Review of War and Peace

I think much of the reason I score this film only a 7 is because I have actually seen the full Russian version twice and the Russian film, while far from perfect, completely overwhelms my enjoyment of this Hollywoodized version. Let me explain. The Russian version is incredibly long (over 6 1/2 hours) and had a HUGE cast--thousands and thousands of soldiers and countless actors who had speaking roles. It fell short for me at times because the Russian style was, at times, very strange and unfamiliar (such as when the bomb landed in front of a soldier and spun out of control--taking a seeming eternity to explode--followed by a closeup of the man's eye as he contemplated infinity). Considering, though, that Tolstoy's book was HUGE (and I mean BIG HONKING HUGE), this long presentation was necessary and any attempt to cram the plot into a more traditional format (3 1/2 hours in this King Vidor version) just doesn't do the story justice. The acting, direction and pacing in this 1950s version is decent though also a bit cold and forgettable.