Jerzy Hoffman's Sienkiewicz Trilogy DVD Set

Alright, I'm Catholic. I'm Catholic and I'm tired of being misrepresented in, and outraged by, movies. I'm happy when I find a good movie which simply leaves out gratuitous sex and the EVER present, CONSTANT repetition of the F word. Oh, and the N word---good grief PLEASE deliver me---always by some black person buying drugs or by the most VILE and violent of white trash goons. And all the other nasty, gross, hideous, godless CRAP that goes into a really successful movie these days.I LOVED THIS TRILOGY! IT IS SO CATHOLIC! IT IS SUCH BEAUTIFUL HISTORY! I don't have a drop of slav in my veins, but the husband and kids are 1/4 and 1/8 Pole, respectively, and originally I bought the films for their edification, but OH, I LOVE THIS TRILOGY!For those who expect a filmed-in-rapid-succession, Lord of the Rings sort of production, be warned that the first movie filmed was the LAST book of the trilogy---filmed in 1969. The costumes are pretty bad, and it has a bit of that 60's...whatever...that makes films from that era so tedious for me, at least, and the same can be said of the second film which is the second book of the trilogy, and was filmed in '74. The last book of the trilogy was filmed in '99, after the historical reenacting culture had stressed the importance of authenticity, and it is truly beautiful. Why the director filmed the books in this order, I don't know. I suspect he never intended to do more than the last book. But on the plus side, you become well and happily aquainted with the only character who is a constant throughout the trilogy when you watch the first part, which was filmed last and is the most wonderful to watch. Make sense? well, neither will the Polish, but it is subtitled.I can't recommend this enough to anyone who is interested in the fascinating history of easter Europe. The battle scenes are quite moving. The Winged Hussars---oh, my goodness. I found this trilogy while researching the Polish defense against the Germans. And now I can see why Cavalry was so sacred for them. Just beautiful.A fascinating, if, imo, unwise political system, threats from all directions and a fierce and proud people devoted to their Faith and their heritage. Wow. What's not to love?

I'm enjoying these movies as snapshots into Polish culture not only in days of old but also watching Hoffman's style change. Much of plots are hard to swallow but such is the stuff of classic literature and film is rarely able to translate these larger than life heroes. It reminds me of Andre Dumas' Three Musketeers.It took me a while to figure out how to turn subtitles on because closed captions were disabled in my DVD player's main menu. I think the discs played subtitles by themselves after that.One of my disks is scratched and doesn't play right. It's possible that they are very soft - or it came that way. I didn't abuse it, so be careful with them!

I was really looking forward to receiving this DVD set from Polart, however, once played there was this continuous annoying voice-overs with the title "With Fire and Sword." There are already subtitles so this is inexplicable to me as why this is repeatedly occurring. The films in Polish with mediocre subtitles, but one can live with that. Must say though, I Have in my possession, the entire trilogy on video tape from Zodiak Jerzy Hoffman film production of 1999, which is of an excellent visual quality, the DVD's are not. So along with the interruptions of voice-overs during some of the dialogue, and the poorer quality if presentation I'm returning this set. A real pity, and disappointment, that such an epic series isn't given the quality production it deserves. Hopefully, another company in the future will re-issue these in a superior format.

DO NOT expect a trilogy of movies with rich cinematography or decent resolution. Acting is great but the direction and scripting are terrible. I was hoping for a Polish version of "The Duellists" or something like that. The history may be correct, but the movies in this trilogy are horrible. The picture or film quality was horrid and sometimes that's okay if the movie is good. Not this one. Some fanboys posted that this movie had great cinematography, DON'T BUY INTO THAT. I did, wish I hadn't now. And the great acting could not save the poor scripting and direction. I quit this one halfway through the trilogy and gave it away.

A good cinematic treatment of the most famous trilogy in Polish literature.Overall a good job. Two were shot during the Communist occupation (the director Hoffman was a communist with a Russian wife).So the best (the first) was made after Poland got its freedom. Hoffman complained that the Soviets were better at creating bloodybattle scenes, which they did for the second and third film in the trilogy. He was correct. I guess Russia considered extras expendable.Also, as a non Christian, Hoffman has great trouble in dealing with Pan Longin Podbipieta, the noblest character in the series.Enthusiasts should buy the oldest of the translations into English, namely that of Jeremiah Curtin. Curtin took all the royalties, buthe was a good translator. Since he was a former Yankee general, that he was also a crook is not surprising.

the first two parts was very good . the third part, pan wolodyjowski does not play and the dvd showed the sugn err. this was great disappointmant to me.