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Battleship Potemkin

Play trailer Poster for Battleship Potemkin 1926 1h 7m History Drama Mystery & Thriller Play Trailer Watchlist
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100% Tomatometer 51 Reviews 86% Popcornmeter 10,000+ Ratings
When they are fed rancid meat, the sailors on the Potemkin revolt against their harsh conditions. Led by Vakulinchuk, the sailors kill the officers of the ship to gain their freedom. Vakulinchuk is also killed, and the people of Odessa honor him as a symbol of revolution. Tsarist soldiers arrive and massacre the civilians to quell the uprising. A squadron of ships is sent to overthrow the Potemkin, but the ships side with the revolt and refuse to attack.
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Battleship Potemkin

Battleship Potemkin

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Critics Consensus

A technical masterpiece, Battleship Potemkin is Soviet cinema at its finest, and its montage editing techniques remain influential to this day.

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Critics Reviews

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Wilella Waldorf New York Post Oct 8, 2020
Potemkin tells, with a good deal of striking detail and with considerable pictorial effectiveness, a stern narrative of mutiny and revolt. Go to Full Review
Pamela Hutchinson Guardian Mar 18, 2020
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. Go to Full Review
Robert Herring Guardian Dec 12, 2015
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. Go to Full Review
Joanne Laurier World Socialist Web Site Dec 12, 2025
4/4
... captures the brutality of the regime that the workers and sailors tried unsuccessfully to overthrow in 1905 ... This complex revolutionary process is captured in some of the most stunning and iconic images ever committed to film. Go to Full Review
Eddie Harrison film-authority.com Sep 1, 2025
5/5
...the 2025 version from the BFI with a Pet Shop Boys score is certainly the best version of The Battleship Potemkin that I’ve seen to date, with a modern score bringing the film to vibrant life; it’s a radical but respectful take on a cinematic classic. Go to Full Review
Rich Cline Shadows on the Wall Aug 20, 2025
5/5
This is simply a ripping, thrilling movie. Go to Full Review
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Audience Reviews

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Cole M @RT43981705 5 hrs ago For this era of filmmaking, the point that stood out the most in Battleship Potemkin was the sheer scale of the production. There are massive real battleships, seemingly endless amounts of civilians boats and more extras than I think I have seen in any film during the sequences of mourning the rebellious leader. The scope achieved with government backing or not is staggering and largely sells the simplistic if not impactful story being displayed. The themes of pushing against the authoritarian fascist oppressors do still ring true as the premise of crewmates being treated horribly to the extent there are facing the firing squad at the refusal to eat rotten meat is a clear premise that communicates the message clearly. The aggressive editing at all times however does severely take away my enjoyment of the film since you can't linger on the massive scale they have achieved. Other than that technical critique this film still holds major stylistic impact and influence in the modern day See more Sean H @Seanishere 1 day ago My appeal to Battleship Potemkin comes not only from its reworking of cinematic form and its innovative approach to montage and editing, but also from how its drive to capture collective action has powerfully extended beyond the film itself. Its influence on pop culture, from the baby carriage tumbling down the stairs to the shattered eyeglasses and the shooting of civilians on the public steps, shows how these images have become recognizable beyond their original context. This to me remains powerful, because in storytelling of repression and barriers, a current audience is viewing the limitlessness of the form itself. I think this is especially important to an audience more attuned to a Hollywood approach with more rigid narrative storytelling, and serves as an ironic and humorous turn on the rigid boat that is enforcing the sailors to eat the rotten meat. See more Robert P @Superbad Sep 8, 2026 This was a great movie but not quite as good as others. Thus my rating! See more Lanfranco C @Lanfrancobz Jun 15, 2026 Cine-Revolution in Action! See more Julian Rex M @Julian_M Oct 2, 2025 What Battleship Potemkin lacks in cohesion it makes up for in spectacle, creating a swashbuckling yet still somehow down-to-earth adaptation of the early Russian Revolution that continues to raise pulses a century later. See more Stephen C @bob25009 Jun 9, 2025 A failed silent movie in 1 hour and 7 minutes!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! See more Read all reviews
Battleship Potemkin

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Movie Info

Synopsis When they are fed rancid meat, the sailors on the Potemkin revolt against their harsh conditions. Led by Vakulinchuk, the sailors kill the officers of the ship to gain their freedom. Vakulinchuk is also killed, and the people of Odessa honor him as a symbol of revolution. Tsarist soldiers arrive and massacre the civilians to quell the uprising. A squadron of ships is sent to overthrow the Potemkin, but the ships side with the revolt and refuse to attack.
Director
Sergei M. Eisenstein
Producer
Jacob Bliokh
Screenwriter
Nina Agadzhanova, Nikolay Aseev, Sergei M. Eisenstein, Sergei Tretyakov
Distributor
Amkino Corporation, Reel Media International [us], Grapevine Video, Image Entertainment Inc.
Production Co
Goskino
Genre
History, Drama, Mystery & Thriller
Original Language
Russian
Release Date (Theaters)
Dec 5, 1926, Original
Release Date (Streaming)
Jul 15, 2008
Box Office (Gross USA)
$51.0K
Runtime
1h 7m
Aspect Ratio
Academy (1.33:1)
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