Sorry, this movie sucks

Don't Believe the Hype

In truth, there is barely enough story here to make a film.

A movie that not only functions as a solid scarefest but a razor-sharp satire.

Never expect a screen treatment of Tolstoy's work to be as profound as the original. Any film version is best approached as a kind of comic book illustration. That being said, War and Peace in this "Golden age of TV" should be filmed as a multi-season show, not a miniseries, to even begin capturing the novel's depth.This 2007 adaptation has better overall casting than the '56, '67, or '72 productions. Filming on location in Russia also helps. The Rostov family, Price Andrei, Old Bolkonsky, Helene, Dolokhov, and others are well-realized and well-acted (albeit dubbed into a rather stale English). Pierre is a quite bit leaner than Tolstoy's creation, but appropriately awkward, and a big improvement over the pretty-boy Fonda in '56 or the aging Bondarchuk in '67. As for Natasha, I got over her portrayal as a blonde pretty quickly, and thought Poesy does a serviceable job channeling the young Rostova's Manic-Pixie-Dream-Girl qualities.The "War" scenes are duly enhanced by cgi, but are clearly not the main reason to see this version. The series fares better with the far more budget-friendly "Peace" portion of the Novel. Some of the sequences are remarkably faithful (most of the Bolkonsky family narrative, for example), but many others were altered for dramatic effect, or to suit modern audiences: Natasha's friendship with Pierre and acquaintance with Prince Andrei prior to 1811 has been considerably strengthened. Pierre's Masonic brotherhood is omitted, and here he's merely "studying the Gospel". Anatole is given a grudge against Andrei to start courting Natasha. The lively and very cinematic scene with Balaga and the gypsies is cut. Part 4 is the weakest, as there are many deviations from Tolstoy's plot to wrap up the story threads even more neatly, and a lot of it feels like by-the-numbers soap opera. Still, for fans of the book, it's a worthwhile visualization of Tolstoy's characters and their world. With all the flaws, it's still not much worse than the previous versions, and even superior in some ways (mostly the authentic sets and the good looking cast). Just don't get your expectations too high.

But it was pretty ridiculous and melodramatic. And the acting was terrible, especially in the main roles. I think Natasha's character was the worst, just a silly girl, and I could not figure out why she was considered so special and the actress was feeble in this role. And Pierre-he went from a drunken dolt to a noble Count or whatever, just by his father dying? All of a sudden he was wise and great, etc.The scenery and costumes were good anyway.And it was a way to pass some hours. But the script was sometimes ridiculous. The characters not believable; Andre's sister such a martyr to that lunatic father of hers. Andre and Natasha of course getting together again and the references to her constant suffering when she was fool enough to fall for that treacherous prince. Just a mess of a script and performances. And then Pierre's cruel selfish wife dying to make it convenient for Natasha after Andre dies...I just did not see Natasha as such a prize that she should fell man after man.

Frankly, I have watched only two short extracts of Part 1 as I could not bear to watch the whole part. In the 1st extract I was surprised to see that Natasha Rostova was a blue-eyed blonde, below medium height (according to the book, Natasha was a tall brunette). And Pierre Bezukhov was a thin man! (a 'massive', overweight man - according to the book). In the 2nd extract (I guess, it was the end of Part 1), I was shocked to see Bolkonsky and Rostova waltzing to the music which was composed by A.Khachaturian in 1940's (i.e. about 150 years after the events described in the book!!!). I doubt if the movie-makers ever read the book. The movie may be alright only for the American audience :-)

I have just seen the second part of the series. I read the book some time ago so I can compare it to this great story by Lew Tolstoy. What can I say is that the movie lacks the epic size of the story. Historical events were in Tolstoy "War and peace" as important as personal stories which seem to be in this movie the only important. This way the story has turned into a kind of melodrama - just another marital and love stories, without big depth. Most of the characters are not very expressive. I was very surprised of the look of Natasha as I remember her from the book description as very simple, joyful and black haired girl. Prince Bolkonsky is not very interesting and lacks any charisma. I like Pierre Bezuchow and can sympathize with princess Marie. And I can agree: lack of Russian language in any form is very painful. But what can we expect from television drama? Nothing more like the soap opera. And that's it. If I am wrong not having seen yet 3rd and 4th part - apologize.