Product Description

This 3 DVD, six-and-a-half-hour set, features the 1968 film, and brings all the passion and turbulence of Leo Tolstoy's epic masterpiece dramatically to the screen. The book was written in the nineteenth century and gives a graphic insight in to Russian society at the time, and is still considered to be one of the greatest novel ever written. This classic film directed by Sergei Bondarachuk, is considered to be the most faithful to the original novel, and with a combination of amazing, large scale battle scenes and intimate character portrayals this film is many peoples' favourite interpretation of Tolstoy's classic novel.. The story follows the fortunes of the aristocratic Bolkonsky and Rostov families as Napoleon's armies sweep through Europe, culminating in the French invasion of Russia in 1812. The evil effects of war are a significant theme, and war forms the backdrop as it influences the lives of these families, and their many associates. Russian audio with English subtitles

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #40051 in DVD
• Released on: 2007-10-22
• Rating: Parental Guidance
• Aspect ratio: 1.33:1
• Formats: Box set, Colour, DVD-Video, Subtitled, PAL
• Original language: French, German, Russian
• Number of discs: 3
• Dimensions: .60 pounds
• Running time: 401 minutes

Synopsis
This 1968 adaptation of the Tolstoy tome is a lavish affair and calculating for inflation, is the most expensive film ever committed to celluloid. This classic Russian tale of love and conflict intertwines the romance between a young countess and her unhappily married lover with the grim battlefields of the 1812 Napoleonic invasion. However director Sergei Bondarchuk’s film covers a much bigger canvas and is rich in meticulous detail and emotional nuance.

Customer Reviews

A masterpiece
This Russian version of Tolstoys War and peace is more faithful to the novel than the 1956 Hollywood version. More than this it is also the most expensive movie ever made and every rubel shows on screen! With more than 10 000 extras and 300 speaking parts director Sergei Bondarchuk recreates every aspect of Tolstoys classic. Most noticeable are the scenes of Natashas first ball, the battle of Borodino and the burning of Moscow. Bondarchuk rendition is on such a grand scale that you actually believe that the scenes takes place before your eyes in reality. The photography is stunning -we get to follow the action through the camera which moves is such ways that you feel as you are part of the whole thing. Bondarchuks experimenting is evident throughout the picture and is by most parts a success. Some subliminal messages are distracting, but the cutting and movements of the camera is mostly fascinating. Bondarchuks influence from Abel Gance's fantastic silent "Napoléon" (1927) is evident.

War and peace is by far the greatest movie ever made, it has all the elements of a great story and is staged in such a grand scale that you are swept away. The acting are superb, ecpecially the part of Natasha Rostova and Pierre bezukhov. The latter played by Bondarchuk himself. The battlescenes are no less than magnificent, the closest any movie comes near War and Peace in this respect is "Saving private Ryan"- so you know what to expect.

I cannot stress hard enough how great this movie is, all I can say is that this is the greatest movie I have ever seen.

RUSCICO has released War and peace (distributed by Image) as a five disc box-set. The complete version is at last avaliable! Some information claims that there is another original version that is longer than this RUSCICO release. That is probably not true- and if so long lost. This release is the best there is and complete. The running time is a staggering 403 minutes! But I promise you -you won't fall asleep! The boxart is great and the digipack looks and works fine. There is no booklet but instead a fifth bonus disc with, among other things, a making of sequence from the 60:s. The picture quality is not the greatest. This is due to the loss of the original negatives. This taken into account the picture is, by all means not great, but more than fair. It is presented in anamorphic widescreen. The full picture is presented in other words. The original audio is bumped to a "million dollar sounding" 5.1. This is the best 5.1 I have heard on such an old recording. It really sounds great. You also have other sound options than the original (but 5.1) russian but the original is the one to choose. You have almost every european language represented as subtitles! I myself saw this with swedish subs and they worked very fine!

Conclusion: War and peace is the greatest movie ever made. It is presented in a great DVD-box. Why not buy it?

WAR AND PEACE
This is perfection in the world of cinema, Hollywood tried
to do a remake of it years ago but all they made of it was a
glorious load of not worth passing comment on, it will do for
the north american cinema goers. Thank-you Mr Bondarchuk for
making this sumptious feast for the eye. The costumes are
superb, the battle scenes are stunning, the cinematography is
breathtaking, everything about this wonderful film cannot be
put onto paper you have to see it to see how good the film
maker's art can and should be.

A tantalising insight into the great book
Wildly ambitious, this 6 1/2 hour film can be frustrating for anyone who's read the book and knows how much has, inevitably, been left out. But I watched it with my partner and it interested him enough to motivate him to read the book. So a good introduction.
Filming such a mammoth tome, one would have to make a decision as to whether you lose the vast scope of the original, or the detail. This film has managed to keep the sense of vastness very well and we were kept enthralled throughout. The battle scenes are especially impressive. Unfortunately this means much of the detail has been lost, which makes the human storylines in it less appealing and not always easy to understand.
Despite the gaps, what is there is good: it is well paced and superbly acted and the 6 1/2 hours flew by in no time.
My only gripe is about the dubbing; the film is half dubbed and half subtitled. The dubbing isn't entirely convincing, and the film is at its best when you can listen to the original cast speaking in Russian, and watch the subtitles.

NB The DVDs arrived in about 5 days, much quicker than anticipated. And they're beautifully boxed!