Reptileenbu Did you people see the same film I saw?

Sexyloutak Absolutely the worst movie.

BelSports This is a coming of age storyline that you've seen in one form or another for decades. It takes a truly unique voice to make yet another one worth watching.

Abegail Noëlle While it is a pity that the story wasn't told with more visual finesse, this is trivial compared to our real-world problems. It takes a good movie to put that into perspective.

rodrig58 The film is not bad, it's obvious how much they worked for its realization, but it is inferior to Sergey Bondarchuk's homonymous film. The actors, with the exception of Audrey Hepburn and Oskar Homolka, they are not at all fit. Vittorio Gassman, Herbert Lom, Henry Fonda, they were very good actors, but not here in this "War and Peace".

ickyeric I only wish that the novel could hold a flame to this visual masterpiece. The Novel is too heavy. It broke one of my bookshelves. The book cost me like 40 dollars for a collector's edition. This film was free on pretty much any site that I had a membership for; therefore, I didn't even blow a cent for my viewing enjoyment. I could go to the fridge and get a tasty beverage, while still listening to the movie without having to pause it. I tried to bring the novel with me while I was reading, to get a delicious beverage, but ended up in traction. I only had to set aside an evening to watch this film. I had to set aside my vacation time to read the novel. But, you know how the saying goes "A novel is never as good as the movie."

ebiros2 De Lorentiis always has grand production, but also always makes one wonder what the point of the whole story is. Even on this movie that's based on Leo Tolstoy's novel have that short comings.I can understand why the movie has not received the high ratings it should have. The focus of the story is not clear. De Lorentiis movies suffers from this problem. For the amount of effort that was put in, it should be rated higher. Although the set production is always grand, the details are not par with the production. For instance direction could be better. The actors are like dolls, that have no human depth, and just going through the motion. So although I've seen the movie, I didn't get the experience I was hoping to get, that is to be more involved with the story.It was as though watching the story of Roman empire instead of French and Russian conflict.

moonspinner55 Tolstoy's mammoth Russian novel "Voyna i mir" cannot be summed up in a few mere sentences...however, King Vidor's movie-adaptation certainly can, and therein lies a telling difference between the two. An alarming amount of Hollywood generalities have been incorporated into this script (apparently worked on by numerous writers at different intervals), turning a war story into a star-crossed lovers saga. Grand costume spectacle mixes peculiarly with battlefield drama, just as the location footage mixes uneasily with the studio work. In 1800 Russia, as Napoleon is taking over Europe but finding resistance in Russia and England, a virginal, somewhat boy-happy Countess can't decide to whom her heart belongs: a family friend who initially supports Napoleon or a dashing Prince. The Prince soon becomes a Colonel in the war against the French as Napoleon's army advances, leading to the one spectacular, engrossing sequence wherein Henry Fonda (in dress clothes and spectacles), on a jaunt through the countryside, inadvertently finds himself in the middle of battle. Of the large, international cast, only Herbert Lom as Napoleon seems suitable. Audrey Hepburn wears a succession of lovely outfits, yet always seems to be looking out the window or standing on a balcony, speaking to the skies (at one point she speaks to herself in voice-over, as does Prince Mel Ferrer, and you think the producers have to be kidding!). Henry Fonda looks very handsome, but can't seem to get a grasp on his character; his old-chums relationship with Ferrer is scuttled by Ferrer's fearsome non-acting, and the love-triangle asides involving the Countess are piqued, at best. Director Vidor received an Academy Award nomination for his work, but only the battle scenes excel--the rest is a tad clumsy. ** from ****