Incannerax What a waste of my time!!!

PlatinumRead Just so...so bad

KnotStronger This is a must-see and one of the best documentaries - and films - of this year.

Alistair Olson After playing with our expectations, this turns out to be a very different sort of film.

antonialubo Very aweful. Don't waste your time to watch this film.

Teh Pwn Another reviewer here called this movie "nationalist propaganda". One has to understand that Nevzorov is s a cynical man by nature, who has not just seen the war trough the tube but been there himself. He in his own words remembers soldiers trying to hold their guts from falling out with their own hands, the feeling of walking "on a carpet of casings" and last but not least knowing and understanding the mentality and psychology of both sides in the war - Chechen and Russian. Nevzorov is neither friend or enemy of either sides, in his own words. This war "nummed" him to nationalism, civil life etc. This movie can not be called anything else but "demotivational", but nationalistic it's absolutely not. Now to the movie itself: it's a horror show like no other. It is perhaps too gory, but what else can be said of a film that tries to condense a whole war into just over an hour's time. In the movie there are no heroes - everyone alone with their truth, everyone having a price to pay. The first Chechenya campaign was a bloody failure, and that's what this movie tries to portray. No glorious "one squad takes on an army" style American feelgoodism, no fancy happy end, just a meaningless slaughter that is the war that could just as well be called a civil war. The main characters is a team of Spetznaz and chechen doctor turned field commander. The plot is very basic, but based on real events. If it was taken too far or had some "blood icing" put on this cake of misery, perhaps. But the movie stands out, despite that, as a monument of Russian realism - balancing perfectly between that and defeatism.

thesiouxfallskid A terrific documentary drama very well done. The director himself was a TV journalist at the scene at the time of the fighting depicted in the film. I liked the brutalization rather than the family entertainment kind of glamorization so often seen in war film that hold back because of those who would complain of too much violence. The better we face reality, the better we can deal with it. I know of no version with subtitles but this should not keep anyone from seeing it. After reading what I write here you should be able to follow along. NO SPOILERS here. I am only starting it off so it can be understood, and I give away nothing of what happens. The quote at the very beginning is from the 137th Psalm of which the last part goes like this: "O Daughter of Babylon, doomed to destruction, blessed is he who repays you for what you have done to us and he who seizes your infants and dashes them against the rocks." Early January 1995 the Russians have entered Grozny (capital of Chechnya). In the first scenes a military unit is pinned down by unexpected fierce resistance at a hospital complex. They try unsuccessfully to take away their wounded. The camera switches constantly from one side to the other, and usually it is not difficult to tell which is which. The Chechen side includes women snipers (from the Baltics), black mercenaries (speaking in English), fighters in Islamic headdress, and a pony-tailed commandeer. The Russian officer (just lost one eye) seeks help by radio but keeps connecting to the Chechen commandeer using a scanner to listen to Russian communications. Killing, hate, blood, grime. The Russians pin hope on a tank. I have spoiled nothing so far, and even if you do not understand Russian your imagination should carry you along. Much effort went into this film. Ten stars. P.S. I add this note April 2013. English subtitles - good ones as well as one set of horrible ones - do exist but you need to know where to look.

eksellentz Not an easy piece of cinema to swallow, but still a great movie! Being a sort of a documentary-like this movie is not easy to watch. The bloody scenes aren't easy to swallow, they are filmed in a very realistic way.But still - this movie does not hold out anything. It shows the war the way it really is - a very horrible event...Many didn't like this movie. Many have judged this one based on their political believes. But argue or not this one shows what really happened. Without withholding anything at all.It wouldn't be easy to find a copy of this one around these days. But still if you get your hands on a copy of this movie - be sure not to miss it! 10 points out of 10.