Watch With Fire and Sword For Free

Good films always raise compelling questions, whether the format is fiction or documentary fact.

This film is so real. It treats its characters with so much care and sensitivity.

This movie tries so hard to be funny, yet it falls flat every time. Just another example of recycled ideas repackaged with women in an attempt to appeal to a certain audience.

One of the worst ways to make a cult movie is to set out to make a cult movie.

A great film epic from Poland, based on a famous novel by Nobel laureate Henryk Sienwiewicz, taking the 17th Century Ukrainian uprising by Bogdan Khmelnitsky against the Polish Commonwealth as a background, with Poles, Ukrainians and Tatars fighting against each other. My knowledge of Polish history is weak, so I cannot tell how faithful this movie is to the real events it depicts, but as an epic it never fails to entertain. Since this is a Polish film, Poles come naturally the best. Some may complain that the Ukrainian Cossacks are depicted as ignorant brutes, but they are nonetheless great fun to watch. Worst depicted are the Crimean Tatars, as oriental despots (and pederasts, as well, since the Khan is shown as an obvious boy lover). Though this was one of the most expensive films in Polish history, it took just small change to made in comparison with similarly themed Western movies, and the results for the money are impressive. The battles depicted here are great, and the filmmakers took care to involve many people in them, not just a few (presumably, without any aid from computer imagery). There is a great acting, as well (Izabella Scorupco as the beautiful Helena, Alexandr Domogarov as the impulsive Bohun, Ruslana Pysanka as the witch Horpyna, Krzystof Kowalewski as the comic relief Zagluba).

I strongly recommend this movie for everybody. It is a beautiful story about love. The movie is based on the book of a great Polish writer Henryk Sienkiewicz called " Ogniem i mieczem". There are some parts where the blood is present, if you know a little bit about history, you know that back then people used different tools than guns to kill so don't be surprised. It is not true that this movie is Hollywood movie. It's ridiculous that somebody would say something like that. Film does not promote violence or nothing else but sex which many Hollywood movies do. Also, you do not have to know Polish history to watch this movie. Movie has a good action. It tells a story and knowledge about Polish history is not prerequisite require to to be able to watch this movie and understand it. Additionally, many great Polish actors play main characters. Two examples are Izabella Scorupco and Michal Zebrowski.

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.

Hoffman, the director, is well-known in polish cinema for such movies like "Pan Wolodyjowski" or Oscar-nominated "Potop".These two movies were based on book by polish novelist Henryk Sienkiewicz. He wrote also "Ogniem i mieczem". Adaptation of this book was heavily commented in polish media. The expectations were big. And then came the premiere. Spotlights, well-known people from show business, politics, culture. And producers of course, this movie was the most expensive movie in polish history (now the first is "Quo Vadis"). All these people had to make the best of a bad business. Movie is boring, which is absolutely no acceptable for entertainment production. It doesn't have good plot, it is made from about 5 very light-related episodes (if you have seen "Hannibal" you know what I mean). The characters are or white like January snow, more saint then Jesus, or absolutely without expression. Whats more, their behavior is unlogic and unnecessary.Simply stupid. Battles, if you compare it with e.g. "Braveheart" or even others Hoffman's movies,, are childish (polish army consist of ten horses). In one word - disaster. Only music is good. If you want to see polish historical movie, go better for older Hoffman's work.