Rating: 
Summary: Good Movie But Disappointing Soundtrack
Review: I bought this on DVD because I thought it would be the remastered version that was released on video a few years ago. Needless to say I was disappointed by the soundtrack. Most of the music sounded washed out and the music is what does it for me in this movie. I do really enjoy the movie though. Note: 5 stars for the movie and 1 Star for the quality of the transfer, averaging to 3 Stars.
Rating: 
Summary: Wonderful
Review: i did not see this before i heard the music from Prokofiev, which is some of the best music ever made. then i rented the film and watched it. it was quite well done for its time and place and well worth watching. it does give a sense of russian pride that might have helped the russians in their battle against the germans during WWII. both prokofiev and eisenstein were ardent Russians and tried to envoke a russian pride in thier works. this is a classic example of that, but not to be [disregaurded]as [not real].
Rating:
Summary: perhaps a little too hyped in my own opinion...
Review: I have just recently become interested in the classic cinema, or classic world cinema in this situation, and I have not delved too far yet into fully understanding cinema in general, but being an extreme history enthusiast I was compelled and influenced by outside forces to purchase the Eisenstein Sound Years Criterion set. I thoroughly enjoyed the "Ivans", but unfortunately the "Nevsky" film and dvd fell a little short of oustanding. The film itself I believe is an important lesson in understanding Soviet propaganda and the limitations set on artists during Stalin's regime, but the actually story and pace of the content is a little...old?(!) I also do agree with this being a milestone in the terms of film epics, and the costumes and cinematography seem to be very good for its time. The only problem I have is you barely begin to understand any characters for the film can only have so many sequences before the epic battle scene, but perhaps I am saying this for I believed both "Ivans" to be artistic and in-depth looks at a complex human being. I will have to show a little dismay also in the dvd, for I know tranfers must be hard to accomplish but the score and film itself are still somewhat grainy. I will not go into the cons very much, for I still see this as a very important film for modern times, and you can easily see the influence in nowadays epics (ie. Star Wars, Lord Of The Rings). I guess my main point is not to come towards the film after reading about it and expect one of the most amazing pieces of art ever made, but instead pull it in as a study of modern propaganda and Soviet Philosophies. As stated, I enjoyed the "Ivans" much more, but considering the restrictions Eisenstein had faced prior to making "Nevsky", it is still a film far above par and unique.
Rating: 
Summary: Great movie, bad DVD
Review: I have watched Alexander Nevsky more times than I've watched any other movie. It is a great movie, deserving 5 stars. This particular DVD, however, is the worst transfer to DVD that I have seen. At first I intended to watch it on my computer. The image was so jumpy I could not watch it more than a few minutes. There are at least two versions of this movie with English subtitles on VHS. Both are worth watching. Some are older and have the "mistaken" music track. A new version was released in 1995 with new subtitles and a newly recorded score. There are editing changes in the 1995 version as well. I see that there is a version of Alexander Nevsky that is part of a 3-dvd set.
But at this date (May, 2002) there doesn't seem to be a single dvd of Alexander Nevsky that is worth watching.
There are Russian versions without subtitles and a few versions with English subtitles. I hope someone does a good tranfer of at least ONE of the versions to a single DVD soon.
Rating:
Summary: Goofd movie but very bad sound -- waste of a DVD
Review: I was very disappointed with this DVD in that presented a poor copy of the film and a very bad soundtrack. I remember seeing a version of the film on laserdisc a few years back that had a much better picture and vastly superior soundtrack -- a modern rerecording if I remember right. This DVD was waste of money in that it gave nothing beyond a really bad videotape version. Let's hope that a better version hits the steet!
Rating: 
Summary: Get the BMG version on VHS or LaserDisc
Review: I'm afraid I've got to agree with the earlier one-star reviews -- although, since the beauty of the work shines through the terrible transfer, I felt it deserved a better rating. I was lucky enough to find a copy of the BMG release on LaserDisc. The sound track, rescored for full symphony and recorded with state of the art digital technology, is awesome in sound and performance. The restored print is excellent on that version as well. Soundwise, the VHS version ought to be up to par with the laserdisc version.
