Trivia

Sergey Bondarchuk created meticulous recreations of battles of the Napoleonic Wars. The Battle of Borodino against the Napoleon's invasion is the largest battle scene ever filmed.

Director Bondarchuk made history by introducing remote-controlled cameras that moved on 300 meter-long wires above the scene of the battlefield.

Director Sergey Bondarchuk had two heart attacks during the years of production. He suffered his first heart attack while filming part 3, the battle of Borodino. He suffered his second heart attack while filming part 4, the Fire of Moscow. Then the director was in-and-out of hospital during post-production.

American version is one hour shorter than the original Russian movie. The director's cut with additional scenes runs about 500 min.

Original location of the historic Battle of Borodino was used for filming.