exelenc I never truly enjoyed adaptation of Sergey Bondarchuk. Actually, I didn't even finish it because of very annoying Natasha, with her constant overreacting and inappropriate emotions. Overacting was the issue of almost all Bondarchuk's cast, in my opinion.This version has much better cast. Though I doubted that Clemense Poesy could be a good Natasha, she definitely is. The charming, sincere, unexperienced but honest young woman. I found myself really engaged into her emotions. I understood why she did this or that things, visiting Elen before the duel, going to run away with Kuragin... Beautiful, seductive Elen is another gem of this film. She is so insidious and charismatic at the same time, that I'm sure that actress could easily play Cersei Lannister if she had to. Men are good, too. Alessio Boni is handsome and noble, and his Andrey Bolkonsky is attractive and tragic figure. Pierre is cute, that kind of man you don't notice at first and even at second glance, but eventually you fall in love with. The only problem with this W&P adaption (except of several historical mismatches) is that it is a bit superficial. However, it's a problem for all Tolstoy's movie adaptations - the directors haven't found the proper cinema language for that titan writer yet. On the good side, it looks like his books do not get old fashioned at all, so finally we'll see the perfect W&P and AK movies :)

krevedkopekpek lusto777, you don't understand anything about War and Peace. if you even try try to read you'll see mistakes in the film. For example, Natasha Rostova in book is silly and not beautiful girl. Bondarchuk was genius. You can agree or not with his interpretation, but you can't deny that his film War and Peace is the world's masterpiece. In my opinion, his film is better than this one) Also it's incorrect to say such words about directors, actors and actresses. talent doesn't depend on declared politics. i don't want to lesson, but your words drive me out of wits. and your naive opinion about commies and emperor is very funny, it makes me smile. Excuse me lady and guys for this off-top, nice watching and pardon my English.

jamesnightshade Excellent all-around--the superb acting is the high point--Alexander Beyer and Hannelore Elsner particularly good, and of course Malcolm McDowell is good. The cinematography and production design are gorgeous, and the historical realism is dense and exciting (best Napoleon you'll ever see). Costumes are excellent and rich, and the direction is skillful (wonderful close-ups of the actors, the directors really gave them a chance to shine). Music is beautiful. A really outstanding, well-made piece, a great tale with a wonderful cast of villains and delightfully honorable, upstanding characters, with many exciting contests and backstabbing among them. Though admittedly the narrative has to move along at a brisk pace, and much is left out of the story, this is true of any long tale like this one brought to the screen. Much fun to watch over a few nights.

msbsegal I just saw the first part and I agree with the other commentator, it is very disappointing. He mentions the Audrey Hepburn version. I would like to mention that as French was the language of the Russian aristocracy, 2/3 of the book was written in French with Russian translation added in the footnotes, funny I think... Therefore, I would like to praise again the Bondartchouk version, I would say it is the ultimate version and nothing can come even close to it: for me, who read the book in the original Russian, this is the true interpretation of what Tolstoy would have wanted. And you ask why ? Because Sergey Bondartchouk followed the book line after line, and included all the most minute details. It was thoroughly researched and everything was absolutely perfect, the dresses, the carriages, the furniture, the sets, etc. If you have not seen, do try to get it, it is a great work of art.In this mini series, most of the details are wrong, but the worst mistake is in the cast : here, Sonia is brunette and Natasha is blonde, in the book it is the reverse, this point is essential. A blonde Natasha is unheard of. I would like to refer your readers to the good old book : Ivanhoe. At one point, Sir Walter Scott, through De Bois Guilbert, makes a comparison between blonde women and brunettes, and he says that women with dark hair have more zest, are more lively, have some inner fire, it is not a sic quotation but I remembered this remark because I thought it was quite to the point. So Natasha, who is the pinnacle of life, if not life itself, cannot be a bland pale blonde, not that I would hurt blonds, but this Natasha lacks some sparks, some shine in her eyes. The rest of course is not important anymore.Sorry, it is not up to par.N.B.: I feel I must add a few lines to explain that the point I have made at Natasha being a blonde instead of a brunette as expressly required by Tolstoy, is not a futile headstrong idea of mine but is quite well based : In Tolstoy's masterpiece, the young Countess Natasha is the epitome of absolute purity and youth, kindness, truthfulness,loyalty to friends, she is like a breath of fresh spring air, so he makes her a blue-eyed brunette. Her blond cousin Sonia is about her age, but she is more of a blur, and though she has many good qualities,she lacks this sparkle spring-like personality which is exemplified by Natasha.At the end of the spectrum, the utmost evil woman is, as required by the author, the EXTREMELY BEAUTIFUL BLOND Helene Kuragin, whose family is ruined and poor as a mice, and who manages to grasp the Count Bezukhov, not for love, or so she plays it, but of course for his immense fortune, which should help save hers. She is a real bi---, she is nasty, even before the marriage she gets a lover and gets her naive husband "des cornes" so big that the horns of a full grown-up male deer should seem small compared to what she makes her husband wear. But as there is Justice, she dies of her own infidelities....In any case, if you have this evil Helen as a blond, how can you visualize a blond Natasha as being in a completely different category ? If the Director etc would have given to their Natasha blue lens and a brown or black wig, they might have done the trick, but they did not ask me, did they !!!!! So now I hope IDMB readers will fully understand my point of view.