I recently purchased the DVD release of this spectacular production. The battle scenes are breathtaking, but a bit confusing when you see infantry columns marching in circles and cavalry units galloping back an forth between the columns, with no apparent destination in mind. About half of the movie is dubbed in English, but the rest is in Russian with English subtitles and some of it is even in French with English subtitles! There are some scenes that are dubbed in English followed by Russian with subtitles then back to English, and so forth. It was quite challenging to keep up with the switching between listening and reading the dialogue. You can also see some of the Soviet influence in some of the scenes. There are a number of blustery patriotic songs and some rather over-dramatic soliloquies (sp?) scattered throughout the "War" portion of the movie. In spite of these drawbacks, I rather enjoyed this movie. War and Peace has always been one of my favorite stories, and this movie certainly does the book justice. The DVD version is spread over 4 discs (with a 5th disc containing bonus materials). It is packaged in a very attractive box and the discs themselves are attractively presented with images of the main characters and scenes. The widescreen format is nice because the subtitles are displayed in the blackened areas of the screen, rather than intruding into the picture itself. It's a bit on the expensive side (I paid $49.95 for it at Best Buy) but if you're a fan of the Napoleonic era or a lover of Tolstoy, it's worth it. I rate this movie a solid 8.0.
Review of War and Peace
