 20thmaine  | 15 Mar 2016 6:28 a.m. PST |
I'm finally catching up on it and – apart from Anatole and Helene's overtly incestuous relationship which is barely even hinted at in the novel – it seems pretty close to the book, as far as I can recall (read it about 20 years ago – want to re-read now). Wasn't too sure about Paul Dano as Pierre (Anthony Hopkins is a hard act to follow !), but he's grown on me as the series has gone on. |
| Old Wolfman | 15 Mar 2016 6:35 a.m. PST |
Wanted to,didn't get much of a chance to,however. |
| Captain Gideon | 15 Mar 2016 8:08 a.m. PST |
No never bothered to watch it. |
| Martin Rapier | 15 Mar 2016 8:47 a.m. PST |
Yes, I enjoyed it, but far too short. My favourite adaptation remains the BBC one from the 1970s. I thought Paul Dano did a good job of portraying Pierre as a lost soul, but the whole thing was so short that much of the depth of the characters was lost, especially Natashas relationship with Anatole, and Andrei's reasons for choosing death over life. |
| Texas Jack | 15 Mar 2016 9:12 a.m. PST |
I tried to watch it, but I just could not accept Pierre. I adore the book and have read it many times over the years, and Pierre should be very strong, rather stout, and tower over the others. Paul Dano? No.
So that killed it for me. But to be fair, he was much better than Henry Fonda.  But this week I am home with the flu, and have used the opportunity to watch Bondarchuk´s version, which is superior to any of the others I have seen.
Bondarchuk was the best Pierre I have seen, and the rest of the casting was quite good as well, especially Savelyeva as Natasha.
The only horrible casting in it was whoever played Helene. The actress was too old for the part, and not nearly the exotic beauty Tolstoy made her out to be. So if it is War and Peace you want go with this one. This film is pretty much the best thing that ever came from the Soviet Union.  |
| Inkpaduta | 15 Mar 2016 9:58 a.m. PST |
I watched it and liked it. I agree that it could have been longer. I did think that most of the battle scenes where hokey and didn't reflect what really happened. But, it was still good. |
 Doctor X | 15 Mar 2016 12:05 p.m. PST |
Saw the first two and then they skipped a week or two and lost track. Never saw the rest although I'd like to. |
| zoneofcontrol | 15 Mar 2016 2:49 p.m. PST |
Watched 2 episodes on commercial television. Was visually stunning but I cannot speak to accuracy as I'm not a big follower of the era. My problem was the commercial TV airing. It was so cut and chunked up by commercials that it was unenjoyable to try to follow. |
| Gunfreak | 16 Mar 2016 3:00 p.m. PST |
5 miniute battle of borodino, 1 hour of natashia being a bratty stupid lovesick girl…. But the last episode was very good. |
| Last Hussar | 17 Mar 2016 2:47 p.m. PST |
It's not about the battles. I enjoyed it. Had Deutschland 83 on Channel 4 straight after, and now The Night Manger. Once again the Been and Channel 4 (although it is addressed supported, still publicly owned (just) gives commercial TV a kicking. |
| Tyler326 | 19 Mar 2016 5:35 p.m. PST |
Paul Dano sucked as Pierre. Reminded me of a whimpy ass kid. |
| Barin1 | 21 Mar 2016 1:43 p.m. PST |
Mixed reviews on it here in Russia, actually many reviewers thought that Pierre was OK, but Natasha was terrible. And of course, it became a TV drama about rich youngsters instead of a story of wheel of history and fate that rolls over all as Tolstoy intended his book to be. |
| Bangorstu | 29 Mar 2016 9:43 a.m. PST |
I thought it was about redemption… It was a reasonable adaptation considering the budget. And let's be thankful the uniforms were exceptional! :) Not having the Russian Army to hand, battle scenes are always going to be problematic, but given the constraints, Borodino wasn't too bad. Certainly a quick scout of other attempts on You Tube shows there have been worse. I can imagine the Russians being annoyed, but then it was made for a British audience and we like our Jane Austen. So it was made to be like Pride & PRejudice. Doubtless a Soviet version of P&P would have cut out the romance in favour of showing the corruption of the Upper Classes and contrast it to the deprivation of the proletariat… What it does do however is provide a reasonable primer for those wanting to read the book who might get lost amongst all of those diminutives.. I love Russian literature but I do wish characters would keep the same names throughout. They're as bad as the bloody Romans… :) |
| Barin1 | 31 Mar 2016 6:43 a.m. PST |
Redemption is an important part of the book as well, that's why Tolstoy is a great writer.
I think I first read the book when I was 10, omitting peace, but searching for war, then read it I guess 3 times more, opening something new each time.
I've even wrote an essay at school comparing War and Peace Borodino and Napoleon to Hugout Waterloo and Napoleon… Coming back to TV adaptation (I've watched it now) it was ok – at least mush better than 100 page US adaptation of the book ;) |
| bandit86 | 15 Apr 2016 10:46 p.m. PST |
I just binged watched it and thought it was well done and enjoyable to watch. |
| Bangorstu | 19 Apr 2016 10:49 a.m. PST |
Barin – I'm going to guess watching (or reading) it as a Russian and as a Briton are two very different things… A lot of what you take as common knowledge will totally fly past us, and so will either have to be painfully explained or indeed omitted. We do, for example, find the entire plethora of Princes confusing – we only have the one royal family :). And, as I mentioned before, the names! (Something the adaptation apparently made a complete mess of.) |
