* NonIdleRich: Adele's uncle, the Chevalier became a bootmaker after the FrenchRevolution. Even after the monarchy was restored and he became an aristocrat again he still makes boots and offers to do so for d'Hubert when he first meets him.
* TheQueensLatin: All the characters are French but most of the cast except the two American leads are British.
** Ridley Scott actually wanted the leads to be played by two established British actors, see WhatCouldHaveBeen.
* RealLifeRelative: Keith Carradine's girlfriend at the time, actress Christina Raines was cast as d'Hubert's wife Adele.
** Ridley Scott cast his two sons as d'Hubert's young nephews.
* RuleOfThree: Jacquin offers up three ways d'Hubert can avoid fighting Feraud again:
--> You cannot fight, one: if you're in different places. ''Physical impossibility''. Two: if you're of different rank. ''Breach of discipline''. And three: if the state is at war. Duels of nations take ''absolute precedence''.\\
Therefore, keep '''away''' from him. Keep '''ahead''' of him. Put your trust in Bonaparte!
* ScarsAreForever: Feraud has a scar on his right forearm from his first duel with d'Hubert. After he loses an arm wrestling match, he complains that his arm muscle "never healed properly" prompting him to challenge d'Hubert to a second duel.
* SceneryPorn: Not just the exterior landscapes, but the interiors as well since Ridley Scott photographed them to look like still life paintings.
* ShootTheMessenger: Feraud's original reason for wanting to kill d'Hubert is that the latter was sent to arrest him [[{{Irony}} for dueling]].
* ShownTheirWork: As cavalry officers, d'Hubert and Feraud wear elaborate braided hair over where their sideburns would be. This was done back in the day to reduce the damage of sword blows to the head.
* SwordFight: The first three duels between d'Hubert and Feraud.
* TakeAThirdOption: d'Hubert does.
* TarotTroubles: "The Two of Swords, reversed - strife without reason"
* ThemeTuneCameo: Jacquin plays the movie's theme on his flute at the end of a scene.
* VerbalTic: Feraud: "Lah!"
* WhatCouldHaveBeen: Ridley Scott wanted the two leads to be played by OliverReed and Michael York (Athos and d'Artagnan in ''Film/TheThreeMusketeers1973''), but the small budget and [[ExecutiveMeddling studio decisions]] forced him to choose from a list of less well-known but more affordable Hollywood actors.
----
->''The duellist demands satisfaction. Honour, for him, is an appetite. This story is about an eccentric kind of hunger. It is a true story and begins in the year that Napoleon Bonaparte became ruler of France.''
-->-- '''Opening narration'''
Two French cavalry officers in Napoleon's Grande Armeé have a disagreement. It can only be resolved, of course, with a duel. And another, and another, and another, as they meet half a dozen times over more than a decade. They duel with cavalry sabres, with smallswords, with pistols. Despite their failure to kill one another, the fiery Gabriel Féraud keeps challenging the cool, more rational Armand d'Hubert, long after Féraud has forgotten the original slight.
RidleyScott's first feature film examines Féraud's consuming obsession, and d'Hubert's inability to say no to another potentially fatal challenge. The screenplay is based on the short story "The Duel" by Creator/JosephConrad. Winner of the Best Debut Film award at the 1977 Cannes Film Festival.
----
!!This film contains examples of:
* BarehandedBladeBlock: And why it's a really, really bad idea.
* BadassMustache: Both of the leads. Also Badass Pigtails... what?
** As cavalry officers (Hussars), they wear those elaborate braids (plaits) in front of the ears to reduce the damage of sword wounds to the head.
* BasedOnATrueStory: Conrad based his story on the real duels that two French Hussar officers fought in the Napoleonic era. Their names were Dupont and Fournier, whom Conrad disguised slightly, changing Dupont into D'Hubert and Fournier into Féraud.
* BeardOfEvil: Fouché (who was clean-shaven in real life).
* BlingOfWar
* CombatBreakdown: The third SwordFight goes on for so long the duellists are gasping for breath, propping themselves up on their swords, and occasionally mustering the strength to make wild roundhouse swings at each other. The duel is ended by their seconds when they discard their swords and just start [[WimpFight wrestling each other]].
* {{Cossacks}}
* DuelToTheDeath: [[spoiler:Subverted constantly, which is why they keep dueling. At the last duel, d'Hubert takes Feraud's shots and lives [[TakeAThirdOption but refuses to fire]] at all, meaning d'Hubert "owns" Feraud's life. And then he lets him go.]]
* FateWorseThanDeath: Near the end of the movie, d’Hubert tells Feraud: [[spoiler: "You are now my bitch!"]] in more polite, eighteenth-century terms.
