War and Peace (1956) Audrey Hepburn / Henry Fonda - January 20, 2015 (1 Viewer)

I have the French Blu and it looks wonderful!

A Hepburn I have not seen but will certainly purchase. It seems to have a rep of being second-rate. How good is it?

I havent seen it either but the cast sounds "inviting"

ShellOilJunior said:

A Hepburn I have not seen but will certainly purchase. It seems to have a rep of being second-rate. How good is it?

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Depends on if you judge it as a huge, star studded 1950's international VistaVision epic (first rate) or as an adaptation of Tolstoy (second rate)

I've always enjoyed it immensely.

I would certainly buy this. Not a great film, but a good one, with some spectacular battle scenes. Henry Fonda is kind of miscast (which apparently he was aware of, but did it for the money). The sound is also kind of wonky, if I remember correctly, with some strange dubbing. I have only ever seen mediocre prints of it on television, so to see it in all its VistaVision glory would be nice. Glad to hear Ken said the French Blu looks good, but I have also read other things on line that say it is nothing what it could be. I guess we will have to wait and see.

The only WAR AND PEACE i want is the Russian version.

trajan said:

The only WAR AND PEACE i want is the Russian version.

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I was waiting for it...

I'm greedy. I want them both.

I have the DVD, and as I recall (been awhile since I've watched it), it looked very good. But I'll certainly be adding this to my collection!

This may be the only Hepburn film I've not seen, somewhat based on reputation. But if I can sit through Paris When It Sizzles, I can sit through this, right?

About the only good thing about it is that it looks better than the DVD in the probably very similar German Blu-ray version (please note the cover):http://www.caps-a-holic.com/hd_vergleiche/multi_comparison.php?disc1=3217&disc2=3218&hd_multiID=1346#auswahlOther than that I cannot really come up with anything positive when comparing it to VistaVision properly done. In motion it looks drab, dull and like something that was state of the art maybe 10 years ago, another missed opportunity.

Cameron Yee said:

This may be the only Hepburn film I've not seen, somewhat based on reputation. But if I can sit through Paris When It Sizzles, I can sit through this, right?

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I like the way Robert Osborne introduces that film:

Paris..........When it Sizzulls.

Would definitely love a blu ray of the much superior Russian version. Not only is the adaption better it features some of the most impressive battle scenes ever filmed.

trajan said:

The only WAR AND PEACE i want is the Russian version.

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Randy Korstick said:

Would definitely love a blu ray of the much superior Russian version. Not only is the adaption better it features some of the most impressive battle scenes ever filmed.

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I agree that the Russian film is superior. But I think they did a decent job with the 50's version of giving the gist of the story in approximately 4 hours. And Audrey Hepburn would have made a splendid Natasha in any version. A young Jeremy Brett is on hand as Nikolai, and Anita Ekburg is stunning to look at as usual. The film is spectacular on its own terms. However, Henry Fonda was horribly miscast as Pierre.

Ken Koc said:

I have the French Blu and it looks wonderful!

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Hmmm... I imported the Australian Blu-ray and it definitely didn't look "wonderful." I wonder if they are two different transfers. Mine looked like a 35mm print. Nothing like what VistaVision large aperture should look like.

Mark-P said:

Hmmm... I imported the Australian Blu-ray and it definitely didn't look "wonderful." I wonder if they are two different transfers. Mine looked like a 35mm print. Nothing like what VistaVision large aperture should look like.

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Would imagine they are the same transfers. I have the Aussie version which is OK but not as good as it should be.

Fonda is indeed miscast, but the rest of the cast is quite on target. King Vidor's solid direction is in evidence throughout. Agreed that it is a pale companion to the Russian version, but it has many virtues on its own. I saw if often on the big screen, last time at MoMA during the Vidor retrospective.
It is better than Paris when It Sizzles...

I have the Australian Blu-ray (which is the same as the European release I believe), and it's great. If this disc has some extras I may double dip when the price is right, though.

classicmovieguy said:

I have the Australian Blu-ray (which is the same as the European release I believe), and it's great. If this disc has some extras I may double dip when the price is right, though.

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No way, compared to what it should look like!