Rating:
Summary: Horrible Version of Film! Wait for Criterion Release in Feb
Review: In a previous review, I mentioned how ghastly this release of Nevsky was in terms of its miserable sound. There was no effort to make this anything other than a copy of a bad videotape, The great news is that Criterion will be releasing Nevsky along with Eisenstein's two "Ivan the Terrible" films in late February as part of an "Eisenstein -- The Sound Years" set. They have a done a great job in cleaning up and presenting old masterpieces -- Let's hop that they will do the same in their new set. These films surely deserve better!! Below is a technical description of the new release that I copied from the Amazon site: Edition Details: • Region 1 encoding (US and Canada only) • Black & White, Box set • Alexander Nevsky • New transfer, with extensive digital image and sound restoration • Audio essay by film scholar David Bordwell, author of The Cinema of Eisenstein • Multimedia essay on the Eisenstein-Prokofiev collaboration by Russell Merritt • Scholar Naum Kleiman's reconstruction of the unfinished film Bezhin Meadow, plus Jay Leyda's photos and documents from the set • Sketches and storyboards • New English subtitle translation • Ivan The Terrible, Parts 1 and 2 Two-disc Set • New transfer, with extensive digital image and sound restoration • Multimedia essay bye scholar Yuri Tsivian on Eisenstein's visual vocabulary • Multimedia essay by scholar Joan Neuberger on the history of the films • Sketches and storyboards • New English subtitle translation • Number of discs: 3
Rating:
Summary: One of the Greatest Films of All Time!!!
Review: In spite of the rather hackneyed expression which I preface this review, Eisenstein has given us not only one of the most powerful films of all time, but also an incredible visual experience. The vastness of Russian steepes is so well caught that one feels one is part of this film. As a result of this film Eisenstein really made a profound imprint on Cinema and gave film emotion.
There are so many things that are impossible to capture in a single review..however, the beauty of Edward Tisse camerwork is fantastic. If you are a true fan of classic cinema then this is for you!
Rating:
Summary: "with their crimson blood they have fed our soil"
Review: It is amazing to think that when this film was released in1938, many dismissed it as merely propaganda, as war loomed ahead with Germany. Though certainly the conditions of the time influenced the script, the film is an epic masterpiece. The history depicted in the story is of the Russians in 1242, already oppressed by the Mongols, being invaded by the Teutonic Knights.
Director Sergei Eisenstein, one of the pioneers of editing for dramatic effect, here created filming on a scale that is astounding. The famous battle sequence takes place on a frozen lake, with a cast of thousands, many who were a part of the regular army.
Eisenstein also collaborated extensively with the great classical composer Sergei Prokofiev, whose magnificent score is so intricately meshed with the cinematography by Eduard Tisse, and along with the spectacular battle scenes, the sweeping panoramas of desolate plains are also extraordinary. Nikolai Cherkasov's charisma and majestic presence fill the screen as Nevsky. He's considered one of Russia's greatest actors, and here as the warrior prince, he is a larger-than-life heroic figure, with blazing eyes and resonant voice.
An epic film that has influenced many of today's filmmakers, this is one not to miss.
There are a few signs of age in this film, it has been well restored, though the subtitles are sometimes in awkward syntax. Total running time is 108 minutes.
Rating:
Summary: not a patch on Ivan
Review: It seems that Eisenstien had a particularly tough transition to the world of sound in cinema. After delivering starteling visuals in Battlship Potemkin, Eisensitein seems to have struggled to realise the dramatic potential of the medium of sound, and it shows in this film. Eisenstien uses sound as little more than a medium for delivering dialogue, and the most interesting sonic asspect of this film is Prokofiev's stunning score, which is unfortunatly all but lost in the primitive sound on this DVD. The film itself is to my mind something of a dissapointment. It starts well, with Alexander and his men fishing against an impressivly scenic backdrop of windswept Russian country side. The sound limitations begin immediatly, when it becomes obvious that no sound, other than the dialogue has been recorded. Maybe this has something to do with the technological limitations of the day, I don't know, but it seems to show a lack of interest in the possibilities of sound on the part of the director. As the film develops, it becomes obvious that the scenes have been developed with little imagination, certainly not of the quality of the vision behind Potemkin. The apparently 'amazing' battle on the ice also proved to be something of a dissapointment to me, there seemed to be a great laziness on the part of the director in repeating the same rather tired imagery, and I noticed that rather than shoot the German Army's retreat, their advance was simply played backwards! When viewing this film, it was not immedeatly apparent that the music was of such a high quality, indeed it was not until I heard Claudio Abbado's excellent digital recording that I realised how good it was. The picture quality annoyed me, as it seemes to have an unnatural digitised look throughout. This film has recieved many good reviews on this page, so maybe I am missing something. But please don't feel that I am critical of it because I don't understand it. I think that elsewhere Eisenstien displayed great ability, I was gripped by Ivan the Terrible part 1, and foungd Battleship Potemkin worthy of its reputation. I just don't consider this to be the director's finest work, nor do I consider this I good DVD. I would also suggest that anyone primarily interested in the music should listen to Abbado's excellent recording on Deutche Gramophone. Still, it's probably worth watching anyway, if only to make your own mind up.
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