Customer Reviews

War & Peace (BBC Mini-series)

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

I'm quite in agreement with the reviewer who wrote that this is the best version of Tolstoy's classic--which I have, in fact, read. This is distinct from the "Fonda/Hepburn" version for that very reason: the mid-'50's version is known as the "Fonda/Hepburn" version. There were no Stars in this BBC production, just excellent actors. Mind you, anyone who watched a lot of Masterpiece theatre was able to follow Angela Down [Princess Marya Nokolaievna Bolkonskaya] into a subsequent series, "The Glittering Prizes;" or Frank Middlemass who portrayed General Kutuzov into "Poldark" as Uncle Charles. It was only later that Anthony Hopkins went Hollywood, and became recognized; although his portrayal of gay butcher Richard the Lion Hearted in "The Lion in Winter" was superb in '68.
This is the best, most faithful to the book, version of War and Peace available.

This is an incredibly detailed account by the BBC. The costumes and scenery are very realistic. Anthony Hopkins was fabulous. I highly recommend this movie, but be prepared for the length!

Very engaging and entertaining! Its great fun to watch Anthony Hopkins in an early role. This is a Masterpiece Theatre production which is filmed like a play. There are outside battle scenes however, which are quite good. I couldn't stop watching it (12 hours long). It only took a few days! My only complaint is after all those hours of watching, the ending is confusing! It has to be re-watched. I recommend this, it has no objectionable material and would be great for older children.

This version of War and Peace is undoubtedly the best. Although Audrey Hepburn and Henry Fonda are great in the mid 50's version, the stars in this miniseries are excellent. I have seen the one made in the 50's, the Russian version, and this one, and this one is by far superior to the others.
It is very long, but is very faithful to the book. It includes all the characters' thoughts and philosophies, and includes the many human relationships intertwined in the film.
It is true, however, that it lacks music and scenery, although the inside shots of the houses are splendid. But this is very well, because it makes it much more realistic. The acting is superb, the sets are real and lovely, and I would highly recommend this epic.

When a friend allowed me to borrow a copy of this 1968 BBC series recently, there was no way I was just going to sit on my can and view 12 hours of production. I watched this first tape while walking on a treadmill and was hooked--not only that I had walked for over two hours and had covered five miles! Almost needless to say I poured through the entire series shortly thereafter. Hopkins is great (he was about 30 at the time). If you want a good case study of human nature and the human condition in which it is encased then check this thing out. I should mention that I have not as of yet read the novel itself, but I suspect it shall be even better as is almost always the case when comparing novels and filmed versions.

I see a previous reviewer is complaining about lack of scenery and music. Don't worry about it, the sparseness helps you concentrate on the very human scenes and the dialogue. I never missed the visuals. Don't get me wrong, there are still very ornate interiors, but if you concentrate on the story everything will become timeless anyway. A sure sign of my being moved is that I went out and purchased the Norton Critical Edition of the novel. I can't wait to begin.

I thought this BBC version of "War and Peace" was done well. It follows the book pretty well--making it very long. While it follows the book's story line better than most movies about books, I was a bit disapointed in the lack of scenery in the film. For instance, you are rarely shown an overview shot of the houses, just inside shots of rooms, and during battle scenes you are shown just an open meadow. The movie is also lacking music. The story is great, but there is no background music usual for a movie. That is good and bad, however, because it gives you the feel that it is more realistic. Anthony Hopkins gives a very good performance as "Pierre." I was really happy with the way the story followed that which was in the book. It takes some liberties, but considering time constraints, most are understandable. I think I detected a little anti-communist twist in the British film of the early '70's when Pierre looks out the window at the end of the movie and says, "I wonder what kind of world it will be like in 100 years," (he supposedly said this in 1820)after just talking about his willingness to support a revolution. The book obviously does not have this type of direct foreshadowing to the Bolshevik [sic] revolution of c. 1917. I thought the actors did well, though most were not what I pictured from the book. Overall, I think it was a very good movie. I am glad I purchased it. I would like to see the Russian version too, however.

Had the original in Beta format unfortunatly, and have tried unsuccessfully to obtain the VHS version to ad to my collection of the best BBC television productions.
This adaption of War and Peace is par excelence.

This War and Peace was just wonderful. I saw it many years ago when it was serialized on PBS and just loved it. Because it was thirteen episodes it was able to cover much from the book. It really fleshed out the characters especially the major ones. Unlike the movie version with Audrey Hepburn, Henry Fonda and Mel Ferrer, other important characters have major roles in this production which is critical to the story. The acting was just stupendous. That was the first I saw Anthony Hopkins and just knew he would be a major star. He was perfect as Pierre. I really loved this production.

This BBC production has several major glitches in it from the sound to certain scenes that you can actually tell where they have spliced it or whatever they do. During some scenes it's rather annoying to be able to hear the one person talking while the other person in the same scene is reduced to where you can't make out what they are saying without cranking the volume really high. It's not the high quality product that I was expecting and we've only watched two of the five dvd's thus far. I will complain to BBC if I can find out where online. I don't wish to return it because I do enjoy older movies and especially of this caliber in terms of that the book is an all time best seller.

This version of War and Peace staring a very young Anthony Hopkins is the best film adaption of the novel i've ever seen. I highly recommend this film for any War and Peacr fan.