The White Sun of the Desert (1973) Review

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(More customer reviews)Among Soviet movies there are more expensive (Bondarchuk's War and Peace) and more intellectual (Sokurov, Tarkovsky), but The White Sun of the Desert remains the best known and the most popular Russian film ever made. If you ask people (especially men) who were born and raised in the former Soviet Union, you will be convinced by their enthusiastic response and expression of love for this movie. It is rare indeed for a work of art to elicit such a uniform and unconditional admiration, and there must be something about this film which deserves such a reaction from several hundred million people.
There is a lot of myths and legends surrounding the creation of this film.
One legend (which is probably true) has it that, after the movie was made, it was censored and "put on the shelf" never to be seen again. Then, one dark and stormy night, there was a call to the State Film Archives from Brezhnev's dacha (suburban mansion). They were asking for something new for the "big boss" to watch. The clerk on duty, scared out of his wits, picked up a reel-box and sent it with the awaiting car. Brezhnev (who was not senile yet) liked the movie and asked why it has not been released. The rest is history.
The timeless appeal of this movie, as any other true work of art, is that you can watch it time after time, never tire of it, and find something new and interesting about it. Every kind of viewer will find something to like about this film: excellent direction, good actor's work, well-developed characters, unusual plot line, and a lot of action. And the best of all: it is based on the true events.
The original intent of the movie was to shoot another action flick about the Red Army fighting anti-soviet bands in the Middle Asia after the Civil War. Another legend has it that when one of the old Red Army soldiers who participated in actual fighting was asked by the script-writer and director about the difficulties of the time, he thought about it for a while and then said that the most difficult question was what to do with all those women coming from harems of bandits who were either killed or in hiding. That created the wonderful story line of the movie.
The quality of image transfer on this DVD is very good. If you watch many foreign language movies, you probably know that the best way is to read the subtitles, not listen to the dubbed version, which is not good anyway.
If you are interested in cinematography, you cannot do without watching this film. If you just would like to watch an interesting movie - get it, you won't regret.

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In this international cult favorite, a Central-Asian action film, the Red Army clashes with counter-revolutionary robber bands. Demobbed soldier Fyodor Sukhov is making his way through the desert to his home village, where the band of brutal Abdulla is raging. Sukhov is charged with escorting the chief's harem, because Abdulla intended to kill his women rather than let them go free. Sukhov"s mate, young soldier Petrukha, dies at the hand of Abdulla, but at a decisive moment, Sukhov gets help from the former customs officer Vereschchagin and a poor peasant.

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The Star / Zvezda (2002) Review

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(More customer reviews)I had seen some Russian war films while on travel in Asia and was impressed with how well done they were, so I took a chance on The Star and was glad I did. The story of a reconnaissance team's mission behind German lines is, for the most part, realistically depicted and soldiers, in particular, will enjoy this film. The degree of accuracy in weapons, equipment, tactics, and movement is very high. The studio really had some depth of resources when it came to period weapons and equipment. No doubt, much of this was captured originals. The tanks - of which there were quiet a few - appeared to be soviet with a variety of detailed visual modifications to make them resemble Tiger's, Panthers, and Mark
IVs. The actors were clearly well coached in their roles by knowledgeable technical advisors. The action occurs in the woods, weeds, swamps, mud, and streams of eastern russia. A good use of location far beyond the studio back lot. The standard compromises for unbelievable daring and heroics, the need to speak loud enough for the audience to hear, and staging action in broad daylight so that there will be something other than shadows for the audience to see all apply, but are dealt with plausibly. Relatively little dialog is needed because the director is up to the job of conveying the story of the mission visually. You can really tell what is happening in the action and pursuit scenes both day and night. Good cinematography and a very good transfer to DVD. There a subtitles, but they are not intrusive. The Russian language adds to the realism and immersion. Yeah, it's violent on the R-rated level and not for the kids. The Russian soldiers are stereotypically heroic patriots. There are no German characters, at least that live long. The Germans are depicted as evil targets to be interrogated and disposed of. Those that are on screen for any time at all are well costumed and acted, but, much as in the Dirty Dozen, they receive little sympathy and are a poor insurance risk. But they are not assumed to fools and prove quiet capable of systematically hunting down team Star. The use of brief narration to replace the standard enemy headquarters scene where the German staff would react to the incursion and order counter measures is a bit hokey due to the odd translation which is Russian accented English and does not sound like a German battle report, but allows the focus on the team, now on the run, to remain unbroken.

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The Second World War in Russia. The year 1944. The "Star" is a radio call sign for a group of war scouts who went on an assignment behind the German front line. Having found the location of German tank concentration, they report to the headquarters, at the cost of their lives, about the impending attack.Intense and dramatic, the film makes one realize who had won in that war, and at what price.The movie's superb directing, stunning cinematography and poignant, sensuous music immerse the viewer in the atmosphere of war, when just one erroneous step may lead to fatal consequences.Based on the story by Emmanuil Kazakevich.

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The Star / Zvezda (2002) Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)I had seen some Russian war films while on travel in Asia and was impressed with how well done they were, so I took a chance on The Star and was glad I did. The story of a reconnaissance team's mission behind German lines is, for the most part, realistically depicted and soldiers, in particular, will enjoy this film. The degree of accuracy in weapons, equipment, tactics, and movement is very high. The studio really had some depth of resources when it came to period weapons and equipment. No doubt, much of this was captured originals. The tanks - of which there were quiet a few - appeared to be soviet with a variety of detailed visual modifications to make them resemble Tiger's, Panthers, and Mark
IVs. The actors were clearly well coached in their roles by knowledgeable technical advisors. The action occurs in the woods, weeds, swamps, mud, and streams of eastern russia. A good use of location far beyond the studio back lot. The standard compromises for unbelievable daring and heroics, the need to speak loud enough for the audience to hear, and staging action in broad daylight so that there will be something other than shadows for the audience to see all apply, but are dealt with plausibly. Relatively little dialog is needed because the director is up to the job of conveying the story of the mission visually. You can really tell what is happening in the action and pursuit scenes both day and night. Good cinematography and a very good transfer to DVD. There a subtitles, but they are not intrusive. The Russian language adds to the realism and immersion. Yeah, it's violent on the R-rated level and not for the kids. The Russian soldiers are stereotypically heroic patriots. There are no German characters, at least that live long. The Germans are depicted as evil targets to be interrogated and disposed of. Those that are on screen for any time at all are well costumed and acted, but, much as in the Dirty Dozen, they receive little sympathy and are a poor insurance risk. But they are not assumed to fools and prove quiet capable of systematically hunting down team Star. The use of brief narration to replace the standard enemy headquarters scene where the German staff would react to the incursion and order counter measures is a bit hokey due to the odd translation which is Russian accented English and does not sound like a German battle report, but allows the focus on the team, now on the run, to remain unbroken.

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LANGUAGE (AUDIO): RUSSIAN (DOLBY DIGITAL 5.1.) SOUNDTRACK ONLY; SUBTITLES: RUSSIAN. War, Russia, 2002, 93 min. A true WWII story about a small scout group with radio sign /The Star/ (Zvezda) which got a task to find place of German tanks concentration. Two previous groups were lost and nobody knew where and how. The third group is completed by scouts from different fronts. /The Star/ goes in both dark of night and obscurity understanding that enemy waits them leaving no chances to return... Director: Nikolai Lebedev; Cast: Igor Petrenko, Artyom Semakin, Aleksei Panin, Aleksei Kravchenko, Anatoli Gushchin, Amadu Mamadakov, Yuri Laguta, Yekaterina Vulichenko, Andrei Yegorov, Oleg Gushchin

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