tomcervo This is not a review of the series--you like it or you don't--it's about the way you'll get to see it. The original UK presentation was a six part series totaling 370 minutes. The first five episodes were roughly the same length; the sixth ran longer. These are the scripts as written by Davies. This is the content of the UK discs. The US and Canadian discs contain eight episodes, totaling 357 minutes--13 minutes less than the UK version. They are all exactly 45 minutes long. The most obvious cut is the entire 13 minute sequence in which the Kuragins try to marry off Anatole to Marya Bolkonsky. (Most of the reviewers seemed to think that Jessie Buckley's Marya was one of the high points of the series, but apparently the US programmers didn't agree.)There are other, more subtle cuts; and some of the deleted scenes on the UK disc extras are in their place. They don't seem to have any particular reason other than to fit the 45 minute time limit--which also seems to throws off the continuity that Davies crafted. In one scene Nikolai and Denisov are in their quarters, each with a girl in bed. Nikolai has to go. The US scene ends there; in the UK version, Denisov tells Nikolai's girl to get in his bed to stay warm and they all go back to sleep. In another, Count Rostov's dance on Natasha's name day is cut short, but appears fully in the short bonus feature. (It seems that the US cable presentation, in two hour blocks, actually comprised 90 minutes of actual show and half an hour of ads.)As well, the UK version comes on three discs and looks like a premium release; the US version comes on two discs and looks like a rental release. The UK release is region 2, view-able on multi-region or hacked viewers, or a computer with a multi-region program, readily available through shareware. Or you can wait for the full UK version to get to the US. UK version: 10; US version: 8.5

851222 Greetings from Lithuania."War & Peace" (2016) is a good mini-series, definitely worth watching if you haven't read a book or watched any previous adaptations. I loved music (amazing), costumes (amazing), cinematography (sometimes stunning) the most - those are the highlights of this adaptation. The leading lady Lily James was just OK in my opinion, but this is not a strongest aspect of this series, although if i understood the whole story and point of it correctly, she is the central figure of it, the one which faces War & Peace times and is changed by them. Although you can see how this naive and very optimistic young woman changes during the events, it's sadly wasn't the best casting choice in my opinion. Paul Dano was OK to, but no awards will shine in leading acting department, Greta Scacchi and Jim Broadbent were the highlights of acting. Overall, "War & Peace" has some pacing problems, and there are some long scenes that drags in the middle of show. Overall acting isn't superb in this show and the scope - well i think to film this kinda epic you have to go big, or don't go at all. It is a very good thing that they ever tried and they succeeded in general, but this show does not rank among the best i've ever seen by far. That said it is not a bad show by any means - it's a good one, and the fact that it was filmed in my native Lithuania probably adds one point to a 8/10 overall score. Worth watching for great craftsmanship and magnificent story, which now i will definitely witness by watching legendary "Voyna i Mir" (1966) by Sergey Bondarchuk.

Jean Valette OK, let me start with this - I have read the book twice and it is my favourite novel of all times. Its stunning realism is what has always made me think it would be impossible to make a movie out of it. I have seen previous adaptation, stopping some on the first episode. So, what do I think about this one? I find this one the first successful attempt for a series based on the book. It is excellent and one of the reasons I think is because it follows the book so close that even many dialogues are as in the book. Besides, it is well executed from historical perspective, correct uniforms and so on. What struck me the most was the play - actors are all top notch, absolutely excellent. So why I gave it 8 stars and not 10? Well, there should always be some space for improvement and 10 stars I believe would go for something that can transform the book, which after seeing these series - I do not see so impossible. There were a few inaccuracies, however and I think they should have invested in more episodes and not make it that compressed. The beauty of the book was the constant changes of state from absolutely daily business with not that much fancy stuff happening to shocking developments - I believe one of the reasons that made the book so transparent and lifelike.

cassidyorme I didn't expect this to be the best rendition of War and Peace ever done but it is by far. Paul Dano deserves many awards for his performance and i hope he chooses to do more films like this in the future. the attention to detail is amazing.. my only criticism is that it is too short.. now that Top Gear is gone and War and Peace is over, i almost have no reason to ever watch the BBC.. I hope that they tackle something else similar to this next.. a revised Pride and Prejudice or gone with the wind.. these types of mini series should be their mainstay. epic performances all around