Nicholas & Alexandra

This is a long movie with 1970's pacing. People used to modern pacing will think it is atrociously slow. Still, it covers a huge volume of material and is easy to follow without knowing a ton of the historical fact. Disk was fine and image and sound quality were very good.

I first saw this movie decades ago, and it's always been one of my favorites ever since.It's difficult to condense Robert Massie's beautifully written (and researched for the time) epic biography of the last Tsar and Tsarina into a three-hour film, but the production team did an excellent job. It has the usual critical elements for success -- a terrific script, great editing, lavish sets and scenes, outstanding actors and acting, a family crisis, and historical drama.My favorite elements of the movie are how it weaves the various elements -- you see and don't see critical elements, but they are rendered brilliantly. For example, we don't actually see the October Revolution -- we just see Trotsky and his pals getting the order to do it, the men loading up with their equipment, and heading off to their objectives. Cut to Kerensky and his desperate crew in the Winter Palace, desperately trying to figure out what to do, told that the cruiser Aurora has every gun trained on them. With that, cut to Lenin on the podium of the Duma, announcing "We shall now begin to build the Socialist Order," to cheering. Pull back and Lenin turns from being a human being on a podium to being the chiseled semi-divine statue of the Soviet Union. You never see the "revolution,' never see the fighting (actually scuffling) in the Winter Palace, never see Kerensky and his buddies fleeing the country. All implied and inferred, and all dramatic.There's a superb cast of actors in key roles: Laurence Olivier has some great scenes as Count Sergius Witte, a hard, tough, and seasoned politician, who implores the Tsar to take action to save the dynasty and warns him not to start the Great War, with no success either time. Michael Redgrave is the Foreign Minister, Harry Andrews is the commander-in-chief, Jack Hawkins is a devoted retainer, Tom Baker is a maniacal Rasputin, Irene Worth is a firm Dowager Tsarina, Harry Andrews is the realistic Grand Duke Nicholas Nicholayevich and Commander-in-Chief, Roy Dotrice is the capable Marshal Alexiev who has to break to to the Tsar that he's got to go, Eric Porter is the reforming Prime Minister Stolypin who takes a bullet, Simon Cox makes his movie debut as a caustic Trotsky, Michael Bryant is an ambitious Lenin, Julian Glover is the betrayed Father Gapon, John Wood is the Romanovs' sympathetic jailer, Ian Holm as their unsympathetic jailer, Alan Webb as their polite, correct, and ruthless killer, Curt Jurgens as a jovial German Foreign Secretary Arthur Zimmermann, and Timothy West, Jeremy Brett, John Shrapnel, and Steven Berkoff even turn up for a few lines.Michael Jayston and Janet Suzman are at the center of it all, with Jayston as a fundamentally weak and incompetent Tsar and Suzman as an easily-led (by Rasputin) and domineering Tsarina.The movie has some terrific pieces of dialogue -- Lenin has the best lines in the picture, when he sneers at Trotsky's writing, talks about how he'll do anything to gain power, and whines with self-pity at being ignored.There are epic scenes -- Russian troops swearing loyalty to their Tsar as they go to their deaths early in the picture, the collapse of the Romanov dynasty during the war is seen when Cossacks refuse to kill civilians and instead help them cut open sacks of grain, the shocking climax.And at the core of the film -- the Tsarevich's hemophilia. Had he not suffered from the disease Queen Victoria spread through her family across Europe's reigning families, how would history have changed?This is a terrific film for the history buff, the costume drama lover, and, at some levels, the romance fan, with the doomed love of Nicholas and Alexandra.

