GamerTab
That was an excellent one.
Cathardincu
Surprisingly incoherent and boring
Lumsdal
Good , But It Is Overrated By Some
Jakoba
True to its essence, the characters remain on the same line and manage to entertain the viewer, each highlighting their own distinctive qualities or touches.
Kirpianuscus
a film who could not be a real surprise. heroes and fairy tales, the brave Russian, the week enemy, the love story and few beautiful scenes. and the only error remains the ambition to use to many levels of story without any link. the beauty of images are not enough in this case because to many parts are out of sense. and it is not real a surprise because, like in many other Russian films, the purpose is only expose the heroism as the basic virtue. short, an useful film for the connoisseur of the historical events. and nothing more because the mixture of myth and history , in that case, is almost confusing. good intentions and fight scenes. a fresco about the rising of Romanov dynasty and nice characters.
Armand
What is better way to present Time of Troubles ? This movie is an answer. Not the most inspiring, not the appropriate. But a sketch , very ambitious, strange and almost childish. The cause - desire to use all classical toys. Love story and heroic events, religion and magic, fight between good and evil, roots of Russian Modern history, beauty of princess and humble Prince Charming. Problem - this ingredients are very delicate. Jugglers with these are not easy. And to spread , like colors on paper, by a monkey, in a visual epic, is not the right solution. At end, crumbs of interesting images - the monk, nature, unspoken words. Guilty - picture of Saint Patriarch Hermogenes and the stupid mixture between fairy tale and one of great moments of Russians past, the hijacking of an impressive story, with huge artistic potential an transformation into a caricature of 1612 year. Unfortunately !
tarchon
This is basically Kingdom of Heaven transplanted to Russia in 1612,and it's just as bad for all the same reasons. It's overstuffed and relentlessly ridiculous, but it manages a few good historical set pieces. If you like clichéd Russian folk sayings, they toss one in every 5 minutes or so. In fact, if you like clichés of every kind, this is your movie. It's way too long for what it is too, committing the cardinal sin of stupid movies by instilling a lot of yawns as it drags on and on. The DVD version I rented also has a major editing error in the fortress siege, where one of the scenes was cut into the wrong sequence - I guess the plot was so pointless no one noticed?
steven-222
This is a terrifically entertaining action-adventure fantasy from Russia. I say "fantasy" instead of "historical epic" because as the movie proceeds the story and the main character, a serf who rises to superhero, become increasingly larger than life. This boldly heroic storytelling makes 1612 seem very old-fashioned, in the best way, even as the film-making is state of the art, with some amazing action scenes and superbly staged battles. The hero is played by Pyotr Kislov, Russia's answer to Orlando Bloom; the antagonist, a Polish warlord intent on marrying the kidnapped daughter of Boris Godunov and making himself master of Russia, is played by Poland's #1 leading man, Michal Zebrowski, who has headlined some impressive action films himself, such as With Fire and Sword. The initial set-up is a bit wordy, but once the action starts it just gets better and better. Great fun (though be prepared for some startling battle gore).