Battleship Potemkin (1925)
91%RT Audience Score: 86%
Awards & Nominations: 1 win
A technical masterpiece, Battleship Potemkin is Soviet cinema at its finest, and its montage editing techniques remain influential to this day.
Battleship Potemkin is a film that has stood the test of time, and for good reason. It’s a masterpiece that combines stunning visuals with a powerful message about collective action and the fight against oppression. Even nearly 90 years after its release, it still manages to get the pulse racing and leave a lasting impact on viewers. Sure, it may have a highbrow reputation, but don’t let that put you off – this is essential cinema that everyone should experience at least once. Plus, who doesn’t love a good mutiny and revolt story?
Production Company(ies)
Revolution Studios, Red Om Films, Hughes Entertainment,
Distributor
Amkino Corporation, Reel Media International [us], Grapevine Video, Image Entertainment Inc.
Release Type
Filming Location(s)
Sevastopol, Crimea, Ukraine
MPAA / Certificate
Not Rated
Year of Release
1925
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Color:Color
Black and White -
Sound mix:Silent
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Aspect ratio:1.25 : 1
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Runtime:1h 7m
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Language(s):Russian, English
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Country of origin:United States
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Release date:Release Date (Theaters): Dec 5, 1926 Original
Release Date (Streaming): Nov 4, 2003
Genre(s)
History/Mystery & thriller
Keyword(s)
starring Aleksandr Antonov, directed by Sergei M Eisenstein, written by Nina Agadzhanova, Nikolay Aseev, Sergei M Eisenstein, Sergei Tretyakov, History, Mystery & Thriller, Drama, box office gross $51.0K, reviewed by Wilella Waldorf, Pamela Hutchinson, Robert Herring, Michael Wilmington, Richard Brody, Mordaunt Hall, Edwin Seaver, Don Ray, Philip French, David Parkinson, Sam Wigley, MPAA rating N/A, produced by Jacob Bliokh, aspect ratio Academy (1.33:1), Grigory Vakulinchuk, Commander Golikov, Chief Officer Giliarovsky, Militant Sailor, Woman on the Steps, Officer
Worldwide gross: $61,389
Worldwide gross (inflation-adjusted): $1,296,217
Worldwide gross ranking (inflation-adjusted): 2,533
Worldwide tickets sold (est.): 141,354
US/Canada gross: $51,198
US/Canada gross (inflation-adjusted): $1,081,036
US/Canada gross ranking (inflation-adjusted): 2,167
US/Canada opening weekend: $5,641
US/Canada opening weekend (inflation-adjusted): $119,109
US/Canada opening weekend ranking (inflation-adjusted): 1,871
Budget and Earnings Details
Production budget (est.): NA
Production budget (inflation-adjusted): NA
Production budget ranking: NA
Marketing and distribution budget (inflation-adjusted est.): NA
Box office net earnings to date (inflation-adjusted est.): NA
ROI to date (est.): NA
ROI ranking: NA
Vladimir Barskiy – Commander Golikov
Grigoriy Aleksandrov – Chief Officer Giliarovsky
Mikhail Gomorov – Militant Sailor
Repnikova – Woman on the Steps
Marusov – Officer
Director(s)
Sergei M. Eisenstein
Writer(s)
Nina Agadzhanova, Nikolay Aseev, Sergei M. Eisenstein, Sergei Tretyakov
Producer(s)
Jacob Bliokh
Film Festivals
Awards & Nominations
1 win
Academy Awards
All Critics (49) | Top Critics (19) | Fresh (49)
Potemkin tells, with a good deal of striking detail and with considerable pictorial effectiveness, a stern narrative of mutiny and revolt.
October 8, 2020
Wilella Waldorf
New York Post
TOP CRITIC
Because Battleship Potemkin is an appeal to fellow-feeling and collective action, it is only right that the restoration work creates a more immersive film, one that places no barriers between a 21st-century audience and its monumentally powerful imagery.
March 18, 2020
Pamela Hutchinson
Guardian
TOP CRITIC
The thing that matters is that Soviet [cinema], while being propagandist, contains a use of all the different branches of film-making which is recognised and practised in no other country.
December 12, 2015
Robert Herring
Guardian
TOP CRITIC
The most brilliant of all Soviet silent films.
August 21, 2013 | Rating: 4/4
Michael Wilmington
Chicago Tribune
TOP CRITIC
The cinema’s first modernist… was the Soviet director Sergei Eisenstein. As his most famous work, Battleship Potemkin, from 1925, shows, his analytical, quasi-scientific methods bore the mark of both aesthetic and political upheavals.
August 21, 2013
Richard Brody
New Yorker
TOP CRITIC
The director displays a vivid imagination and an artistic appreciation of motion picture values.
August 29, 2011
Mordaunt Hall
New York Times
TOP CRITIC
Potemkin is a complete break from anything hitherto known in the art of the motion picture.
April 10, 2020
Edwin Seaver
The New Masses
What was once the darling of the cinematic few has become the masterpiece of the masses (you should pardon the expression).
January 8, 2020
Don Ray
Los Angeles Free Press
Potemkin is a vital viewing experience that transcends its landmark/milestone status.
May 1, 2011
Philip French
Observer (UK)
Don’t be put off by its highbrow reputation, this is essential cinema.
April 28, 2011 | Rating: 5/5
David Parkinson
Radio Times
Nearly 90 years on, Eisenstein’s masterpiece is still guaranteed to get the pulse racing.
April 26, 2011 | Rating: 5/5
Sam Wigley
Total Film
Battleship Potemkin is agitprop, but cinematically magnificent agitprop…
April 26, 2010
Sean Axmaker
Turner Classic Movies Online…
Plot
Based on the historical events the movie tells the story of a riot at the battleship Potemkin. What started as a protest strike when the crew was given rotten meat for dinner ended in a riot. The sailors raised the red flag and tried to ignite the revolution in their home port Odessa.
Trivia
Goofs / Tidbits
Battleship Potemkin features a cast of mostly non-professional actors.
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