This presentation is close to a historical recreation of the interplay of the self-absorbed Romanov family (and the Russian aristocracy) with the desperate demands of the poor Russian populace. Well done.Nicholas, Lenin, Trotsky, Kerensky, Rasputin all appear. Each important, each driving events that change the world.A effort was clearly made to find actors who resembled the key players. Fascinating!Why did Lenin's Bolshevik's win control? How did Nicholas fail so miserably? What drove Kerensky's government to fail? Why did Germany send Lenin from prison to freedom in Russia?The superstitious reverence of the Russian aristocracy for ''holy men'' shown by the General recommending Rasputin to the queen . . .''Authentic holy man. Cures diseases by the laying on of hands. I've seen him do it.''Rasputin's influence, his control of the queen and the Tsar, is (correctly) described as one key to the dissolution of the Romanov dynasty. His personality, wicked combined with holy, is clearly presented. Queen believes only Rasputin can prevent her hemophiliac son from dying. Rasputin's influence affects even appointments of officials. Profound resentment!Another crack in Russian government is the increasing demand for a British style parliament- aDuma. Horrible suffering, starvation, injustice, poverty in the same world as incredible opulence, overwhelming arrogance, create demand for change.The winter palace massacre is shown. More than that, the inability of the Tsar, or anyone else, to consider any other solution, is just pathetic.The contrast with the Romanov privileged life - vacations at the sea, fruit at every meal, etc., and the misery, poverty and hunger of the poor - is consistently portrayed. Heart wrenching.The opera shooting of the prime minister infuriates Nicholas and escalates police brutality.Now politics enters even more when Germany declares war on Russia. From here on the political issues dominate.Chapters -2 ''I have a son''3 Mama's birthday4 Fantastic holy fellow5 Hemophilia6 ''My baby's dying''7 Sending for Rasputin8 Winter palace massacre9 Summer vacation10 Rasputin says goodbye11 ''Bring him back!''12 Opera shooting13 Severe attack14 Rasputin returns15 Germany declares war16 Dismissed17 Assassination party18 Chaos comes to Russia19 The Tsar abdicates20 Nicholas returns home21 A hero's welcome (Lenin)22 Siberia23 Grand Duchesses defense24 Easter celebration25 Under arrest26 Alexis desperate act27 Imprisoned28 In the cellarThis work focuses on the Romanov family drama. Nevertheless, draws the connection from Nicholas' weak, indecisive character and the Revolution. The contrast with Lenin - with his profound drive, his determination, his overwhelming vision, is vivid.Presentation is 189 minutes. Seems historically accurate (as far as I know).` Not intense, but more of a progression of blunders and arrogance.Plan to watch again with my grandson. This is a key start to the modern world. Worth knowing.(See also the new book by Arthur Herman “1917: Lenin, Wilson, and the Birth of the New World Disorder”)

The story of Nicholas and Alexandra deserves something much better than this, and Franklin J. Schaffner can do much better (he gave us fine works such as The War Lord, Planet of the Apes (the first and best film of the over-extended franchise), Papillon and Patton). We've had good films about Russia and the Communist Revolution (Reds, Doctor Zhivago, to name just two); this one is far below the others.This is surely Schaffner's worst picture: it is totally boring, the good actors deliver awful performances (sure sign of a badly directed film), the film lacks rhythm. The only value lies in the fact that it is mostly true to actual history, and perhaps therein lies one of the reasons why it is such a poor piece of cinema. Nicholas and Alexandra were both, by all accounts, frightfully boring people. In that sense, perhaps the actors were trying to remain true to the real-life characters they were portraying.The main fault, however, does lie with the director. Scenes are poorly put together, the film does not flow. There is no drama, no suspense, no build-up of tension to a climax. The whole thing feels rather bureaucratic and wooden, as if the crew had no passion about what they were doing.I wonder what went wrong. Schaffner is capable of doing much better. Did he get into conflicts with the producers? Did they cut his original work to reduce the film in length, thereby robbing it of its original rhythm? There are two or three scenes in the entire movie where you can tell that there is intelligent life behind the camera; it's a pity that these scenes represent just 5% of the total screening time.Perhaps the problem was that to film the whole story properly, you would actually need it to be 5 hours long. It is better suited to be told as a television mini-series in 10 episodes, where each important occurrence could be properly developed. Until somebody decides to make such a series, with a gifted director and cast, we have to make do with the "N&A" that is available. It is still worth seeing, for its historical value; but as cinema it is quite a disaster.

This region Free Blu Ray is absolutely amazing. Just by sheer chance did I stumble across this Spanish release of "Nicholas And Alexandra" whilst looking to purchase the American Twilight Time release of the movie.....which Amazon did not stock.....and originally rejected it. Its a Spanish release right - WRONG. Whilst the box cover is in Spanish (as is the disc menus) THE ACTUAL MOVIE HAS ENGLISH LANGUAGE AND ALL THE CAPTION/CREDITS ETC ARE IN WRITTEN ENGLISH! Also the standard of picture and sound quality I would rate 4.5 out of 5. Beautiful deep rich colours that shine - Blacks are dense without crush, reds are vibrant and flesh tones look totally normal. The resoloution is at once very noticeably higher from the standard DVD and detail excellent and there is hardly an ounce of grain to be seen so the picture has a wonderful filmic visual content - especially visible on the lavish oscar winning costumes and sets. The sound is DTS HD MASTER and although only mono, automatically clicked into a psuado mono surround mode on my THX amp.The story of the doomed reign and downfall of the Romanov dynasty is beautifully acted by Michael Jayston and Janet Suzman with strong support from Tom Baker as Rasputin, Lynne Frederick and Fiona Fullerton will be recogised as two of the Tsar's 4 daughters whilst a host of other great acting talents will be spotted throughout. Presented in a full 2:35:1 Cinemascope ratio you will be captivated for the entire 3 hour running time.I did find the Region free English Twighlight Time release on ebay for £26. This Spanish release (probably identical) cost just £10 - cheaper than a UK blu ray! I have since purchases Spanish Blu Rays of "The Fearless Vampire Killers" and "Anne of The 1000 Days" (NOT AVAILABLE ANYWHERE ELSE IN THE WORLD IT WOULD SEEM) and also "Alice's Adventures In Wonderland" which according to the box cover on the Amazon page purports to be in a 16:9 widescreen ratio with 2 channel Dolby sound (which is hopefully a step up from the 4:3 matted Cinemascope presentation released in UK with single channel and horrendous sound)But I digress - the moral of the tale here is.....If you find what you are looking for in Blu Ray as a Spanish release DONT DISCOUNT it as chances are you will be thrilled with your purchase

