War and Peace

WAR AND PEACE is a novel to which I was devoted when I was young--unabridged, by the way; I doubt there was an abridgement when I was young. I read it over and over again, and something of Natasha, Sonya, and Marya went into the make-up of who I became. This movie with Audrey Hepburn, May Britt, Henry Fonda, Mel Ferrer, and Jeremy Brett, despite certain deviations from the narrative and necessary abridgement of characters and events, is excellent. Heartfelt thanks to the seller for rushing the DVD to me. Carefully packaged, it arrived in perfect condition.

I got this because last time I saw it I was very young and not really interested in history. I read the book and wanted to see the movie because my favorite actress, Audrey Hepburn, starred in it. This time I wanted to see it from the viewpoint of an adult who is intensely interested in history, and still thinks Audrey Hepburn was the best actress ever. Lots of Hepburn in this film, and lots of romantic interest along with the war action. During the battle scene, which was almost dreamlike in a way with Henry Fonda walking through it as a non-soldier, to see what war was really all about, I felt as if I were there. As old as the technology was, that battle scene seemed real to me. I felt the fear of seeing all of the troops assembling for battle. That was well done.Toward the end of the movie, the scenes of the battles were amazing! I've never seen anything like it. Yes, some of the acting is typical for the time in which the movie was made but, if you think about it, the real events would have seemed 'dated' if we were able to view them as they happened.The clothes and settings were magnificent. It was a pleasure watching these top-of-the-line actors portraying the characters in this classic novel.It was well worth viewing again. I recommend it.

Love Tolstoy and this story is great. Great acting. Recommend.

This is considered one of the best books ever written, that’s why we rented it. many people say it is their fav. Bk of all time. I didn’t think so but am no expert, and of course it is a period piece with the costumes , hairdos , many charactersand affected speech of those times.It is a good, long romantic story told against the backdrop of Napoleon invading Russia, ( what was he thinking . ) anyhow Audrey Hepburn is supposed to be the main character from age 13-20. And well, she’s didn’t look like a teen at all, He Ray Fonda is supposed to be in his twenties, a but older than her, and his is around 40. he actually said he knew he was too old to play the romantic lead.If u wanna know what all the hoopla is about this gives you the Plato without watching the mini series or reading the long book.

For no other reason than Audrey Hepburn oh yeah Henry Fonda and Mel Ferrer two pretty good actors (tongue in cheek) I obviously am not able to make meaningful comparisons to the great book. because I did not read it, I will catch up some afternoon when I get a few minutes. (oh yeah) the movie was long as was the book, Because of the excellent acting I liked the unfolding of the story (story within a story) I love period stories that take one to another time in history it was all of that. I will not speak about the lives that unfolded,The war scenes toward the end were well done and pretty accurate from a novices point of view it is well known that Hitler got a very large dose of the same mud, snow ice, extreme freezing, unprepared. It was not noted that Napoleon had two choices of retreat from Russia he picked the worst one. (Yeah I did read a little history somewhere.) It is recorded that out of over 200,000 man army little more or less than 30,000 got back alive. The fighting and retreat was was a big splash toward the end of an interesting story. I liked it a whole lot for my reasons.

Saw this in movie houses. I lie the story so I bought it. I also bought the TV Series version which stays closer to the novel which I have also bought and read.

Such a mutilated albeit intermittently jaw-dropping adaptation of Tolstoy's masterpiece. The editing's choppy (censors? your guess is as good as mine), the voiceover narration is lazy, the occasional "effects" are cringeworthy and were dated even then, more resembling May Ray's 1920s experiments in film than "2001: A Space Odyssey" or "The Lion in Winter," both nominated for Oscars the same year this "War and Peace" won for Best Foreign Film.The battle of Borodino and (SPOILER ALERT?) Napoleon's occupation of Moscow truly deserve to be called epic spectacles, but the characters, save perhaps Prince Andrei and his father, are curiously neglected. The ultimate happy union of Pierre and Natasha is all but missing, and the entire story of Nikolai Rostov, his rescue of Princess Marya and their romance, has been dropped. So disappointing, since Tolstoy is one of few writers whose insight and powers of observation fearlessly depict both the interior growth and the narrowing and decline of characters over the course of living long lives. Nikolai, for instance, we meet as a callow, self-centered youth in the book, and we watch him become a committed if slightly irritable family man over the years. But apparently there wasn't room for him in this film?It's especially odd in a movie that seems to assume the viewer remembers every blessed page of Tolstoy's book. Tiny details from the text — an oak tree, a little dog, rain dripping from a leaf, a child silently eavesdropping on Kutuzov's conference of generals — are faithfully reproduced in the film. But it can't bother even to mention Tolstoy's concept of history that informs the book, or even bother to give Pierre and Natasha their happy ending?The acting is either terrible or, a more generous assumption, adhering to a standard alien to our own, with the exception of a few very skilled old pros (playing Kutuzov, Natasha's parents, Prince Nikolai Bolkonsky, Marya Dmitryevna). It's not a film you watch for the performances.And I don't know who's responsible for the dubbing and the subtitles, but both are awful, not to mention spotty — the film will switch languages (English to Russian or vice-versa) without warning, so you'll want to have the subtitles turned on when you watch. Which will also alert you to how haphazardly the translating's been done, since the dubbed dialogue often doesn't match the subtitled dialogue at all.That said, I'm not sorry I bought it or that I watched every puzzling minute of it. It's just not the great cinematic adaptation of War and Peace I hoped for.

Historical facts mainly correct.Lots of colorful scenes.

Prompt delivery, excellent packing, exceptional quality (of used DVD): outstanding service, in short, and highly recommended.

トルストイの長編小説を映画化した1956年の作品。ワイド画面で、3時間を超える大作。オードリー・ヘプバーン、ヘンリー・フォンダ、メル・ファーラーなどの名優が登場。ヒロイン・ナターシャ（オードリー・ヘプバーン）の清楚な美貌に心を奪われる。「戦争と平和」と言えば、ソ連制作の大作もある。この映画のヒロイン（ナターシャ）はリュドミラ・サベリーエワが好演している。サベリーエワも清純派美人だと思う。

Before purchasing I had read a previous review that made a negative comment about the vista screen quality - this was absolute rubbish! I watched the film as soon as I recieved it, the package was beautifully presented with a lovely post card included, the viewing quality was wonderful, in-keeping with the time it was filmed bringing a wonderful vintage feel as you would expect from any 'classic' original film. I certainly wouldn't expect or want for that matter, a HD experience from such a great classic story and film. I loved it, it was moving, historically accurate and atmospheric. I would strongly recommend this film and supplier to anyone intetested in this story and historical event.

Una gran película con audrey hepburn

Although far better than previous DVD releases of Vidor's moderately celebrated version of Tolstoy's masterpiece, this transfer from an unrestored and somewhat damaged VistaVision source is far from perfect. The colour is often rather muddy, the definition occasionally blurry and fine detail almost non existent. Add to this an audio track that was never very good in the first instance, and always sounded unnatural and post recorded, and you will gather that you are not in for a stunning audio or visual experience if you purchase this disc. That said, at almost three and a half hours the film does not outstay its welcome and is charming and quite engaging and quite moving in equal measures with a host of memorable performances from some excellent character actors. As this is probably the best version that will be available, until the unlikely event the studios undertake a full renovation, I certainly recommend its purchase for those who fear the epic duration of its far superior Russian produced counterpart.