Thanks for the memories!

It's not great by any means, but it's a pretty good movie that didn't leave me filled with regret for investing time in it.

Good films always raise compelling questions, whether the format is fiction or documentary fact.

This is one of the few movies I've ever seen where the whole audience broke into spontaneous, loud applause a third of the way in.

Leo Tolstoy's War and Peace is a masterful magnum opus, with a riveting if very long story with many themes, interesting sense of history and very memorable characters brilliantly written. But because of the book's mammoth length, incredibly rich detail and the many characters that need a lot of development despite being one the greatest novels ever written it's also one of the hardest to adapt, word for word and detail for detail being almost impossible when adapted.Of the major versions, the best version is the 1972 mini-series with Anthony Hopkins, not only an ideal adaptation of the book and as faithful as one could get but also brilliant in its own right, one of the best the BBC ever produced. The 1966 Russian one directed by Sergei Bondarchuk, while not as accessible, is a close second, a towering achievement and contains the best battle and ballroom scenes of all the War and Peace adaptations. The 1956 King Vidor film has a number of good things, like the production values, the music score, Audrey Hepburn and some of the supporting cast but the sound quality and two male leads are very problematic and the story is not as riveting as it could have been. Any version of War and Peace does deserve a pat on the back for even attempting to adapt the work, and although this 2007 mini-series was underwhelming and my least favourite of the adaptations it is not exempted from that.The mini-series does have a fair number of virtues, first and foremost the exquisite production values, the amount of detail in the lavish décor and settings is jaw-droppings, the costumes are rich in colour and detail and the whole mini-series is beautifully photographed, especially in the ballroom scenes. The music score positively soars with elegant lushness, the ballroom scenes are gorgeously romantic (though the Bordachuk version's ballroom scenes still has the ones here beat) and there are some impressive supporting turns. Ken Dukan is deliciously serpentine as Anatoli, Benjamin Sadler is appropriately roguish as Dolokhov, Malcolm MacDowell makes for a chillingly arresting Bollonsky, Violante Placido's Helene is delightfully wicked and played with relish and Brenda Blethyn is marvellous. Vladimir Ilin is a very memorably forthright Kutuzov.Clémence Poésy doesn't fare as well, her portrayal of Natasha is the least successful of the four adaptations, the problem is not that she's necessarily physically wrong but more that her performance is both melodramatic and anaemic and the character is written as a spoilt brat with not an awful lot of charm. Alessio Boni is sometimes successful at bringing out Andrei's tragedy, but generally his performance is rather stiff and his chemistry with Poésy rather cold. Alexander Beyer is attractive but rather too dour as Pierre, a character that is quite complex but written too much of an idiot here. Ana Caterina Morariu is also so bland it got irritating, Platon is pretty wasted and this is the War and Peace with the least interesting and one-dimensional Napoleon (the Napoleons of the other adaptations succeeded in bringing the character humanity, but here he's a broadly played caricature which was avoided before).While War and Peace (2007) looks ravishing, the writing is less so. The script sounded underwritten and awkward, and very rarely delves into the depth of Tolstoy's writing and the points he's trying to make, the events are there but in very condensed and on-the-surface form. The story is written and adapted in a very rushed way and with not much emotional impact or substance at all, melodramatic soap-opera is what it's been described as and that's apt, while of all the adaptations of War and Peace this is the only one where the battle scenes (like the French Army's retreat, powerful in the other three versions but treated in a rushed indifferent fashion here) lack power, intensity or any kind of emotional connection. The CGI did strike me as unnecessary, and while they didn't hinder the scenes that badly they also added little and the quality was only standard, nothing to go wow over.All in all, definitely worth seeing for anybody considering themselves completests of War and Peace or Tolstoy, but for me it was underwhelming and the weakest version. 5/10 Bethany Cox

