This story is so epic, it is remade all the time. Even right now! This 2007 version has very good qualities, the most obvious being the sets, the locations and the costumes. The worst was the actors which are mostly very good but sometimes looked like only one take was made. The snow is also often paper. The fights were often not looking real at all. All in all, I liked it enough.

I didn't like this film at all! First of all,I don't know why, but everyone here says, that Clémence Poésy's play is excellent, which in my opinion is absolutely wrong! She is not like Natasha: another appearance, another character... What's worse, she is a very unexperienced actress and that's why she wasn't able to play this role! She disfigured the heroine completely! That was really disgusting to watch her play! To my mind, that would be much better to give this role to a Russian actress, because that would be much easier for her to understand the Russian soul for a Russian person. Unfortunately, Kutuzov looked like a drunk man, who hasn't shaved 2 weeks and defeated a battle in which he lost his eye...( Thank's God, in this film there're some actors, whose play was awesome! I suppose, that Alessio Boni coped with his task very well! I was pleasantly amazed! He is one of the few people who's read the book, which is very important for the play. In addition, I liked plays of our Russian actors, that was really wonderful to watch them)) The only thing I liked in this work was very beautiful views and amazing dresses! My advice is to read the book and to understand a real sense, the aim, with which Leo Tolstoy wrote this masterpiece, and maybe realize the whole idea of the book... 1 from 10

I have just seen the second part of the series. I read the book some time ago so I can compare it to this great story by Lew Tolstoy. What can I say is that the movie lacks the epic size of the story. Historical events were in Tolstoy "War and peace" as important as personal stories which seem to be in this movie the only important. This way the story has turned into a kind of melodrama - just another marital and love stories, without big depth. Most of the characters are not very expressive. I was very surprised of the look of Natasha as I remember her from the book description as very simple, joyful and black haired girl. Prince Bolkonsky is not very interesting and lacks any charisma. I like Pierre Bezuchow and can sympathize with princess Marie. And I can agree: lack of Russian language in any form is very painful. But what can we expect from television drama? Nothing more like the soap opera. And that's it. If I am wrong not having seen yet 3rd and 4th part - apologize.

It's difficult to adapt one of the greatest books ever written.Exhibit A: this miniseries. As far as adaptations go, this one at least doesn't desecrate the classic story it tells - but it doesn't do it justice either.There is a bit in the novel when Natasha talks about colors he associates with people's personalities and describes a man he doesn't like as "grey". That's, in a nutshell, the problem with this adaptation: it's not awful or despicable, but it's banal, mediocre, forgettable. In a word, grey.Casting is a major issue. Alessio Boni is flat and doesn't convey the steely charisma and the stern moral strength of prince Andrej: the character is softened to the point he loses any edge, so he comes across as a wimp. Alexandr Beyer as Pierre is better but still dour, without the pleasant naiveté, the simple-minded bonhomie and the inner fire the part needs. Clemence Poesy is pretty, but to express Natasha's charm and joy to live she resorts to perpetual smirking. Sorry miss, but I knew Audrey Hepburn, and you are no Audrey Hepburn.Secondary players fare a bit better, like Andrea Giordana as the decent count, Valentina Cervi as shy princess Mary, Elodie Frenck as frail Lise, Dmitri Isayev as Natasha's likable brother Nikolaj. Violante Placido is fetching as the shallow Helene, and, although she isn't particularly good, she is maybe the only character who lacks depth, so Placido's performance doesn't do much damage. Malcolm McDowell plays Andrej's unsympathetic father and, while he is fine when the prince is required to be bitter and unpleasant, he VISIBLY does not get the character's few softer moments, which granted him depth.Direction is lackluster: emotional scenes are either overdone or trivialized; there are clumsy narrative crutches such as abrupt voice-overs.See the 1956 version instead, with the delightful Audrey Hepburn as Nathasha, Henry Fonda as Pierre and Mel Ferrer as Andrej. It's not perfect, but it definitely beats this one.4/10