Armand A beautiful film with the flavor of old historical movies. Commanding, pompous, made for fascinate and create the taste of a land.In same time, an exercise to make a good Sienkiewicz adaptation. And to impose a Pole product in the fight against American busters. Jerzy Hoffman is, in this case, a real winner. The stake of film is not only artistic value but gentleness of national sensibilities. The respect for truth. The science to travel in obscure and strange past of an East Europe who believe in old gods, who discover in past the panacea of present frustrations. Fights and love story, costumes and soft nuances, conversations in Ukrainean and music. Wall against the crisis and bricks for barbaric scenarios. Fires. Blood. And gestures. Parts of lost time. In the skin of hope to be in the another era. A splendid film, a interesting escape.

Mah-Zie It seems to me that all means of expression are guite justified in this movie. It forced me to read the whole source trilogy (Ogniem i mieczem, Potop, Pan Wolodyjowski) by Henryk Sienkiewicz. Characters are very humaly, realistic and true. Battles are very naturalistic.

zach-allen Many comments have been made on the movie, the plot and the acting. I saw the movie at a private screening in Warsaw and loved it. Some of the scenes were well done, some great.But the music....the music never leaves you. The variations on "Falcons" through the second half of the movie were wonderful. The scene on the river with the male chorus was haunting. THe music should have attracted more note than it did. But, not released in English, based on a super-nationalistic plot of dubious historic value, the movie was only going to appeal to a Polish audience, which it certainly did. (For those who have commented on its excessive pro-Polish stance, they would be surprised to hear that, in Poland, the criticism was that it was too nice to Chmielnicki. Some said that Hoffman's Ukrainian wife had too much influence.)The music is the lasting star of the movie. I have the CD and treasure it.

rekeda I watched this movie after a friend told me that this was the most expensive movie in the Polish history. Probably that is true, but the movie does not look like a piece of art.Although the movie does not specifically targets Polish viewers, others would hardly watch it - I bet few people would spend three hours trying to tie up numerous lines altogether. The movie has two key lines - a war between Polish nobles and Ukrainian Cossacks and a love story between one of the Polish officers and girl, that he met.The movie does not look like an action nor as an entertainment. But for the historical movie, it came out to be very straightforward - the characters are either too good or deadly evil and completely dump. There was too much blood on the screen. Even some of the details are really excessive. There was one guy out there who pledged to remain virgin until he axes three heads at once by his sward. What a hilarious pal! Eventually he somehow managed to do that, but .is that a historical movie or a show from the Worldwide Wrestling Federation all-star cast?Of course I should say that most of the actors were really good. But you can not save a bad plot with even the best actors in the world.