WasAnnon Slow pace in the most part of the movie.

Matialth Good concept, poorly executed.

Juana what a terribly boring film. I'm sorry but this is absolutely not deserving of best picture and will be forgotten quickly. Entertaining and engaging cinema? No. Nothing performances with flat faces and mistaking silence for subtlety.

Kayden This is a dark and sometimes deeply uncomfortable drama

brechtjustin This should be rated higher than a 7 on imdb. It captures so many emotions of perseverance, religion, love, family, life and death. It will challenge you to ask yourself when first moral and ethical principals should be bent depending on a social circumstance. Great movie and one Zwicks best. One of the more under rated movies in the last decade for sure. No country for old Men won best picture oscar in 2008. Defiance was way better.

denis888 It seemed to be an excellent idea to make a WWII movie, set in Belarus in 1941-1945, showing the (in)famous Belski Brothers, who were Jews making their partisan camp and fighting against the oppressors. The problems stated immediately when I saw the casting. Don't get me wrong, Liev Screiber is a great choice, but Daniel Craig was clearly wrong. He is again a James Bond character, cool and defiant (Pun intended), but he lacks depth and is not convincing as a Jew. The rest of the casting is rather bland and bleak, so you will hardly remember anybody there. The second problem is the historic accuracy. I will not dwell onto details, but in reality that was not so simple as in the movie, as The Belskis fought not just Germans. The reality was much more convoluted, complicated and mixed. The third and really puzzling aspect is - why on earth do they speak a very weird mixture of typically simplified and wronged English and suddenly in Russia. I am Russian, and I was almost jumping on my chair hearing these sudden jumps from broken English to quite clean Russian. Liev speaks Russian better, by the way. Then the battle scenes - well, this shaky camera, these typical explosions, these bullets fatty zing-zanging onto soil - all of that is so ...wel.. Hollywood. The whole battle thing here is so hasty, kinky and wry that it leaves a feeling of utter disbelief. The overall impression - no, this is not your ultimate war movie. It leaves you cold and never lets the feeling of artificial setting go away. My rating - 2.

alvarius777 Before I give my criticism, here are the good things: 1) costumes are good. so are all the props. 2) camera work is good 3) as a generic movie, it's not bad Now to the things that to me, make this movie a piece of crap. ABOUT 80% OF THE STORY ARE LIES! And while I don't mind Hollywood fiction, this is going beyond that. The Bielski brothers in the movie are given credit for AT LEAST twice as much as they actually did. AND the crimes they committed are never mentioned. To me, as a Pole, this is unacceptable. Germans are shown in WW II movies as the bad guys.. killing, abusing, torturing etc. Yet in this case, the "heroes" weren't that much different. The bielski brothers sided with soviets and abused and persecuted the Polish people. They helped the soviet military and police hunt down, capture and execute almost 200 of polish resistance fighters from the A.K. (Armia Krajowa - National Army) who fought for free, independent Poland against BOTH the soviets and Germans. They took part in AT LEAST 2 documented civilian purges, and raided the victim's belongings and homes afterwards. Yes, they did help other Jews. But they did it by committing war crimes and numerous other atrocities on the Polish civilians and the underground freedom fighters who only wanted their nation free and unbound by foreign occupants. In that aspect this movie is AN ABSOLUTE LIE, spreading false information and made up facts, romanticizing criminals and abusing the memory of the people who died by their hand and as a result of their actions.

jb_campo During WW2, the Bielski family led a group of Russian Jews into the woods in an effort to save as many people as possible. Daniel Craig is excellent as the leader Tuvia, who is maybe not smart, but is street wise and tough. His brother Zus, played by Liv Schreiber, is bigger, tougher, but more of a joker. He's also more of a pure fighter. There are 2 other Bielski younger sons as well.The movie constantly keeps you guessing what will happen next - will the Germans find them. If they find them, what happens. How can so many people survive with no food or shelter. The theme of the movie is to show you that some Jews fought back and did not passively go to their deaths. You can feel the anger of how many deaths they had to deal with when they get their hands on Germans. There is a love interest or two, but those seem to play minor roles. It's mostly all about survival, and brother vs brother, and how the whole Bielski family handles the issues. You should check out the special features interviews with relatives of the real people. Makes you realize that perhaps your troubles pale in comparison to what the survivors had to endure.Defiance is well acted, captivating, and well choreographed. Don't miss this terrific movie. Enjoy.