War and Peace (The Criterion Collection) [Blu-ray]

The first screen adaptation of Война и мир produced by the Russians during the sound era as the Soviet government's response to the 1956 Dino de Laurentis-King Vidor photo play, no expense was spared to ensure that this epic was a thundering success. The arduous behind-the-scenes drama during pre-production, production, and post-production, and video releases has been covered extensively elsewhere. This seven hour feature, split into four parts, is a masterpiece, not only because of the innovative ways used to film many spectacular sequences, but also in its faithfulness to the source material. I cannot comment on the previous video releases to compare them to this one, but the general consensus is that the Blu-Ray release is superior in every way, though the Ruscico DVD seems to have more special features than the Blu-Ray, oddly enough. But what IS included is excellent. Most of the special features are in German, French, and Russian with English subtitles. My only criticism is that the first documentary is included on Disc I with Parts I and II of the movie instead of on Disc II with Parts III and IV, which would have been better, in my opinion, along with putting the re-release trailer on Disc I. That way, the 172 minutes of special features can be viewed without having to switch discs after seeing the four-part epic. This film stands witn D.W. Griffith's The Birth Of A Nation, The Thief Of Bagdad (1924), Die Nibelungen (1924), Gone With The Wind, Citizen Kane, and 2001: A Space Odyssey as an epic masterpiece in every way, and like them, appropriate for family viewing. There is violence, with little of it being graphic, and three or four mild profanities, and NO blasphemy, sexuality, or nudity. War And Peace is Not Rated.

Have never given a movie 5 stars before. Plenty of 4-star...but this one's different. The rating is for the new Criterion release. 4 stars for sweep and spectacle. Stunning. The epic of all epics remains unmatched in cinema history, even now, half a century after it was finally (took 5 years) finished. Yes, I've lost the open-mouthed wonder with which I watched this movie on VHS cassette tape, way back in the late 80s. But looking at it now, I have an even greater appreciation of the incredible achievement. Every one of those thousands of figures on the immense battlefields are REAL PEOPLE! In spite of new, lighter camera gear, digital audio magic and computer generated whatevers, this still beats everything out there. There you go: 4-star movie. One additional star for the new made-in-Moscow restoration. My eyes went wide. Unbelievable difference, not only from the dull, soft visual images on the VHS, but from the dark, muddy images on the DVD I watched for a couple of hours before I learned that Criterion was ready to release this. (I put the DVDs back in the box and waited until the mail-lady came before watching the rest of the movie over the following two days.) There you go: 5 star movie. Too long? For some. A little...old-fashioned in its story-telling technique? Yeah, could be. Not gripping enough--too "detached" with that distancing voice-over narration? Maybe. Pick away. But you can't down-grade the good stuff. And the good stuff has never been surpassed. Many film-makers (and film buffs) dream the big dream: what could you do if money was no object? ("Don't worry about the bucks--just do what you want!")? This is one man's answer, and don't think there weren't plenty of envious producers and directors in L.A. when this one first hit the screen. Probably still are. Probably always will be.

Perfect example of the marriage of literature and cinema. The classic film of the classic novel of the Napoleonic War era Russian aristocrats beautifully captures the social and philosophical views at the heart of the story-as well as the joys and sorrows of humanity and the wonders of nature. A grand, opulent and exciting epic, as good -if not better- than any spectacle to ever come out of Hollywood. Extremely ambitious, state funded production becomes an unprecedented 1960's blockbuster that makes it's contemporaries look anemic. Huge palatial sets (including The Kremlin), awesome battle sequences- the Battle of Borodino is mind-blowing (and contains far more explosions than I ever thought I'd see in a 60's movie), thousands of extras, extraordinary costumes, and breathtaking artistic and creative cinematography. A truly remarkable film in nearly all regards! Definitely a celebration of Russian culture. An excellent way to inspire one to finally finish reading this most notoriously vast 1,200+ page novel- no easy feat (just ask Snoopy). This beautifully restored Criterion Collection Blu Ray set also contains several documentaries on the film's gargantuan production and release. An amazing masterpiece and a must see film. The 2015 BBC miniseries is also highly recommended. If only they could do justice to Tolstoy's other masterwork and make a version of Anna Karenina this good.

This review is about the quality of the AV in the disc and not the movie itself. You can find discussions about Bondarchuk's WnP anywhere, what has been an issue has been the AV quality for home theatres. Great care was made in this remastering, per the Wikipedia timeline, it was over 10 years from announcement to release. A digital cinema version has been shown in theatres as of this review, as well as a gala at Lincoln Center May 2019. The BD is the best copy out there for home theatre systems to all previous releases in the past 40 years. We can be thankful MosFilms was able to recreate many scenes as the wide-screen masters were claimed lost for decades and rebuilds in the past used smaller prints and those DVDs were very bad, tolerated as that was all there was until now. Entirely in Russian with English subtitles, loads of extras, this BD is a must own for serious cinema fans, the BD quality is very high, in that you can see individual soldiers in the massive scenes, see pics, hopefully the pics do it justice. There are video excerpt on youtube in 1080p for those wishing more. Plays without issue for US BD players. Audio is stereo but the balance and equalization can be strange, but fixable with any modern adjustments to suit your system.