This is a film which lacks that a certain authenticity. It does tell an interesting story rather well, but it lacks depth. So what is wrong with the film? I find the actor Michael Jayston does not cut an authentic role as the Tsar. Every time I watch the film I never feel that Jayston is anything more than an actor playing a role. He looks like the Tsar, but that's about it. As he plays the pivotal role in this film, it does spoil the authenticity and so enjoyment. Whilst it is clear this was shot on a budget, it still has some lavish scenes and it does give an idea of the splendour and pomp of the Romanov regime. The script is OK, but as I said earlier, it just lacks something and I never get drawn into the scenes as you can do with great films.Overall this tells the story of a doomed man and his family. It never quite convinces me it's true to life, but if you want to watch a kind of biopic then this is the film. I am happy to Recommend it with reservations about the acting.

I was six when this film first came out. I'm not sure if I saw it at the cinema or on the TV a few years later, but it lodged a memory in my head and probably introduced to me for the first time - and in vivid form - a love of Russian history. So it was good to revisit the film on DVD.`Nicholas and Alexandra' came after the sweeping epic of David Lean's Dr Zhivago (1965). It was a time when the giant tales of history were popular at the box office, whether it was Caesar and Cleopatra or Becket and Henry II, but Russian history, more than any other (apart perhaps from Chinese), seems to naturally demand a grand stage for its tales, a stage as metaphorically large as the country itself.This 180-minute film from 1971 allows for plenty of detail. (There is a three-minute intermission as the troops march off to war in 1914.) Presented in widescreen, and based on the book by Robert Massie, it tells the story of the last Tsar and Tsarina of Russia from the time of the birth of their son Alexei in 1904. It ends with their deaths in 1918, the last hour of the film following the Tsar's abdication.Its historical veracity - at least in outline - is made manifest by only a short list of inaccuracies posted on the Internet Movie Database website. Ultimately it takes no sides: whilst showing Nicholas's humanity, it also makes plain his arrogant disdain for the condition of his people.The film comes with high production values and is beautifully shot on a grand scale. I was never bored watching this film. Michael Jayston and Janet Suzman are excellent in the main roles and are very natural in their intimacy. There is a fine supporting cast, including Tom Baker as Rasputin. There are many names down the cast list that would later find greater fame, such as, Brian Cox, Ian Holm, Diana Quick, Timothy West, and John Wood.For sure it's not all royal pomp. After all, the film is half-concerned with the intimate family relations of the Romanovs. We see also the seamier side of early-twentieth-century Russian economic life, but these are, alas, token scenes to explain the origins of the revolution and are thus a little contrived and idealised. But if I had to change one thing it would be to cut before the final shots are fired: I think this would have had more of an impact.The disc, alas, comes with no extras. It would have been nice to have known where many of the scenes were shot.

What and absolutely stunning and brilliantly acted film. Almost took you back to pre-soviet Russia with Nicholas as the Tsar and Queen Victoria's granddaughter Alexandra as his wife.Each part is played to perfection from Michael Jayston as Nicholas and Harry Andrews as head of the army.Some of the scenes are so stunning and realistic that you can almost feel the cold from the Siberian weather where they are sent to be killed.The children do not figure much in the movie except Alexei (the Tsarevitch) who is an haemophiliac and of course this brings the royal family into contact with Rasputin (Tom Baker) played with wide-eyed excellence by the way.I am fascinated by history and cannot read or see enough of it and this made my night's watching really pleasurable.Add to that there is even an intermission on the DVD for that cup of tea but the film does not drag or even linger on any subject.Bear this one thing in mind when the Bolsheviks killed this group of people THEY HAD KILLED THE ROYAL FAMILY!!!