War and Peace

PG

Released Aug 21, 1956

3h 28m

History

Drama

List

50%

10 Reviews

Tomatometer

63%

5,000+ Ratings

Audience Score

In the years leading to Napoleon's invasion, members of the Russian aristocracy face a myriad of personal tragedies. After his father dies, Count Pierre Bezukhov (Henry Fonda), a friend of Prince Andrei Bolkonsky (Mel Ferrer), receives a substantial inheritance. When he decides to marry, Bezukhov unwisely chooses a conniving princess (Anita Ekberg). As for Bolkonsky, his wife dies during childbirth, after which he falls in love with Natasha Rostova (Audrey Hepburn) but is soon called to war.

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Jared D

This is a big production with big strengths and big flaws as well. If you are unfamiliar with Tolstoy's original, even at 3 and a half hours this film only hits the highlights. Strengths: the casting. Most of the cast are excellent. This is actually one of Audrey Hepburn's best dramatic performances. She captures the character of Natasha perfectly. The weaknesses: again, the casting. The exception to the previous point is Henry Fonda's role as Pierre. Fonda never finds the essence of this character. One of Fonda's strengths is his ability to play an American "everyman." Among this cast of Europeans telling an essentially European story, his Americanness stands out. He is simply not convincing playing a Russian aristocrat. I also think he was too old to play this young man who is only supposed to be 10 or so years older than Natasha. Rather than anchoring the scenes he is in with a compelling characterization, Pierre comes off as enigmatic and unreadable. Another weakness: the editing. The film easily could have had a 30 minutes or more chopped out of it and it would not have been missed. Still, overall, a movie worth seeing for the rest of the cast, a truly great story with many surprises.

Rated 3 out of 5 stars

10/19/20

Full Review

Steve D

Great adaptation with strong performances.

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

07/05/23

Full Review

William L

About as much of a success as Napoleon's actual retreat from Moscow. This attempt at continuing the epic literary adaptation craze falls flat on its face right out of the gate and then drags the viewer along without much change for the next few hours, capped by a particularly poor performance from Hepburn. (1/5)

Rated 1 out of 5 stars

08/09/20

Full Review

Audience Member

For such an epic story, this movie was just meh. A truly strange cast. Some great actors but none of them really fit together. The battle scenes were good but most of the rest, not so good.

Rated 2 out of 5 stars

02/10/23

Full Review

harri k

Despite some superb performances, great art direction etc, it's just not a narrative optimal for a feature-length production. Long and boring but still quite meaningful and rewarding.

Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars

03/31/23

Full Review

Audience Member

The best epic movie ever made!

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

02/26/23

Full Review

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King Vidor

Director

Audrey Hepburn

Natasha Rostov

Henry Fonda

Pierre Bezukhov

Mel Ferrer

Prince Andrei Bolkonsky

Vittorio Gassman

Anatole

John Mills

Platon Karatsev

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Jordan Hoffman

amNewYork

War and Peace can look intimidating on a library shelf, but this particular version is engaging, fresh and feels nothing like homework. An opportunity to see it in a theater like this doesn't come around often.

Rated: 4/4

Feb 20, 2019

Full Review

Bosley Crowther

New York Times

Alas, the human stories that Tolstoy told so significantly in the book are sketchy and inconsequential, despite the time devoted to them.

Mar 25, 2006

Full Review

Frank J. Avella

Edge Media Network

... the film is quite decent (although the script is fairly facile), mostly because the focus is largely on Natasha, and Hepburn brings a grace but also a sexiness to the role that she hadn't yet shown - especially with her scenes with Vittorio Gassman.

Rated: B-

Jan 21, 2022

Full Review

André Bazin

L'Éducation Nationale

The film seems to me to be an acceptable approximation of a great novel -- one that will win thanks for King Vidor from a few hundred thousand new readers.

Dec 8, 2021

Full Review

Matt Brunson

Film Frenzy

Henry Fonda possesses the mettle to fill the shoes of Pierre Bezukhov, but no amount of squinting will camouflage the sight of this 50-year-old American playing a 20-something Russian.

Rated: 2/4

Oct 23, 2021

Full Review

Dennis Schwartz

Dennis Schwartz Movie Reviews

A stilted and ponderous epic about Napoleon's failed Russian invasion of 1812.

Rated: C+

Feb 17, 2014

Full Review

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Synopsis

In the years leading to Napoleon's invasion, members of the Russian aristocracy face a myriad of personal tragedies. After his father dies, Count Pierre Bezukhov (Henry Fonda), a friend of Prince Andrei Bolkonsky (Mel Ferrer), receives a substantial inheritance. When he decides to marry, Bezukhov unwisely chooses a conniving princess (Anita Ekberg). As for Bolkonsky, his wife dies during childbirth, after which he falls in love with Natasha Rostova (Audrey Hepburn) but is soon called to war.

Director: King Vidor
Producer: Carlo Ponti
Screenwriter: Ennio De Concini, Leo Tolstoy, King Vidor, Robert Westerby, Bridget Boland, Mario Camerini, Gian Gaspare Napolitano, Ivo Perilli, Mario Soldati, Gian Gaspare Napolitano, Mario Soldati
Distributor: CIC Video, Paramount Pictures, CIC-Taft Home Video, Dino de Laurentiis Cinematografica [it], Associated British Picture Corp.
Production Co: Dino de Laurentiis Corp.
Rating: PG
Genre: History, Drama
Original Language: English
Release Date (Theaters): Aug 21, 1956, Original
Release Date (Streaming): May 1, 2012
Runtime: 3h 28m

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