* {{Flynning}}: Averted; see ImplausibleFencingPowers.
* FourStarBadass: After Napoleon's initial defeat and exile both d'Hubert and Feraud are promoted to brigadier general. Feraud remains loyal to Napoleon and fights with him when he returns and is finally defeated at Waterloo. d'Hubert joins the army of King Louis XVIII.
* GorgeousPeriodDress: Napoleonic uniforms and Empire waist gowns.
* HeyItsThatGuy: Pete Postlethwaite is giving d'Hubert's general a shave!
* HeyItsThatVoice: MikeHammer is the narrator!
* HonorBeforeReason: A subversion in honor is what keeps Feraud to continue challenging d'Hubert even after he forgets the original insult.
-->'''d'Hubert:''' He's most unreasonable!
-->'''Jacquin:''' The enemies of reason have a certain blind look. Feraud has that look, don't you think?
** d'Hubert also has his honor to think about, which is why he keeps ''accepting'' the foolish challenges. But d'Hubert [[spoiler:also keeps Feraud - who sided with Napoleon - from imprisonment after Waterloo, becoming essentially the last person left who cares about Feraud's fate.]]
* InHarmsWay: Seems to be the ''real'' reason for Feraud's constant duelling, both with d'Hubert and others. He's bored by the long lulls between fighting and looks for any excuse to fight someone.
* ImplausibleFencingPowers: Subverted. The duels are fairly realistic and often quite brief. {{Flynning}} is also avoided.
* KnewItAllAlong: After d'Hubert refuses to rejoin Napoleon when he escapes exile Feraud claims he knew d'Hubert was a traitor all along and that's why he challenged him to duel in the first place.
* NapoleonicWars
* TheMatchmaker: d'Hubert's older sister Leonie, who sets him up with his wife Adele.
* MayDecemberRomance: d'Hubert is a couple of years older than Adele. Not that big an age difference but enough to make him reluctant to marry her at first.
* TheMedic: d'Hubert's friend Dr. Jacquin who he sends to tend to Fereaud after their first duel.
* TheMountainsOfIllinois: The retreat from Moscow goes through a desolate mountain range (supposedly quite near to the Niemen).
* NonIdleRich: Adele's uncle, the Chevalier became a bootmaker after the FrenchRevolution. Even after the monarchy was restored and he became an aristocrat again he still makes boots and offers to do so for d'Hubert when he first meets him.
* TheQueensLatin: All the characters are French but most of the cast except the two American leads are British.
** Ridley Scott actually wanted the leads to be played by two established British actors, see WhatCouldHaveBeen.
* RealLifeRelative: Keith Carradine's girlfriend at the time, actress Christina Raines was cast as d'Hubert's wife Adele.
** Ridley Scott cast his two sons as d'Hubert's young nephews.
* RuleOfThree: Jacquin offers up three ways d'Hubert can avoid fighting Feraud again:
--> You cannot fight, one: if you're in different places. ''Physical impossibility''. Two: if you're of different rank. ''Breach of discipline''. And three: if the state is at war. Duels of nations take ''absolute precedence''.\\
Therefore, keep '''away''' from him. Keep '''ahead''' of him. Put your trust in Bonaparte!
* ScarsAreForever: Feraud has a scar on his right forearm from his first duel with d'Hubert. After he loses an arm wrestling match, he complains that his arm muscle "never healed properly" prompting him to challenge d'Hubert to a second duel.
* SceneryPorn: Not just the exterior landscapes, but the interiors as well since Ridley Scott photographed them to look like still life paintings.
* ShootTheMessenger: Feraud's original reason for wanting to kill d'Hubert is that the latter was sent to arrest him [[{{Irony}} for dueling]].
* ShownTheirWork: As cavalry officers, d'Hubert and Feraud wear elaborate braided hair over where their sideburns would be. This was done back in the day to reduce the damage of sword blows to the head.
* SwordFight: The first three duels between d'Hubert and Feraud.
* TakeAThirdOption: d'Hubert does.
* TarotTroubles: "The Two of Swords, reversed - strife without reason"
* ThemeTuneCameo: Jacquin plays the movie's theme on his flute at the end of a scene.
* VerbalTic: Feraud: "Lah!"
* WhatCouldHaveBeen: Ridley Scott wanted the two leads to be played by OliverReed and Michael York (Athos and d'Artagnan in ''Film/TheThreeMusketeers1973''), but the small budget and [[ExecutiveMeddling studio decisions]] forced him to choose from a list of less well-known but more affordable Hollywood actors.
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