War & Peace (1968)
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Movie Reviews of War & Peace (1968)
Movie Review: World's Most Expensive Movie, and Worth it
Summary: 5 Stars
The Soviet Union's film of Tolstoy's WAR AND PEACE is a massive work that is often called 'the world's most expensive movie.' This is no doubt true, even when not considering the 'hidden' costs of the film -- thousands of extras, with no union scale, of course, Use of palaces and gardens and countryside -- all no doubt 'free.' Consider too the relatively low salaries of the actors and director. There were no million-dollar actors in the USSR.
So, was all this work worth it? Yes. Surprisingly, with all this glitter and sometimes-gaudy decoration, Tolstoy's novel comes through, and perhaps partly because Tolstoy's book is also filled with glitter and decoration. A book of tremendous scope meets a film of tremendous scope, and the movie 'works.'
What about the production values of this DVD? Excellent. I had owned a VHS copy of the film, the only video medium available twenty years ago. It was dubbed (badly) and there was no way to change languages or add or delete subtitles. I don't know the intricacies of 'magic' that technologies perform these days, but this DVD matches the video quality of the film that appeared in theaters and, if you want, you can hear the actors speaking Russian (forgetting for a moment all the French language that permeates the Saint Petersburg scenes in the novel and in the film.
The sound on the VHS tape was muddled. Here it is crisp.
Who would have thought that a director would take on the challenge of adapting to film one of the world's longest and most complex novels? He did it, and he also played the role of Pierre.
Special thanks should be given to those who did the casting.
Movie Review: Monumental, Oustanding Film
Summary: 5 Stars
If "War and Peace" is arguably the greatest novel ever written, this has to be one of the most outstanding films ever made. The grandeur, the scope, the almost unimaginable battle scenes, the thousands of soldiers and horses and cannons, the tender love scenes and most of all, the depth of the Russian soul which,in the end, was the victor over the invading Grand Armee of Napoleon. This six-hour masterpiece is stunning in its magnificence. The one I viewed had substitles, thus letting the Russian and occasional French dialog get through -- even though I couldn't understand a word. It just made the film all the more...Russian. A lot of the book was necessarily omitted, but on the whole, the film was a faithful reproduction of the essence of the book. Oh well, I could string superlatives all day but suffice it to say that this power of this wonderful film does justice to the greatness of the underlying novel.Movie Review: War and Peace - Russian version
Summary: 5 Stars
I bought the Russian version of "War and Peace" from you, a 3-DVD boxed set. The work is magnificent, on the massive scale one seldom sees nowadays. True to Tolstoy in every respect, a viewing pleasure of rare proportions. The actors play their parts with consummate skill, so much so that they imprint themselves on to your memory. Anyone who has a sense of history - not merely of Napoleonic-era history - should see this film and derive from it the degree of pleasure that I and my family derived from it. Bill (Australia)Movie Review: Brilliant!
Summary: 5 Stars
Brilliant visual cinematics especially given that this movie was made in the Soviet Union in 1968. Marvelous acting and direction. A must have classic.Movie Review: feeling stupid
Summary: 1 Stars
I feel a little stupid doing this because I haven't been able to review this product. I sent the movie back because it's a 3 disc movie and I got disc # 2 twice and no disc # 3. I sent the disc's back and I asked for a replacement. Today is September 3, 2008 and I purchased the discs on July 30, 2008. So far, nothing has happened. I am at a loss for words and I feel very stupid ordering from Amazon. Maybe they sent my order to the Amazon in Brazil. I don't know. I just feel very stupid.