Rating: - Badly Dated "Classics"
I realize that most people regard Eisenstein as a god of Soviet cinema, but let me just say that these three films are terribly crude and simplistic. The worst of the three is Ivan Part 2. The "acting" (a generous term for this film) consists of rolling eyes and glacial stares. The plot and dialogue are every bit as bad as those in a Cecil B. DeMille epic. Alexander Nevsky isn't much better. This is clearly a propoganda film and it's just as simplistic as Ivan 2. The German characters in particular are so crudely drawn that most of the time you just sit laughing. The film is so bad that it becomes an unintended comedy. As for Prokofiev's "celebrated" music, it matches the film for bombast. The best of the three films is Ivan Part I since it was impacted the least by Stalin's propoganda machine. It's also heavy handed and simplistic but at least the subject matter and Eisentein's methodology are close to each and the film isn't too far over the top.

Every one should see these films at least once just to know what the "experts" are talking about. However, it is impossible to make the case these are mature and complex films about the human condition. Eisestein's reputation was born during the first half of the 20th century when the Soviet Union was viewed by some people as a grand and hopeful experiment. For them, Eisenstein is the representative of a lost utopia. For the rest of us, these are just boring and overated films.

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