Having never read Tolstoy's epic (which is often voted as the single greatest novel in any language), I guess I'm under-qualified to pass judgment on King Vidor's film version. But I'll have a go anyway, as all opinions on film are valid. This is a very mixed bag of a film. For every thing that's good, there is something in it that just doesn't work out. But it made me interested in reading the novel, and I guess that's the main thing. And it's not the huge epic bomb of lore-- it generally maintained my interest throughout. Henry Fonda was woefully miscast as young intellectual Pierre. He was way too old for the part, and Fond himself admitted he only took the role for the money. Plus, he's one of the most boring actors to grace a screen and when he tries to even THINK on screen, it's excruciatingly awful. His line delivery is painful. Lucky we have Audrey Hepburn, winning and charming as ever, as Natasha. What a godsend she is to any movie! Mel Ferrer, Hepburn's real-life husband is a bit better than Fonda (at least he looks right for the part), but he's fairly stiff in the role.
You can tell big bits of Tolstoy's novel have been chopped out (i.e how did Nicholas end up marrying Mary?). But I didn't mind so much, as I understand how different the film medium is. The film is really stunningly photographed by Jack Cardiff. It was filmed in Italy, and appears to be a labour of love for the producers. The wintry snow scenes are among the best ever filmed. The costumes and set design are excellent. King Vidor's direction is fair, he's pretty flat in the human drama scenes, but the battle scenes are magnificent and very well filmed. The soundtrack had to be dubbed in later, and is awful. Herbert Lom manages to make Napoleon human, which is a credit to this fine actor. John Mills is also eye-catching in a small role. Overall, it's worth watching because the positives outweigh the negatives.
You can tell big bits of Tolstoy's novel have been chopped out (i.e how did Nicholas end up marrying Mary?). But I didn't mind so much, as I understand how different the film medium is. The film is really stunningly photographed by Jack Cardiff. It was filmed in Italy, and appears to be a labour of love for the producers. The wintry snow scenes are among the best ever filmed. The costumes and set design are excellent. King Vidor's direction is fair, he's pretty flat in the human drama scenes, but the battle scenes are magnificent and very well filmed. The soundtrack had to be dubbed in later, and is awful. Herbert Lom manages to make Napoleon human, which is a credit to this fine actor. John Mills is also eye-catching in a small role. Overall, it's worth watching because the positives outweigh the negatives.