War and Peace (1966-1967) – Criterion Blu-ray Review (1 Viewer)

[t1g3r5fan]

When Hollywood’s take on Leo Tolstoy’s immortal War and Peace debuted in the Soviet Union, it received great box office but also rankled the powers that be. Considering that the novel was part of their country’s pride, they – Mosfilm, to be precise – decided to make a film adaptation of their own to not only stand toe to toe with Hollywood but surpass it. Long available on DVD, Criterion has licensed a recent restoration of the movie for its Blu-ray debut.



War and Peace (1966)



Released: 28 Apr 1968
Rated: Unrated
Runtime: 427 min




Director: Sergey Bondarchuk
Genre: Drama, History, Romance, War



Cast: Sergey Bondarchuk, Lyudmila Saveleva, Vyacheslav Tikhonov, Boris Zakhava
Writer(s): Sergey Bondarchuk, Vasiliy Solovyov, Leo Tolstoy (novel)



Plot: A Russian Prince experiences battle against Napoleon and a troubled...

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[Angelo Colombus]

Saw the Blu-ray a month ago and despite some slow parts I liked the film and made me think of The Leopard and Abel Gance's Napoleon. Nice extras on the disc too.

 

[Ronald Epstein]

One of the first titles I streamed on The Criterion Channel.

I thought I was going to turn it off in the first 20 minutes. I really struggled to finish watching this film...

...however, once things started progressing, I found myself engrossed in this wonderful, epic film.

I absolutely loved this!

Most striking, beyond the triumphant battle scenes, was the transfer. Just gorgeous to watch! Loved the cinematography in the big ballroom scenes with the camera swooping around the dance floor.

This is just one of those films you have to watch once in your lifetime.

 

[t1g3r5fan]

This was a movie that I had often heard about but never saw up until I had the chance to review it. I had to break up the film into four parts over four days but the end result was worth it entirely; no regrets whatsoever. It's definitely a film one should see at least once in their lifetime.

 

[Mark-P]

One of the first titles I streamed on The Criterion Channel.

I thought I was going to turn it off in the first 20 minutes. I really struggled to finish watching this film...

...however, once things started progressing, I found myself engrossed in this wonderful, epic film.

I absolutely loved this!

Most striking, beyond the triumphant battle scenes, was the transfer. Just gorgeous to watch! Loved the cinematography in the big ballroom scenes with the camera swooping around the dance floor.

This is just one of those films you have to watch once in your lifetime.

Wow. I would have sworn on a stack of bibles that you wouldn't have had the patience for this, but you've redeemed yourself, Ron! We'll make an avant-garde cinephile of you yet.
I know RAH has stated that this transfer is unrepresentative of the original 70mm elements, but I thought the Criterion Blu-ray was gorgeous to look at.

 

[Nick*Z]

Gorgeous, - yes. But still in no way replicating the 70mm presentation. Nothing ever can. A shame. But hey, Criterion deserves props for this one - a monumental undertaking, given its due in hi-def. If not perfect, then most certainly 'beyond' watchable. An epic in every sense - mesmerizing in its execution and performances. Wow, doesn't begin to describe Bondarchuk's War and Peace.

 

[mark brown]

Still one of my favorites this many years later!

 

[Patrick McCart]

I've wanted to see this for years, but I have no interest in watching a film of this length sloppily converted from PAL and in pan and scan (as the available US editions presented it). The Criterion Blu-ray is fantastic, though with the caveats mentioned by others. Don't expect anything resembling Lawrence of Arabia, 2001, or The Sound of Music. Mosfilm clearly put a lot of work into making this presentable. One of the interviews on the disc reveals that even during shooting there were problems with the sub-par Soviet 65mm stock (Bondarchuk wanted to use imported Kodak stock).

As for the film, it's one of the best "new to me" films I've seen this year. I watched it over two nights. Even for all the epic scale, you don't lose sight of the characters. I think it was also clever of Bondarchuk to play Pierre because the character does work as sort of a surrogate for the audience and who better than the director to guide viewers? The cinematography is breathtaking, between all the mind-blowing camera movement and even surrealistic editing that you'd rarely see in a film of this scale.

 

[GerardoHP]

Correction - the Bluray is 2.35:1, not 2.20:1. Unfortunately.

 

[Paul Bosquet]

Just picked this up from Amazon as my wife and I wanted something a little different to watch. I also vaguely seeing this on TV when I was a kid and was enthralled. In any case I popped in the disc and was surprised to see the audio was only in Russian. The Amazon site and the review here states English audio (Audio: English 5.1 DTS-HDMA), but only Russian is on the disc with English subtitles.

Is there by chance another version of the Criterion release?

I might hold onto it if not, but I have a strong feeling I will be watching it by myself!

 

[Angelo Colombus]

The Criterion release only had Russian audio with English subtitles.

 

[Randy Korstick]

One of the first titles I streamed on The Criterion Channel.

I thought I was going to turn it off in the first 20 minutes. I really struggled to finish watching this film...

