Some Different Non-Text Versions of War and Peace

I just wanted to quickly go over some of the different versions of War and Peace for those interested.
To be honest, it has been some time since I've seen some of these versions, so there won't be a lot of detail and will mostly go off my memories of them, particularly the way I remember them emotionally.

Audiobooks:

I'm sure there are some paid and abridged versions that are out there, but the only ones I've listened to are the following:

The Librivox version of the Maude translation: The great thing about Librivox is also the worst thing about Librivox: its crowd-sourcing. Some of the chapters are read really well, others are read very poorly or have audio issues.

The Librivox version of the Dole translation: This is read by one person and read well with good audio. However, it was abandoned after Volume 2, about halfway through the novel. My recommendation would be for those wanting to listen to a free audio book of War and Peace is to listen to this version until you hit the end of Volume 2 and then picking up the Maude recording at Book 9.

A Year of War and Peace: Not yet finished and part of Reddit's A Year of War and Peace. With the caveat that I have only listened to a few episodes, this version has a good reading followed by some discussion of the chapter. The discussion of the chapter is extremely simple and I don't find it particularly helpful, but those who haven't read the book or have any background knowledge of the novel might find the discussions helpful.

Movies/TV Shows:

Not counting the lost silent movies of 1913 and 1915, the oldest adaptation is the 1956 big Hollywood Golden Age project directed by King Vidor, starring Audrey Hepburn as Natasha and Henry Fonda as Pierre. This is about three and a half hours with a big overture. If you like those actors or movies from this era of Hollywood that made big epics with big scores, then you'll forgive the massive cuts in the text. I like this version and if no other version of War and Peace existed, I would wholeheartedly endorse and recommend this version. Even so, it is a good movie and if you don't want to sit through the longer versions below and movies from that era interest you, I won't have anything negative to say about this version.

(There was a play of the week in 1963 back when television used to do that. Who knows if it still exists somewhere. These often don't.)

The 1966 Soviet version directed by and starring (as Pierre) by Sergey Bondarchuk. This is slightly over 7 hours long. This is probably the gold standard for adapting the novel to the screen. The Soviet backing of the film (which doesn't change the text, at least as far as I could see) made the scale and the battles much larger than any of the other versions. The filmmakers also used experimental techniques and large film that make it good epic filmmaking at a much larger scale than the Vidor adaptation. There is also something to be said about the movie being Russian, having Russian actors looking Russian, speaking French and Russian that I think adds authenticity that other versions fail to have. It is definitely the best film out of the different versions and it is also by far the most Russian. The only negatives I could think of would be if you didn't want to read subtitles (which is sad in my opinion) and it isn't quite the completionist version as below.

The 1972-1973 BBC version is 14 hours 50 minutes long and broken up in 20 episodes, starring Anthony Hopkins as Pierre. Some sections of War and Peace are simply impossible to film without having someone read to the camera. However, every reasonably filmable (or...tapeable) aspect of the novel is filmed (taped) in this version. I haven't talked much about the acting in these versions, but I think Anthony Hopkins is fantastic, and he makes a great Pierre (I think a lot about how he delivers the "I hate my life" line in this version). If you want to see basically the entire novel or watch each section while you're reading, this is the version for you. The negative is the quality of the film (tape) and the horrendous look of the outside scenes.

(In 1991 the BBC taped a production of the opera. I have not seen it or any version of the opera.)

The 2007 multi-national production with Malcolm McDowell as Prince Nikolai Bolkonsky is 6 hours 34 minutes long. I...can't recommend this version, especially with the BBC updating their version so this is no longer the only 21st century version that exists. The shooting and cutting of this version is more like a sappy television series than an epic. Now, of course, how the novel should be portrayed is a discussion each film crew has to decide, but to me, they seemed to make every wrong decision possible. All characters are simplified into good and bad and it feels like melodrama.

And of course the 2016 BBC version starring Paul Dano as Pierre and Lily James as Natasha is 6 hours and 19 minutes long. I...haven't seen this version. I have it. I just haven't seen it yet. I'll sit down and watch it and write about it and make an article about it (or may break it down into several articles).