Filmen er produceret af filmstudiet [[Mosfilm]] mellem 1961 og 1967 med betydelig støtte fra de sovjetiske myndigheder og den sovjetiske hær, der leverede hundredevis af [[hest]]e og titusinder soldater som [[statist]]er. Filmen kostede 8,29 mio. [[russiske rubler|rubler]], hvilket var den indtil da dyreste sovjetiske filmproduktion. Filmen blev en publikumsucces og solgte i Sovjetunionen 135 millioner billetter. Filmen modtog førsteprisen ved Moskvas Internationale Filmfestival og modtog en [[Oscar for bedste fremmedsprogede film]]. Filmen er siden sin udgivelse anset som den største [[storfilm]] nogensinde.<ref>{{cite web|last=Ebert|first=Roger|author-link=Roger Ebert|title=War and Peace movie review & film summary (1969)|url=https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/war-and-peace-1969|website=[[RogerEbert.com]]|publisher=Ebert Digital LLC|access-date=16. august 2021|date=22. juni 1969|quote=... 'War and Peace' is the definitive epic of all time. It is hard to imagine that circumstances will ever again combine to make a more spectacular, expensive, and -- yes -- splendid movie.}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|last=Barone|first=Joshua|title=A Peerless 'War and Peace' Film Is Restored to Its Former Glory|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2019/02/15/movies/war-and-peace-bondarchuk-lincoln-center.html|access-date=16. august 2021|work=[[The New York Times]]|date=15. februar 2019|quote=... Sergei Bondarchuk’s 1960s adaptation of the Leo Tolstoy novel "War and Peace" is a singular feat of filmmaking that can never be repeated.}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|last=Lumbard|first=Neil|title=War and Peace Blu-ray Review|url=https://www.blu-ray.com/movies/War-and-Peace-Blu-ray/230476/#Review|website=Blu-ray.com|access-date=16. august 2021|date=19. marts 2020|quote=War and Peace is an epic of a magnitude which is rarely seen in cinema.}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|last=Galbraith|first=Stuart, IV|title=War and Peace (Criterion)|url=https://www.dvdtalk.com/reviews/review/73900|website=DVD Talk|publisher=MH Sub I, LLC|access-date=16. august 2021|date=8. juli 2019|quote=... the Soviet-financed, four-part adaptation of Leo Tolstoy's War and Peace (1965-67) is an epic among epics, the biggest scale film production ever attempted, the kind of motion picture event that almost certainly will never come again.}}</ref>
Film