Represents the summit of Soviet cinema and remains one of the most poetic and visually beautiful of all Russian films.
– Michael Wilmington,
Chicago Tribune,
13 Jun 2002
fresh:
More clearly influenced by Sergei Eisenstein than any of Dovzhenko's other pictures, it's certainly the one that uses fast editing in the most exciting fashion.
– Jonathan Rosenbaum,
Chicago Reader,
13 Mar 2003
rotten:
Although one is impelled to be in thorough sympathy with its argument against war, one cannot but help feeling that one-fourth of the footage of this production would be ample for one sitting.