Rating: 
Summary: One of the greatest films (and stories) of all time
Review:
Director: King Vidor
Format: Color
Studio: Paramount Studio
Video Release Date: January 29, 2002
Cast:
Audrey Hepburn ... Natasha Rostov
Henry Fonda ... Pierre Bezukhov
Mel Ferrer ... Prince Andrei Bolkonsky
Vittorio Gassman ... Anatole
Herbert Lom ... Napoleon
Oskar Homolka ... Gen. Kutuzov
Anita Ekberg ... Helene
Helmut Dantine ... Dolokhov
Tullio Carminati ... Prince Vasili Kuragine
Barry Jones ... Count Rostov
Milly Vitale ... Lise
Lea Seidl ... Countess Rostov
Anna-Maria Ferrero ... Mary Bolkonsky
Wilfrid Lawson ... Prince Bolkonsky
May Britt ... Sonya Rostov
Jeremy Brett ... Nicholas Rostov
Patrick Crean ... Denisov
Sean Barrett ... Petya Rostov
Gertrude Flynn ... Peronskava
John Mills ... Platon Karatsev
David Crowley
Robert Cunningham ... Pierre's second at duel
Alex D'Alessio ... Soldier
Carlo Dale ... Young French officer
Henry Danieli
Paul Davis ... Young French officer
Richard Dawson
Lucio De Santis ... Young officer at orgy
Carlo Delmi ... Young guard
Mino Doro ... Russian general
Luciano Angelini ... Young soldier at Borodino
Andrea Esterhazy
Andrea Fantasia ... Constand
Charles Fawcett ... Russian artillery captain
Francis Foucaud ... French soldier
Alan Furlan ... Russian officer
Angelo Galassi ... Russian soldier
Nandor Gallai ... Bezukhov's servant
Stephen Garret ... Coachman/Doctor
Dino Gelio
Christopher Hofer ... Frenchofficer
Dimitri Konstantinov ... Young officer at orgy
Mauro Lanciani ... Young Prince Nicholas
Arcibaldo Layall
Giuseppe Addobbati
Mario Addobbati ... Young servant at Rostov's
Cesare Barbetti ... Young boy
Vincent Barbi ... Balaga
Alberto Lolli ... Prokofiev
Gianni Luda ... Soldier
Richard Macnamara ... De Beausset
Patrick Barrett ... Russian soldier
Nino Milia
Enrico Olivieri ... French drummer
Eric Oulton ... Russian general
Piero Palermini ... Russian artillery lieutenant
Mimmo Palmara ... French officer
Piero Pastore ... Bolkonsky's servant
Frank Pex
Savo Raskovitch ... Czar Alexander I
Jerry Riggio ... French officer
Alfredo Rizzo ... Soldier
Giovanni Rossi-Loti ... Young Russian officer
Giacomo Rossi-Stuart ... Young Cossack
Umberto Sacripante ... Old man
Michael Billingsley ... Russian soldier
John Stacy ... Russian general
Robert Stephens ... Officer talking with Natasha
Eschilo Tarquini ... Soldier
Gilberto Tofano ... Young dying soldier
Michael Tor ... Pope
Gualtiero Tumiati ... Count Benuchov
Henri Vidon
Robin White Cross ... Young officer at orgy
Augusto Borselli
Joop van Hulzen ... Russian officer
Georges Bréhat ... French officer at execution
Guido Celano ... Victor
Carmelo Consoli
Giorgio Constantini ... French officer
Geoffrey Copleston ... French officer
Tiziano Cortini
Micaela Giustiniani ... Woman
Sdenka Kirchen ... Old maid
Marianne Leibl ... Vera
Clelia Matania ... Mademoiselle Geoges
Teresa Pellati ... Liudmila
Paola Quagliero ... Young girl protected by Pierre
Maria Zanoli ... Mavra
Marisa Allasio ... Matrosha
This is based on Leo Tolstoy's great classic story, War and Peace. The movie reflects the book well, and it would be presumptuous of me to make commenton the novel, except on the movie itself.
This was, possibly, one of Fonda's best efforts, as Pierre, an illegitimate count, legitimatized only at his father's death, who hated violence and war. Also, Audrey Hepburn was exquisite as Natasha Rostov, a naive, innocent and passionate little Russian girl that everyone loved and some took advantage of.
The novel was complex, but essentially it was rather simple. It was the struggle of the Russian people against the minions of Napoleon, and the horrors of the war he brought to Russia.
A truly great great classic in scope and cast. A superb production.
Joseph (Joe) Pierre
author of Handguns and Freedom...their care and maintenance
and other books
Rating: 
Summary: Ambitious.. thoughtful.. and massive in scale..
