IMDb RATING
7.0/10
4.1K
YOUR RATING
World War II drama about the 1943 battle around the Neretva River between Axis forces and Yugoslav partisan units.World War II drama about the 1943 battle around the Neretva River between Axis forces and Yugoslav partisan units.World War II drama about the 1943 battle around the Neretva River between Axis forces and Yugoslav partisan units.
- Nominated for 1 Oscar
- 1 win & 1 nomination total
Sergey Bondarchuk
- Martin
- (as Sergej Bondarcuk)
Velimir 'Bata' Zivojinovic
- Stole
- (as Bata Zivojinovic)
Howard Ross
- Mario
- (as Renato Rossini)
Nikola-Kole Angelovski
- Zika
- (as Kole Angelovski)
Stojan 'Stole' Arandjelovic
- Sumadinac
- (as Stole Arandjelovic)
Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaA poster for this film was made by Pablo Picasso, and it was only one of two movie posters he made. He did it because he was a fan of Yugoslav films and, according to people who were involved in the production, he did not ask for money for the poster--all he wanted was a case of Yugoslavia's finest wines.
- GoofsAll entries contain spoilers
- Crazy creditsAt the Neretva in occupied Europe, we fought one of the most celebrated and the most heroic battles for the wounded. Here was decided the fate of the Revolution. Here was victorious the brotherhood and unity of our peoples. Tito
- Alternate versionsThe Serbian DVD version is 160 minutes long and is a significantly different cut from any other DVD or video releases. There is no opening map and narration. The musical score is the original Vladimir Kraus-Rajteric score which kicks in very rarely. The scenes are rearranged so that Welles makes his speech to the troops near the beginning and the air attack hits Bihac simultaneously with the land battle. Almost every dialog scene is lengthened and cut slower than the English version, but there are some parts of the action scenes cut a lot tighter. For instance, this is missing the scene where Riva falls out of the truck during the Italian retreat. It is also missing the scene in the Orthodox church prior the Welles addressing the Chetniks. However, it does feature several new scenes, most notably a scene where Vasco raids a house in Prosor only to then shoot and wound his own commander, and then a second battle between the Partisans and the Italians. In this scene, Riva refuses to fire at his own men and Novak almost shoots him only for Martin to intervene. General Morelli is captured and then promptly commits suicide with a pistol. There is also a new scene where the partisans surprise attack a group of Chetniks guarding the Neretva bridge. There are several more violent shots missing from other prints - such as the Ustashans hanging an old woman and laughing when they march through Bihac. There are several more deaths during the end battle with the Chetniks such as a partisan being shot in the back when reaching for a grenade. Then at the end of the battle there is a scene where a partisan named 'Stipe' goes crazy and guns down a number of Chetnik prisoners, only to have his rank stripped from him. Curiously almost all the nationalities speak their own language; with Riva speaking Italian even with his Yugoslavian captors and Morelli speaking in German when addressing General Lohring. The only actors dubbed appear to be Yul Brynner and Orson Welles.
- ConnectionsEdited into Svjetla Sarajeva (2022)
Featured review
Saving Private Ryan on Yugoslavian way
There is something special about big films made in commanded economies. Because they had not only artistic but also educational and "raising national spirit" function, they were filmed with big budget and almost national participation (on more or less voluntary base)- forget Hollywood free market film.
This film is not exception - it's one of the biggest Yugoslavian projects made with dream team - most famous and appreciated actors and actresses, respected director and episode roles of famous international stars - Yul Brynner and Orson Wells.
The other side of the story with such films is theirs success. Most of them are to pathetic and politically made to be accepted anywhere beyond the borders of their own country. The Battle of Neretva is different - it became well accepted broad wide, mostly in third world but even is some high developed countries like Italy and even got nominated for Oscar.
So if you got lost and somehow find yourselves on this page and wonder what kind of film this is here's the summary - expensive Yugoslavian epic story with LOT and LOT of action in less explicit but Saving Private Ryan type spiced with Partisans (good guys) vs Nazis (bad guys) story.
Give it a chance - you may find it refreshing, original and interesting compared with Hollywood war films. Spielberg probably learned a lot watching it.
This film is not exception - it's one of the biggest Yugoslavian projects made with dream team - most famous and appreciated actors and actresses, respected director and episode roles of famous international stars - Yul Brynner and Orson Wells.
The other side of the story with such films is theirs success. Most of them are to pathetic and politically made to be accepted anywhere beyond the borders of their own country. The Battle of Neretva is different - it became well accepted broad wide, mostly in third world but even is some high developed countries like Italy and even got nominated for Oscar.
So if you got lost and somehow find yourselves on this page and wonder what kind of film this is here's the summary - expensive Yugoslavian epic story with LOT and LOT of action in less explicit but Saving Private Ryan type spiced with Partisans (good guys) vs Nazis (bad guys) story.
Give it a chance - you may find it refreshing, original and interesting compared with Hollywood war films. Spielberg probably learned a lot watching it.
helpful•154
- Igor_Husak
- May 10, 2008
- How long is The Battle of Neretva?Powered by Alexa
Details
- Release date
- Countries of origin
- Languages
- Also known as
- The Battle of the River Neretva
- Filming locations
- Production companies
- See more company credits at IMDbPro
Box office
- Budget
- $12,000,000 (estimated)
- Runtime1 hour 45 minutes
- Sound mix
- Aspect ratio
- 2.35 : 1
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