Product Details

• Actors: Nikolai Cherkasov, Serafima Birman, Pavel Kadochnikov, Mikhail Zharov, Amvrosi Buchma
• Directors: Sergei M. Eisenstein, M. Filimonova
• Format: Black & White, Color, DVD, NTSC
• Language: Russian (PCM Mono)
• Subtitles: English
• Region: All Regions
• Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1
• Number of discs: 1
• Rating: Unrated
• Studio: Image Entertainment
• DVD Release Date: October 28, 1998
• Run Time: 85 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• ASIN: 630509022X
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #92,793 in Movies & TV (See Bestsellers in Movies & TV)
• For more information about "Ivan the Terrible - Pt. 2" visit the Internet Movie Database (IMDb)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

Sergei Eisenstein's saga of Czar Ivan IV continues with the struggle for power and the use of secret police, a controversial segment that caused the film to be banned by Stalin in 1946 (the film was not released until 1958). The predominantly black-and-white film features a banquet dance sequence in color. Obviously the two parts must be viewed as a whole to be fully appreciated. Many film historians consider this period in Eisenstein's career less interesting than his silent period because of a sentimental return to archaic forms (characteristic of Soviet society in the '30s and '40s). Perhaps it was just part of his maturity. --Bill Desowitz

Product Description

Historical epic of the life and times of Ivan IV, 16th century ruler who first unified Russia. Ivan returns from retirement to fight the Boyars.
Genre: Foreign Film - Russian
Rating: UN
Release Date: 2-SEP-1998
Media Type: DVD

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Not for everyone, February 14, 2004

By	C. M. Helm (Blackfoot, Idaho) - See all my reviews

Right off the bat, it needs to be said that this is the older DVD version, not the new remastered Criterion Collection version. There are no extras in this DVD version by Image. The subtitles are black and white, and are difficult to read against the black-and-white film sequences. The excellent score by Prokofiev is tinny. The soundtrack was recorded in PCM, essentially a WAV file, which will not play on many older DVD players. The transition between the black and white sequences and the color sequences is not as smooth as it could be. The difference between the Image version and the Criterion version is one of quality and content, and price. The Criterion version comes as part of a boxed set, which is pricey if you already own Alexander Nevsky and/or Ivan Part I. If you don't already own Alexander Nevsky and/or Ivan I, the Criterion version is the way to go. If you do own it, then you have to decide whether to purchase the Image version and spend less money, or to replicate part of your film library with the 3 disk set from Criterion.

As to the virtues of this Eisenstein compared to other Eisenstein films or all other films, the pacing will be too slow and the posed acting will be too melodramatic for most American audiences raised on modern action flicks. Film lovers will get more out of it, however, because most of them will have the background to appreciate the preservation of the silent film acting style with all its posing, stance, pregnant pauses and charactured good guy/bad guy visual "leitmotifs." The historical background of the film will be missed by your average modern western audience, who would probably fail to sort the propagandizing of Soviet filmmaking from the dramatic touches and historical details. Overall, this is worthy film to watch because of its historical value, insight into the Soviet "social realism" school, hand-in-glove Prokofiev score and brilliant cinematography. The set-up for the final murder and the murder scene itself are great cinema, achieving the pacing and suspense that seem lacking in the first half of the film. Even though you know what is going to happen, the resolution is still satisfying and surprising. If anything, see this film for that. My three stars are really to rate this DVD version because of its tinny and grainy quality and hard-to-read subtitles. Better to spend you money to get the Criterion boxed set instead, even if you do end up replicating one or more Eisenstein's which you may already own.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The final combat against the boyars!, July 7, 2006

By	Hiram Gomez Pardo (Valencia, Venezuela) - See all my reviews (TOP 100 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

This landamrk film keeps of course the acidity of his bitter significance around the brutal conflict, aroused by inner rivalries between Ivan and the Boyars who were directly involved with the assasination of his parents.

A monumental masterpiece that must be seen by all those who love the cinema.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Russian Film, September 21, 2009

By	Richard Mowbray "Syrazure" (DC) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

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Dark, depressing, very gloomy. Typical of Eisenstein's war time pieces. Worth seeing for the costumes. The philosophy that Ivan was a man-of-the-people over the interests of the other nobles is so Soviet era.