Clevercell
Very disappointing...
Solidrariol
Am I Missing Something?
Connianatu
How wonderful it is to see this fine actress carry a film and carry it so beautifully.
mraculeated
The biggest problem with this movie is it’s a little better than you think it might be, which somehow makes it worse. As in, it takes itself a bit too seriously, which makes most of the movie feel kind of dull.
bjoleniacz-1
I haven't seen many Russian movies, so I don't have the background of some of the other reviewers. But I found the political propaganda element of this movie tiresome. The Wikipedia article about the Russo-Georgian War of 2008 states that the shelling was started by the Russian-backed, South Ossetian separatists, and that the ethnic cleansing during the war was also done by South Ossetians as opposed to Georgians. As I watched the film, I got tired of seeing Georgian soldiers without faces- wearing black face masks and goggles to remove the human element. All the Russian soldiers had their faces uncovered throughout the movie, and showed all the different emotional shades of their unwavering bravery, hulk-like strength, and a deep compassion for children, puppies, and hot women. I think the take-away from this movie was supposed to be something like "Outnumbered and with the odds stacked against them, the Russians somehow managed to pull out a victory from the Russo-Georgian war, which they were forced to intervene in because of a looming humanitarian crisis and the inhumane brutality of the Georgian military." While this message was entertaining at first, by the end it was just plain irritating. I enjoy subtlety. The more overt the propaganda element got, the more angry I was at Russia by the end of the film, for lying to me and for being a bully with a massive modern military that invades other countries, annexes them, and then lies to everyone involved with such blatant lies that it leaves you utterly bewildered as to what to do about the gross injustice of it all. One of the things about American propaganda films, such as "Lone Survivor," is that it at least ATTEMPTS to tell the truth from both sides of the coin. There is no way America could get away politically with its wars if the movies didn't tell the truth about them to assuage our conscience (c.f. "Green Zone"). Apparently Russia not only wages unjust wars, but its movies about them are just plain lies.I gave this 3-star humanitarian travesty of a film 6 stars for the special effects. The combat scenes are believable and entertaining. Seeing the Russian military in action makes me glad we're not at war with them.
georgi-gfl
I am not here to judge or criticize, nobody paying me for that. I am here just to say that this movie is about a real life. This movie captures in itself more than I could ever expect from a Russian movie. Its about war, its about care, its about love. Nothing is perfect in this world including this movie. The script could be better, the cast could be better, the story could be better, the actor performance could be better, BUT. One...... big...... BUT! The inner fight in a heart of the soldier between responsibilities, duties and care for girl he doesn't know ; the sacrifice of one girl facing the demon of war in name of life ; the love in the eyes of the soldier; This cannon be any better! Please watch it!
CasualView
Frankly: current state of Russian cinema seems fairly low, you have to be real "patriot" to find any jokes in todays' Russian comedies or any fun in action movies (IMHO).The bigger was surprise from "August 8th" - it got my 8/10 just for being able to watch it till closing credits and don't die from boredom. Bravo! I would even suppose that this movie would be suitable for international auditory, at least it's much more entertaining than any direct-to-video Seagal/VanDamme/Lundgren "product".OK, Russian actors and script-writers still need to strive to reach any level of realism in dialogs which are are too long and non-convincing here and there, scene of "orgasm in elevator" bravely stolen from Harry & Sally (well, actually it's tribute, heroine has it on DVD), but mechanical, F/X and battle parts of the movie are almost perfect.Frankly, I cannot even recall any recent movie where realism of the field battle was close enough to August 8th. "Battle Los Angeles" is probably being closest. Director is definitely big fan of hardware, almost 50 consecutive seconds of the movie we can see how a bus is being torn in pieces, including demonstration of all it's mechanical "intestines", really rare episode of this kind. For soldiers CRAWLING (not running) in houses, less than heroic (i.e. real world) deaths on both conflicting sides - for all this my big thanks to director and his military consultants.Last but not least is that you can mark battle scenes as "based on real events" - unfortunately this sign today is often attached to movies with almost no ties to reality. Here, on the contrary, almost all battle episodes of the movie are based on actual events, including "big ambush" on one of convoys, "live shield" by tank without ammo and many others.Watching those episodes is highly recommended even if you get a copy of this movie without dubbing, consider it "Black Hawk Down" in miniature.
Vladimir-14
Of course this movie is a propaganda, but a very good one. That's how propaganda movies should be made! The movie is not about the message that is shouted in your face, but rather about how it makes you feel - at the right time, for the right reason, with the right character. I liked pretty much everything about this movie - the script, the dialogs, character development, action scenes. I've read some concerns about main girl character who's acting did not seem to be convincing early in the movie, but I think it was done on purpose, as a contrast, to show that behind urban glamour still hides Russian Woman that was praised in the world art and literature. Thus dedication of the movie to the mothers. Bottom line is: at last we see some nice action drama coming from Russia that we would not be ashamed of. Highly recommend.