It is difficult for an Indian to write a laudable review for this grandiose series after so many ethnic Russians have written brutally critical ones. Still I will try. I have watched both Bondarchuk's Soviet production of 1960s and this particular one. Let me put it like this. The Soviets (who tried hard to reproduce the aristocratic milieu of the Russian Empire of early 19 century) did their best and failed. May be it can be explained that under Lenin and Stalin they managed to execute all real Russian aristocrats - so there were no nobles left to tell them how the high life folks really behaved. I hear the only expert from "old" Russia they could unearth was the widow of the executed tsarist admiral Kolchak (even she was condemned to some 18 years in various GULAG camps). In this series the motley crew of European star actors and gifted Russian extras surprisingly create a very sophisticated and warm world of Russian nobility which is quite believable for a fan of classic Russian culture like me. Two grades are off due to poorly staged battle scenes and outlandish Russian hussars's braids (unlike the Mongols their elite cavalry never wore braids, especially in the 19 century).

Condensed classic of epic proportions and sensual sensory splendors! This Italian T.V. mini series is studded with an international cast of brilliant players and enough extras to fill the Cinecitta Rome set five times over. One of the fascinating things about this marvelously accessible version of the story is that it is in English. Don't let the Russian Box fool you. An extra added bonus it that the film was shot in Russia so you get the added pleasure of seeing some incredible architecture of the period and the stunning Russian countryside (And a little of Lithuania.) There is in the huge cast some real stand out performances. Brenda Blethyn is wonderful as always, and as Prince Andre's father Malcolm McDowell is chilling and arresting in his approach to the part.In the lead female role we have the lovely Cemence Posey, who is near perfect in a role so associated in the West with Audrey Hepburn. There have been complaints that she is a blond in a traditionally dark haired part, but that seems trivial to me in comparison to her performance. In the romantic lead of Prince Andre is the wonderful Italian star, Alessio Boni. He brings to the role a deliciously tragic gravitas that is so important to the story. He is a brilliant actor who needs more exposure on this side of the world. Just check out his work in 'The Best Of Youth' and 'Don't Tell'.Also the incredibly beautiful Violante Placido plays the wicked Helene with relish and great style. Not since Polly Walker in 'Rome' has there been such a delicious wicked woman on the screen. She was a delight to watch and I found myself missing her when she was not on screen.Benjamin Sadler, who was so brilliant in Augustus is on had to lend his considerable slithery charm and great presence to the role of Dolokov. Why is this actor not a huge star yet? Yes there are many other worthy performances to see and savor in this lush and enthralling film, too many to go any further with here. Rather, take the chance and get this film and let the magic of Tolstoy's timeless story take you into a world that is gone with the wind.Yes it is not as huge and epic as the 1968 Russian classic but it is none the less even at times more wonderful! The disk is splendid with clear beautiful image and great sound. As I said the film is in Enlish with an international cast. It is obvious they are all speaking in English and if any are dubbed that is Not obvious. Very well done in the sound department. And the score by Jan A.P. Kaczmarek is lush and soaring. Most particularly stunning at the end of act two as Natasha descends the grand staircase with the viper Anitole Kuragin,Ken Dunken on her heals.

I didn't like this film at all! First of all,I don't know why, but everyone here says, that Clémence Poésy's play is excellent, which in my opinion is absolutely wrong! She is not like Natasha: another appearance, another character... What's worse, she is a very unexperienced actress and that's why she wasn't able to play this role! She disfigured the heroine completely! That was really disgusting to watch her play! To my mind, that would be much better to give this role to a Russian actress, because that would be much easier for her to understand the Russian soul for a Russian person. Unfortunately, Kutuzov looked like a drunk man, who hasn't shaved 2 weeks and defeated a battle in which he lost his eye...( Thank's God, in this film there're some actors, whose play was awesome! I suppose, that Alessio Boni coped with his task very well! I was pleasantly amazed! He is one of the few people who's read the book, which is very important for the play. In addition, I liked plays of our Russian actors, that was really wonderful to watch them)) The only thing I liked in this work was very beautiful views and amazing dresses! My advice is to read the book and to understand a real sense, the aim, with which Leo Tolstoy wrote this masterpiece, and maybe realize the whole idea of the book... 1 from 10