Review: Although often naïve, even crude, the films of King Vidor (1913-1959) were frequently distinguished by their sheer energy and forceful visual style.. As his career progressed, his films became increasingly grand in terms of narrative scope and visual bravura.. Tolstoy and Vidor tell the epic story through a handful of major characters.. As Napoleon Bonaparte prepares to invade Russia.. Pierre Bezukhov (Henry Fonda), an aristocrat so liberal in his views.. visits his friend Count Rostov (Barry Jones) and his radiant, young daughter Natasha (Audrey Hepburn).. They all witness 'those handsome Russian men marching away to fight.. to be killed..' When his father dies.. Pierre falls under the spell of the attractive Helene (Anita Ekberg) and finds himself unable to resist her passionate response.. He marries her even though everybody knows that she's fooling around on him with Dolokhov (Helmut Dantine).. His closest friend, Prince Andrei Bolkonsky (Mel Ferrer), achieves success as a soldier under General Kutuzov (Oscar Homolka) but returns wounded, a condition made the worse by the death of his wife in childbirth.. With his own marriage ended by the adultery of his woman.. Pierre introduces the grieving Andrei to Natasha.. and the pair fall in love.. But before they can marry.. Andrei goes to fight the invading French and the pacifistic Pierre goes along as an observer... The motion picture ( deals with war and its effect on people..) contains many marvelous pictorial moments: colorfully uniformed regiments marching through the excellent streets of Moscow.. snowy landscapes.. a magnificent Ballroom sequence.. and most of all, Napoleon's forces at the epic battle of Borodino.. the march on Moscow.. and the tragic retreat of Napoleon's army through the Russian winter.. Most of the military side of the story takes place in the second half, and it seems slow to arrive.. but the battle of Borodino is fairly well handled.. It is focused (through Pierre's eyes..) with long shots of the invading and retreating French troops.. Audrey Hepburn (whose boyish figure provided a refreshing antidote to the film..) is lovely as Natasha.. Her flaming innocence and blossoming sensuality set her sweet heart ablaze.. This charming spirit (with so much enthusiasm and romanticism..) is full of life and true love.. Hepburn matures from an impulsive, kind-hearted teen-ager.. to an understanding woman who uses her courage and impetuousness to love.. to care and to serve.. Henry Fonda is pure, brave, and noble.. He projects with sincerity the confusion of an honest man caught up in an angry twist of history.. He witnesses the horrific events of war.. experiencing days of misery as a prisoner of war.. His remarkable adventures lead him to understand at least part of the mysteries of life.. humanity.. love and loyalty.. Pierre is strikingly different from others.. with a deep love and esteem for his country and his sweetheart.. Mel Ferrer is Andrei, the sensitive prince who doesn't come around until he meets the sweet Natasha.. Andrei is intelligent but arrogant.. He ignores the feelings of his wife and fails to carry out his responsibility as a husband.. Vittorio Gassman is Anatole, the legendary seducer.. darkly handsome, sensuous, magnetic, who lives in a world of debauchery.. a man dangerous to love, impossible to resist.. Herbert Lom is Napoleon, the 'greatest man of Europe' who (sees his men walking hardly under fatiguing conditions through the snowy fields of Russia..) had a tough decision to make.. Oskar Homolka is General Kutuzov who forms a reasoned judgment against an enemy who has a larger, more efficient force.. (It is unclear whether he did this out of weakness or whether it was part of a brilliant strategy with the purpose of drawing Napoleon's army way beyond their means of supply for the winter, which Bonaparte had not prepared for..) Anita Ekberg is Helene, the charming and reckless libertine who goes to a world of cheats and insults her husband's ego making his life depressed and miserable.. Helmut Dantine is Dolokhov, the officer (challenged for a duel..) who puts on view the better side of his character much later.. Tulio Carminati is Prince Vasili Kuragine, a man of the world who familiarizes himself with people who are influential and tries to obtain favor from them.. Barry Jones is Count Rostov, a loving family man and an excellent friend.. He is indulgent towards his family and provides them comforts and luxuries of life.. Milly Vitale is Lise, Andrei's loving wife.. who implores her husband to stay back.. Lea Seidl is Countess Rostov, a simple housewife and a loving mother.. proud of her children.. Wilfrid Lawson is Prince Bolkonsky, a despot aristocrat who imposes his authority on his son without caring for his feelings.. May Britt is Sonya, the tender young girl who is devoted to the Rostov family and loves Nicholas.. Jeremy Brett is Nicholas Rostov, a handsome young man who is (waiting to enlist in the army..) attracted to Sonya, his cousin.. Sean Barrett is the young Petya who joins the army to attack the fleeing French forces out of Russian soil and shatters the life of his beloved parents.. John Mills is Platon, the cheerful Russian peasant whose philosophies comfort Pierre.. Vidor's 'War and Peace' is (faithful to the larger historical events.. entertaining as a period melodrama..) ambitious.. thoughtful.. and massive in scale..
