Synopsis

Covering the years of the Napoleonic Wars in Russia, War and Peace follows the lives ofNatasha (Audrey Hepburn), Pierre (Henry Fonda) and his best friend Andrei (Mel Ferrer). Thiscombination of stars, not to mention Anita Ekberg as a gold-digger and Herbert Lom asNapoleon, takes a bit of getting used to, but you do find yourself caught up in their lives andloves. The battle scenes, particularly at the end, are quite impressive, and if the cheese factor ispretty high, so is …he entertainment.

Audio

The mono sound is decent, but far from perfect. The soundtrack has emphatically aged,sounding quite old and thin. There is no static or other background noise, however.

Video

A solid 1.85:1 anamorphic widescreen transfer. The colours are good, though the blackscould be stronger. Now and then the image flickers, and there are speckles and other minordamage throughout. Most notable is a vertical line that drops down the screen for a few minutesabout an hour in.

Special Features

Nothing much here: two trailers (one a featurette-style behind-the-scenes thing in black andwhite). The menu is silent and still.

Closing Thoughts

A very Hollywood adaptation, with all kinds of problems, but emphatically watchable allthe same.

Special Features List

• Trailers