--- title: "Battleship Potemkin: the reviews" canonical: "https://film.one/film/battleship-potemkin/reviews" title_page: "https://film.one/film/battleship-potemkin" critics_score: 84 critics_reviews: 15 licence: "© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL." --- # Battleship Potemkin (1925): what the critics said Critics' score 84 from 15 reviews: 14 positive, 0 mixed, 1 negative. Most critics are strongly positive about Battleship Potemkin, with praise centred on Eisenstein’s rhythmic editing and its ability to make political conflict immediate and emotionally forceful. The Odessa Steps sequence dominates discussion, but the reviews also value the movement of crowds, symbolic imagery and control of pace beyond that sequence. Several find that restored prints clarify the images and renew the film’s urgency, while its influence on subsequent filmmaking is a recurring theme. The spread is wide, but dissent is isolated: fourteen reviews are positive and one is negative. Reservations concern familiarity and musical accompaniment more than the filmmaking. RogerEbert.com argues that familiarity reduces the surprise, even as the montage retains its power. The Times welcomes the Pet Shop Boys score as a source of fresh emotional impact. The Guardian finds it fervent but insufficiently responsive to the film’s dramatic changes. ## Radio Times — David Parkinson Rating 5/5. The critic calls it a masterpiece of editorial dexterity that shows symbolic imagery can match narrative in emotional and intellectual impact, singling out the plate-smashing mutiny trigger, fog scene, roaring lion and Odessa Steps massacre as powerful and accessible elements that make it essential cinema. [Read the review](https://www.radiotimes.com/movie-guide/b-setp7g/the-battleship-potemkin/) ## The Times — Kevin Maher Rating ★★★★★. 21 August 2025. The critic celebrates the restored print paired with the Pet Shop Boys’ 2004 score as giving the 1925 masterpiece fresh urgency and emotional impact, calling the combination immense and a successful marriage of revolutionary cinema and modern pop energy. [Read the review](https://www.thetimes.com/culture/film/article/battleship-potemkin-pet-shop-boys-review-vrvkpgs83) ## The AV Club — Noel Murray Rating A. 31 October 2007. The review praises the Kino DVD restoration for coming closer to Eisenstein's original vision than any prior version by restoring title cards, images, and the score. It highlights the film's relentless drive of revolution and its lasting influence on action cinema. [Read the review](https://www.avclub.com/battleship-potemkin-1798203303) ## Empire — David Parkinson Fi1m's normalised score 90/100 (inferred from the text). 1 January 2011. The critic calls it a masterpiece that proved symbolic imagery could match narrative logic in emotional impact. The plate smashing, fog scene, Odessa steps massacre and roaring lion are highlighted among cinema's most famous images. [Read the review](https://www.empireonline.com/movies/reviews/battleship-potemkin-review/) ## Los Angeles Times — Kenneth Turan Fi1m's normalised score 90/100 (inferred from the text). 18 March 2011. Turan calls the restored print a knockout that reveals the film’s virtuoso filmmaking, pictorial beauty, and full sweep beyond the Odessa Steps sequence, describing it as a thrilling piece of cinematic adrenaline. [Read the review](https://www.latimes.com/entertainment/la-xpm-2011-mar-18-la-et-battleship-potemkin-20110318-story.html) ## Slant Magazine — Jesse Cataldo Fi1m's normalised score 90/100 (inferred from the text). 10 January 2011. The review celebrates the new 35mm restoration and Eisenstein's focus on the dynamic movement and unity of crowds as living entities rather than mere symbols. It singles out the fluid, organic depiction of motion in sequences like the Odessa Steps as what gives the film its enduring aesthetic power beyond its political context. [Read the review](https://www.slantmagazine.com/film/battleship-potemkin/) ## The Independent Rating HHHH. 17 January 1998. The critic hails a new print of Eisenstein's masterpiece for providing textbook lessons in pace and structure. It is praised as a masterful fusion of fact and fiction, with the Odessa Steps sequence singled out as its most famous element. [Read the review](https://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/new-films-reviews-1139165.html) ## The New York Times — Dave Kehr Fi1m's normalised score 90/100 (inferred from the text). 23 October 2007. Kehr praises the restored version of Eisenstein’s influential 1925 propaganda film for returning the full Odessa Steps sequence and other details, highlighting its rhythmic editing and emotional impact as a landmark of montage cinema. [Read the review](https://www.nytimes.com/2007/10/23/movies/homevideo/23dvds.html) ## The Guardian — Peter Bradshaw Fi1m's normalised score 85/100 (inferred from the text). 21 August 2025. The critic hails the restored 100th-anniversary version of Eisenstein’s 1925 silent classic as a still-potent revolutionary masterpiece whose innovative montage and iconic Odessa Steps sequence continue to inspire. The new Pet Shop Boys score is described as fervent but not fully attuned to the film’s dramatic light and shade. [Read the review](https://www.theguardian.com/film/2025/aug/21/battleship-potemkin-review-eisenstein-pet-shop-boys) ## Evening Standard Fi1m's normalised score 80/100 (inferred from the text). 10 April 2012. The review recommends seeing this luminous revival of the 1926 epic on a proper print. It singles out the Odessa Steps sequence as one of the greatest moments in screen history that has been endlessly copied. [Read the review](https://www.standard.co.uk/culture/film/who-needs-avatar-in-3d-when-you-can-have-battleship-potemkin-7424616.html) ## Time Out — Wally Hammond Rating 4/5. 26 April 2011. The critic finds the film exciting, dynamic and immediate even today in its restored form with Meisel’s score, praising its ability to capture the danger, drama and energy of civil war through the rhythmic montage of the Odessa Steps sequence. [Read the review](https://www.timeout.com/movies/battleship-potemkin-1) ## RogerEbert.com — Roger Ebert Fi1m's normalised score 70/100 (inferred from the text). 19 July 1998. Ebert views the film as a fundamental landmark of cinema whose famous Odessa Steps sequence retains power through montage and rhythm, though familiarity has reduced its surprise value over time. [Read the review](https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/great-movie-the-battleship-potemkin-1925) ## Variety — Variety Staff Fi1m's normalised score 30/100 (inferred from the text). 31 December 1924. The review outlines the historical incident of the 1905 mutiny aboard the Potemkin and notes its presentation as Soviet propaganda found in czarist archives. [Read the review](https://variety.com/1924/film/reviews/battleship-potemkin-1200409569/) ## Collider — Liam Gaughan Fi1m's normalised score 90/100 (inferred from the text). 21 December 2025. The critic calls Battleship Potemkin an all-time great masterpiece and one of the most defining silent films, still timely as a political text and essential viewing for cinephiles. They single out its pioneering use of Soviet montage editing as a major innovation that influenced generations of filmmakers and changed cinematic storytelling. [Read the review](https://collider.com/battleship-potemkin-sergei-eisenstein/) ## Eye for Film — Jennie Kermode Fi1m's normalised score 90/100 (inferred from the text). 28 April 2011. The critic praises the film's masterful filmmaking, stunning cinematography, deft editing, and its enduring power as a cinematic and political work, noting the restored version's quality. They highlight how it remains highly watchable and a triumph despite simple ideas. [Read the review](https://www.eyeforfilm.co.uk/review/battleship-potemkin-film-review-by-jennie-kermode) --- © Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL. Our review: https://film.one/film/battleship-potemkin.md