Rating: 
Summary: Frankly, Natasha, I don't give a....
Review: Apparently, when this would-be epic came out in the mid-fifties, the Russian authorities had to check Tolstoy's grave to see how many times he had turned over. This film is very much a Classics Illustrated-type version of the supposedly greatest novel ever written. It's one of those Hollywood-in-Europe international productions in which the cast speaks in a variety of accents, except for the ones who are (badly) dubbed. Italy never looks remotely like Russia and the whole thing creaks along slowly under the weight of its own self-importance. Visually, the film has a few good moments and, visually, Audrey Hepburn seems an inspired choice to play Natasha. But Henry Fonda as Pierre is mis-casting on a scale of John Wayne as Genghis Khan. Mel Ferrer, never an overly expressive actor, confuses sleep-walking with aristocratic haughtiness. And Anita Ekberg was obviously included as a joke. Only Herbert Lom as Napoleon and Oscar Homolka as Kutuzov emerge from the film with any credibility. The film was made at a time when film makers were trying to lure audiences away from television, so they kept making bigger and bigger movies. Films such as The Ten Commandments and Around The World In 80 Days. So it is slightly surprising that War And Peace actually looks somewhat better on the small screen. But there are so many other, better films to spend that amount of time with. If you want War And Peace - the real War And Peace - see the 1960's Russian version. Now there's a classic!
Rating:
Summary: Very good, although ...
Review: As a deeply-adoring Audrey Hepburn fan, I have mixed feelings about this movie, as do many Hepburn devotees. It's hard not to wonder what the then-new epic master, David Lean, might have done with it, had he been in charge instead of King Vidor, a giant of the silent era from decades before.
The story I gather from Hepburn biographies is that the producer of this movie shrewdly cast Hepburn's husband, Mel Ferrer, before offering a part to her. Immediately a rival pre-production group shut down their preparations for a "War and Peace" adaptation, knowing that the plum actress for the part would surely not sign with them. (To my knowledge, Lean never got anywhere near either production.)
Well, if that's the case, then "War and Peace" might have been flawed from the start. The domino effect of starting with Ferrer's casting, securing the directorial efforts of a somewhat-aging Vidor, and also having Hepburn to make love to her own husband onscreen, might have meant that something about this movie seems a bit too comfortable for all involved in making it. It's not as dramatic as it needs to be, as cruel in its cruel moments as it needs to be, and therefore not as inspiring and revelatory of what's great about the human spirit when it needs to be. It does -- to my mind -- feel a bit bloated, a bit slow, and never quite at that high-stakes level you might hope.
Indeed, another story about the movie and its "problematic-ness" was told by King Vidor himself in his autobiography. Apparently, at the time of the movie's production or maybe release, his wife had chid him for letting his own, rather fatherly affection for Audrey Hepburn prevent him from letting her play the fullness of Natasha's character -- which is not always a pleasant one in the book. Vidor copped to this accusation, accepting that he had not pushed her as he might have. Tellingly, in the autobiography he went so far (I believe) as to name young Hepburn as his favorite actress to have ever worked with. There is something touching but not quite fortunate in that, because "War and Peace" will never be remembered as a Vidor masterpiece or even a work of the man in his prime. Perhaps it illustrates that, again, this movie was only going to go so far with itself.
Who knows? But my favorite story about this movie shows the intelligence of Hepburn herself. She had asked that Peter Ustinov be cast as Pierre, which to my mind would have been completely perfect casting. Pierre in the book is a bit rotund, a bit clumsy, but also strongly intellectual and bursting with questions about life and society. Ustinov would have been perfect, given the mind and the comic talent he had. (Ustinov also wrote a lovely eulogy upon Audrey Hepburn's death, which is quoted in his book "Still at Large." He thanked her for thinking of him when Pierre needed casting, saying that her choice of him had continued to surprise him throughout his life. He too was a UNICEF representative in his lifetime, and when he passed away, my mourning for him was mixed with thoughts of Hepburn as well.)
But as to the movie ... I will say that there is nothing inept or embarrassing about this adaptation. There are world-class actors in this movie, and if you're waiting for mistakes from them, don't hold your breath. (Henry Fonda, whatever his speaking accent, definitely understood something about Pierre, as did Ferrer about Andrei and certainly Hepburn about Natasha.) You can watch this movie straight through or in sections on DVD, and probably come to like it quite a bit either way. It's gorgeous for Hepburn alone, but also in so many other ways. But once you know the background of the movie, you do risk getting a case of the what-ifs? If you can ignore them, more power to you.