The only issue I had with my order is that I ordered it new on Blu-ray, and the discs came used. They play fine, so it isn't a big deal, but there were finger prints all over the play side of the discs, and one of them looked like it had been previously buffed or something. It was strange. Anyway, great film.

My Blu Ray DVD arrived in excellent condition and the sound and quality of the picture were first class. I suppose what puts this film in a quite special category is the enormous numbers of extras in the war scenes..I read elsewhere more than 200,000 and how these were all marshaled together in such a magificent and believable way is quite staggering. The St. Petersburg and Moscow scenes were equally spectacular because of the lavish decorations and grand proportions of the rooms. In such a film as this,the development of characters is almost impossible because we are always looking at the larger picture and actually the upper classes tended to speak french in that period. it is not an epic film that I could look over and over again like I could with Lawrence of Arabia but I certainly enjoyed every moment of the film. Everything from Russia seems to be on a big scale ..this film and the Bolshoi Ballet films and even the concerts from Russia that are on DVD. Very different but not necesarily better than the best british films where the scaleis smaller.

beautiful cinematography in this massive and lavish production. epic battle scenes with cast of thousands. beautifully filmed balls, architecture and landscape showcasing Russian culture. first rate acting such as a very bewildered Pierre who goes from drunken society man to disillusioned land owner. Natasha goes from young lady to (well) mature young lady. Prince Andrei from his upward social loyalty to disillusioned soldier. all very in line with the characters from the book. I was particularly happy with the portrayal of the horror and pointless nature of war. as well as the realization that all life matters. this Criterion Collection is definitely the film version to own. I still highly recommend the Book. Oxford World's Classics for translation and notes.

Great movie- It was worth the price! Well made movie and I prefer it to the American produced Henry Fonda version.

Ne surtout pas acheter si vous êtes en Europe. Le blu ray est protégé par le code régional A (pour les USA entre autres). C'est lamentable que ce ne soit pas précisé dans la description du produit... 3 étoiles tout de même pour cet excellent film.

Regionlocked to Region A/1 (I guess?), so unusable in EU

Having read War and Peace earliier this year, I was impressed with how well this film conveys Tolstoy's central ideas and brings the historical and individual stories to life in a riveting and believable fashion. The acting, cinematography, sets, costumes, subtitles and sound are all extremely well done. The film had the full support of the Solviet regime thus providing unlimited access to relevant resouces (museums for artifacts and period designs and to the military for advisors and troops). The battle scenes are extraordinary, with the scope of CGI but the individual interactions that provide a reality that is not available with simulated scenes. The fog of war and the importance of motivation and morale are very well portrayed. In short this film is a true epic in the best sense of the word. It is well worth seeing. There are a couple of minor caveats. First, it is best to have some familiarity with the plot and characters in order to get the most from the film. It was crafted for a public which was very familiar with Tolstoy's work. Second, the menu on the blue ray discs is somwhat idiosyncratic. The 4 films are chosen by clicking on the names of the principal chacacters or 1812 instead of Part1, Part 2, etc). The three doumentaries that are included are very well done, and well worth viewing (particularly the one in Engish, which provides many insights into the politics and personalities intrumental in shaping the film). Enjoy.

When I heard that Criterion had restored War and Peace for Blu-ray I was very excited. This was a film I had loved since seeing it in the 70's and had owned originally as pan-and-scan VHS and later as a DVD. None of these had done justice to scale of the production due to poor quality transfers from what I believe was degraded film stock. Sadly, however, the UK release of the Blu-ray never saw the light of day due to a dispute over horse falls which would have required cuts in the footage for which the producers were unwilling to compromise on. Recently though, I heard through the grapevine that later releases of the film were being produced region free, and when I saw the US import on Amazon I thought I'd give it a go. Unfortunately what was delivered was region A, only playable in North America so I had to return the product. Not wanting to give up so easily I contacted Criterion directly via their help line. They were able to confirm that they did indeed produce a limited run of multi-region copies, and, although they don't advertise as shipping outside North America on their webpage, were were happy to post me a copy for $50 including international postage. This I have now received after 1 week and I can confirm that it does indeed play in the UK and looks rather good, with far better picture quality and sound than any version I've seen before. So, if acquiring a copy of this film, make sure that the region A/B/C logo (as shown in the picture) is displayed om the back of the box. Good luck!

Fantastica película.