Rating: 
Summary: Death is an Effective way of cutting down on your Expenses
Review: There are many layers to this incredibly funny farce by Woody Allen. Who else could take Russia during the Naploeonic Wars and find so much humor in it. May contain more memorable and quotable lines than any of Allen's films. There are scenes that border on the ridiculous...hot dog vendors and cheerleaders on the battlefield, for example, and there are scenes that use wordplay and subtlety to great effect. Allen and Dianne Keaton are both wonderful. I particularly think Keaton uses her facial expressions to convey a sense of irony regardless of how goofy the lines are that she is delivering. She does everything short of winking at the camera and still pulls it off.
Rating: 
Summary: a philosophical wonder
Review: Woody Allen's philosophical film taken to the extreme. How far to the extreme? To the point of reciting cliche phrases.
This was Woody's first movie to not have another writer involved.
This was one of his better ones, a good mixture of comedy and other. The storylines seemingly taking new steps at every point. At one point, Diane Keaton's character says, "Hey, let's assassinate Napolean!"
Some great scenes in this film: the silent bottle scene was a lot of people's favorite. Mine has got to be the convention for the village idiots. Or prancing around with the Reaper
Woody Allen's prelude to Annie Hall (which won 4 Oscars, personally not one of my favorties) was a great one. Be sure to check it out, if you like them Allen flicks.
Rating:
Summary: No, YOU must be Don Francisco's sister
Review: Woody Allen hits his stride in this 1975 film, the project he completed right before his popular breakthrough with "Annie Hall." Allen's early work showed disjointed moments of comedic brilliance but were filmed like a cheap TV movie of the day. In "Love and Death," he shows that he has learned the importance of cinematography and the art of holding a narrative for nearly 90 minutes. It's fall-down funny in many places, without sacrificing a coherent story and attractive scenery, an artistic breakthrough that led to his greatest triumphs. LaD is my favorite Allen film, and I'm pleased to have recently learned that it's also his own favorite part of his body of work.
The story is a kind of parody of a "War and Peace," with Allen's stock Jewish comedy populating the lives of a Russian family. His standard nebbish character struggles with the family's expectations that he defend Mother Russia against Napoleon's invading forces, to which he replies, "It's not MY mother. My mother is here with us today," then points to her in the crowd around him. His fear of death and his legendary agnosticism, as well as his character's equally legendary neuroses in relationships with the fairer sex, are what the film is really about, of course, but whereas earlier films used supporting roles as cardboard cutouts for his one-man show, here his family, fellow soldiers, religious figures, and of course the ladies, are more fully developed characters. Woody has learned how to become stronger by sharing the load and giving more screen time to several characters as opposed to one or two ("Sleeper," "Bananas," etc.). He even throws in several homages to European art films, especially those of Ingmar Bergman, in scenes representing death and soliloquies, poking gentle fun at the work of a man he greatly admired.
I guess the reason this is my favorite Woody Allen film is that the laughs are more frequent in this film than any of his others. In later films the characterizations are so well done that the humor is often subverted, and in earlier ones the jokes often simply go on for too long. In LaD the balance feels just right, the funny stuff taking center stage enough that the story isn't taken too seriously but the story being strong enough that it doesn't feel like a cheap vaudeville act. The cinematography is beautifully done and even the music by Prokofiev was chosen wisely. Although somewhat overlooked with the passage of time, it was with "Love and Death" that the world of cinema began to take note of Woody Allen as a growing force, and rightly so.
Rating:
Summary: woody allen thinks this one is his best
Review: Classic woody allen with tons of puns and just plain silliness. Sometimes it's Naked Gun/Three Stooges humor and other times it's more highbrow. If you've ever seen Eugene Onegin, this movie is a parody version with a lot of weird things thrown in. I can't believe how bad Woody looks even in the 70s while Diane Keaton looks like a different person altogether. Overall, very light and fast movie. I didn't find my attention waning like I do with today's blockbusters.
Rating:
Summary: my favorite Woody Allen movie!
Review: this is woddy allen's best movie; and before i hear cries of protest from the "Annie Hall" and "Manhattan" fans, allow me to explain myself.this movie is the perfect blend of his physical comedy (the silent bottle scene) and his quick witted, rapid-response dialogue ("Let's assaginate Neapoleon" "Yeah, okay, it's getting a little late sweetheart, you wanna start knitting dinner?"). The "War and Peace" paradoy also makes for great comedy, complete with the Esienstein soundtrack to the classic Soviet propaganda film "Alexander Nevsky". Allen and Diane Keaton are at their best in this movie, i think because they're not pontificating the great love-releationship dilemma they they also perform brilliantly in "Annie Hall" and "Manhattan", they're just having a lot of fun!
Rating:
Summary: Angst-Ridden Comedy
Review: It's his specialty. Or it was anyway. This film presents a hilarious, atheistic vision of the Russian epic. All that's required to find this film funny is a knowledge of several of the titles of Dosoyevsky's books. Foreign film buffs will be pleased by the references to Eisenstein and Bergman classics. With this film, Allen makes light of his own fear of death, his pessimissm regarding the existence of God, his cowardice and ineptitude, but allows the fact that a specimen such as himself should be so lucky, or endowed in some way with greatness, as to reach great success. If one takes into account the absence of God, as Allen hypothesizes, one must find some other explanation for the incredible turn of events that put the story of Boris into motion, catapaulting him from a mediocre existence at home as the least appealing specimen of a robust family, into a war hero and husband to his true love. Allen is a hilarious, but weak hero, but what strength he does have comes from the fact that he knows what he is, and he's blessed with a sensitivity and inventiveness that found its way to the medium of film, where he can demonstrate his strength as a genius. Allen said this was his favorite film. By 1975, he was on the cusp of achieving worldwide success with his next film. Love and Death is his autobiography, as told through Doestoevsky, Tolstoy and Groucho Marx.
Rating:
Summary: "Someday, I hope to build on it!"
Review: Brilliant film parody of "War and Peace" (and every other 19th century Russian novel), along with standard Allen gags. Love and Death goes on to inform our personal philosophical outlook almost as much as the Russian novels themselves. When Keaton says "I think this is the best of all possible worlds", Allen counters with "it's certainly the most expensive". Too much "content" in this movie to summarize in this short space, but if you have any regard at all for Love and Death, no matter, because you will begin to memorize it after the first scene.
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