Rating:
Summary: A sweeping saga
Review: Audrey Hepburn stars as Natasha in the film of Count Leo Tolstoy's epic masterpiece WAR AND PEACE. It also stars Audrey's first husband Mel Ferrer as Prince Andre. In the esteemed supporting cast are Henry Fonda, Herbert Lom, Oscar Homolka, Anita Ekberg and John Mills. Its long running time was the main reason why it failed somewhat at the box office, it did not have the same storytelling magic that kept viewers of GONE WITH THE WIND enthralled. However, it is a fine production and worth seeing.
Rating:
Summary: Tolstoy's classic Hollywood style.
Review: Despite the many draw backs that follow the release of a hollywood movie based on a classic novel, this film is quite exceptional. The cast and their acting alone is something to marvel at, notwithstanding the fantastic wardrob nor the vast amount of effort put into the movie's sole battlescene. The one great fault within this movie is the director's reluctance to remain true to the book. Many important sections of the book that made the novel so great were left out, or slightly manipulated. However, movie lovers and book lovers alike are sure to enjoy this film immensely.
Rating:
Summary: Good Entrainment with a Few Flaws
Review: Great Cast with a great story is not always the best combo, but this DVD is a keeper. Audrey Hepburn as Natasha does the best with her multi expressions & cute dialogue during the many courtships throughout the film. Henry Fonda as Pierre comes in a close 2nd, but at 1st he seems out of place, too passive. Later this lack of emotion or evolvement shines forth as he goes though many hardships as a prisoner of Napoleon. Mel Ferrer as Prince Andrei, then Audrey Hepburn's real husband, has the same problem as Henry Fonda, he drifts in & out of character. I believe the problem with the main male actors is that they played it too straight. The woman who played Prince Andrei's 1st wife did the worst, she over acted like a silent movie star. The supporting cast does a great job, specially the actor playing Nepoleon. This is exactly what I think Nepoleon looked & acted like in the early 19th century. The phyical height & size for the French emperor are perfect, & the letting of free opinion to be express, yet at the same time having the over powering will to bring Europe to his knees. Desite the flaws, this version of "War & Peace" will give you a short stroll, with a "to the point" idea of a western classic with great photography & sound. I try not to watch it too many times because I don't want to wear it out.
Rating:
Summary: Hello?
Review: Hasn't anyone ever heard of something called DIGITAL RESTORATION? Why must evryone keep waiting for sudios to release all these movies on proper 3- disc sets with a proper restoration. i mean, look what they did to My Fair LADY, it was so well restored that i couldn' tell the difference. even gone with the Wind hasn't had a proper DvD release yet.
Rating: 
Summary: I love Audrey, but not necessarily this movie...
Review: I adore Audrey Hepburn in all of her movies, but even she couldn't make WAR AND PEACE entertaining enough to keep my interest through one much less two tapes. Now, this is not an opinion based on lack of attention span since GONE WITH THE WIND is one of my favorite movies. Tolstoy's story is simply dry and confusing no matter the format.
Rating:
Summary: View it as a Napoleonic era epic
Review: I bet most people have heard of WAR AND PEACE, but few people have read this hefty tome. It gives many people the connotation of zillions of characters and eons to read. But guess what, it really is a good story and the best way to find out frankly is with the movie at only 3 and a half hours long. Why am I telling your about it? Because it is a Napoleonic movie and there aren't all that many of these. Yes, the "war" part deals with Napoleon's wars with Russia. Of course Leo Tolstoy was Russian so you get to see Napoleon's campaigns mostly from the Russian point of view, the battles, strategy, heroes, agony, etc. The battle scenes aren't epic sized, but still inspiring, sweeping, and worth the wait. In particular, we get to see the battles of Auschwitz, Borodino, and the long, terrible, cold retreat from Moscow.
No those don't take three and a half hours because the other part of the movie is 'and peace'. The movie focuses on the various love stories swirling around Audrey Hepburn and Henry Fonda. But what I particularly like is the view of Russian aristocracy during the Napoleonic age, the splendid houses, ornate buildings, conflicting mores, charming gowns (and the women wearing them), and country dachas. It does particularly well for showing the affects of the war on the families at home including the men marching off to war, the women waiting for them, and the families evacuating Moscow just ahead of Napoleon. So whatever your perceptions of WAR AND PEACE may be, see the movie and find out for yourself. I know, even at 3.5 hours, the movie condenses the book and what Tolstoy wants to say to us, but it is still a fine story and movie with legendary actors, beautiful sets, a large cast, and sweeping plots.
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