Tells the stories of the Russian Revolution of 1917 and the following civil war using dramatized recreations, new footage from the battlefields, expert commentary, and colorized archives. Focuses on the perspective of sailors from the Kronstadt naval base who were at the vanguard of the revolution, but eventually became disillusioned and faced the wrath of the Bolsheviks.

Copyright date on title frames: 2004. "16:9 full frame."

Freedom and hope.Hunger in Petrograd ; The Czar crushes demonstrations ; Revolution spreads to Kronstadt sailors ; The Czar abdicates ; Lenin returns from exile ; Bolsheviks and sailors seize power ; Lenin sets up Cheka to crush opposition -- Civil war. Lenin survives assassination attempt ; 6,000 political opponents murdered ; The end of the Romanovs ; Red Army battles White Russians ; Millions die in bloody civil war ; Bolsheviks tighten grip on a society near collapse ; Kronstadt sailors fight Bolsheviks for their dream of 1917.