War and Peace

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!

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.