There is a version of War and Peace out there, that’s longer than the book itself. Released in 1967, the Soviet version is highly critically acclaimed and considered to be the best adaptation of the book that has ever been made. It’s over 7 hours long, took over 6 years to produce and won the Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film. And so we mention it for the Best Movie Stunt for 1967 for sheer scope of the massive accomplishment.
This film was made with the complete cooperation of the Soviet government, the Red Army, and the citizens of Moscow which is how they managed to get 1500 horses and 120 thousand extras into the war scenes. The Battle of Borodino took over two years to produce. About 200 firing cannons were filmed in the battle and about 100 thousand rifles were used by extras and stunts. The Battle of Borodino against the Napoleon’s invasion is the largest battle scene ever filmed.
The US première was held at the DeMille Theater, Seventh Avenue and 47th Street, New York. The screening for this seven-hour epic was shown in two parts, and the cost of a ticket was a staggering $7.50, for the best seats. Released in theaters in 117 countries. Over three thousand copies of the film were released worldwide. Over 135 million people saw the film in the Soviet Union during 1966-68.
War and Peace was directed by Sergey Bondarchuk for MosFilm.
Things to look up (click on item to go to IMDB page or Website):
History of film companies as defined by Wikipedia: Mosfilm (Russian: Мосфильм, pronounced [məsˈfʲɨlʲm]) is a film studio often described as the largest and oldest in Russia and in Europe. Its output includes most of the more widely-acclaimed Soviet-era films, ranging from works by Tarkovsky and Eisenstein (commonly considered the greatest Soviet directors), to Red Westerns, to the Akira Kurosawa co-production (Дерсу Узала / Dersu Uzala) and the epic Война и Мир / War and Peace.
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