...however, once things started progressing, I found myself engrossed in this wonderful, epic film.

I absolutely loved this!

Most striking, beyond the triumphant battle scenes, was the transfer. Just gorgeous to watch! Loved the cinematography in the big ballroom scenes with the camera swooping around the dance floor.

This is just one of those films you have to watch once in your lifetime.

Glad you liked it Ron. My 1st viewing experience was similar to yours. I have seen it 3 times now (twice on DVD and once on the Criterion Blu Ray)and have found it improves with each viewing as there is so much going on in this film.

 

[Ronald Epstein]

Glad you liked it Ron. My 1st viewing experience was similar to yours. I have seen it 3 times now (twice on DVD and once on the Criterion Blu Ray)and have found it improves with each viewing as there is so much going on in this film.

I am glad you brought this back to life by quoting me.

I always think of this film from time to time. I love it. I am going to eventually buy it from Criterion. Probably their next big sale. I have two $10 coupons to redeem.

 

[Angelo Colombus]

I rarely make a blind purchases until i have seen the film first on tv or checked out from the library but i love big epic films and i was not disappointed when i viewed the Criterion release and the movie for the first time. I did ordered the Imprint release of Waterloo and will get it soon so i hope i will like that one too.

 

[john a hunter]

If the imprint transfer is as good as the German release(which I'm sure it will be) then you are in for a treat.
The only disappointing aspect for me was why it was not filmed in 65mm to do justice to that vast canvas.
Dino was always a cheap skate!!

 

[RolandL]

$25.52 at Amazon with free shipping to the US.

 

[cinemel1]

I saw this version of W&P at the DeMille Theatre in NY on its original run. I bought the reserved seat tIckets for 2 successive Sunday Matinees. It was dubbed. I guess they figured Americans wouldn’t sit through 7 hours of subtitles. When the first Sunday was done I was sorry that I didn’t get tickets for the evening performance that same day. It was quite amazing. The ballroom scene with the camera swooping above the dancers and the Battle of Borodino in the 2nd half were highlights. Remember no CGI way back then. All the soldiers and dancers were real! The current Criterion blu-ray is excellent and a good buy at $25 at Amazon.

 

[OliverK]

If the imprint transfer is as good as the German release(which I'm sure it will be) then you are in for a treat.
The only disappointing aspect for me was why it was not filmed in 65mm to do justice to that vast canvas.
Dino was always a cheap skate!!

65mm would have been great but to be honest Waterloo as a 35mm blowup probably looked better than 70mm prints of War and Peace.

It was also hideously expensive even without filming in 65mm which would probably have presented numerous logistical and financial challenges considering where Waterloo was filmed.

But yes - it would have been fantastic to revel in those battle scenes shot in 65mm or as a lower cost option they could also have shot it in Technirama for a Super Technirama 70 release.

 

[lark144]

I saw this version of W&P at the DeMille Theatre in NY on its original run. I bought the reserved seat tIckets for 2 successive Sunday Matinees. It was dubbed. I guess they figured Americans wouldn’t sit through 7 hours of subtitles. When the first Sunday was done I was sorry that I didn’t get tickets for the evening performance that same day. It was quite amazing. The ballroom scene with the camera swooping above the dancers and the Battle of Borodino in the 2nd half were highlights. Remember no CGI way back then. All the soldiers and dancers were real! The current Criterion blu-ray is excellent and a good buy at $25 at Amazon.

I also saw it at the DeMille, on the same day. During the two hour "dinner break", I think I went to Nathan's for hot dogs.

I also own the Blu-Ray, and though it's nice to have a record of the film, this looks like a 35mm reduction, and doesn't at all have have the resolution, detail or sweep of the original 70mm version. At the DeMille, the ballroom scene was immersive as well as breathtaking, and because of the scale and large format, those opticals and 1960's "psychedelic" color effects really worked, so it was as if you were inside Natasha's mind, feeling what she was feeling.

On the Criterion Blu-Ray, however, because of the reduced scale, it no longer works for me, other than an aide-memorie. I read somewhere that much of the 65mm raw stock they were using was in the process of disintegration as the film was being shot, so I understand that it's probably impossible to reproduce what "War and Peace" was like in 70mm, as probably a great deal of that original negative no longer exists. As I said above, it's nice to have a record of the film, to show it wasn't just some kind of hallucination. But it doesn't have the same effect.

BTW, for those of you who have never seen this and are on the fence, it's one of the greatest films of the 1960's, as well as, alongside Abel Gance's "Napoleon", the best epic I have ever seen. Also, in addition to being a much better adaptation of the novel then the King Vidor version--though that has its charms--it's the only adaptation of a novel on film I have ever seen that gives an accurate rendition, both in terms of story, and character as well as finding a visual equivalent for Tolstoy's literary style. That in itself is a massive achievement.

 

[PaulRossen]

I too saw War and Peace at The DeMille all in one day. Great movie. Have not purchased the Blu-ray yet…as I’m sure it will not come close to replicating the original presentation