The Star Reviews

The Star

An Authenic Russian war film spoken in Russian by Russians (and German)with English subtitles, not an American accent in sight! One small correction to Tescos description where they say 'the Russian command defending Poland from Hitler's advancing forces' It should be noted that the Russians never defended Poland from Hitlers advancing forces , quite the opposite in fact. They were allies with the Nazis when Poland was invaded and then invaded Poland themselves as they drove the Nazis back, much to the distress of the Polish people.

Obscure gem? quite possibly.

Follows mission of Russian scouts behind enemy lines. Not the greatest WW2 movie but if you are into the genre its definately worth a look and quite refreshing if you're bored with the whole 'yank heros sweeping through europe to vistory' stance that hollywood never seems to tire of.

Worth Watching!

An excellent Russian film, as good as any war films to come out of Hollywood. A band of Russian soldiers enter into German lines in 1944. They want to get bearings of how many German units are in the area, they all know it may result in certain death to enter into German territory.

It is a well acted and beautifully photographed film and certainly worth watching. It seems that European and international depictions of war are growing in volume, Germany's Downfall,France's Days of Glory and Russia's 9th Company are all brilliant war films, and all definitely must see films if you are a fan of war films.

Customer Review

This film is made with love. You can feel it in every scene. It is sentimental like the Russian people. The battles are awesome. The tension is excrutiating. You care about the characters. Everyman's death is portrayed quite uniquely. It is the first truly accessible Russian war film for western audiences. The film has moments of almost painful beauty and sadness. I liked it alot.

Russian WWII Action

Powerful yet simple story of a scout unit's efforts to get information of a German attack back to their headquarters.

Close encounters with German troops and thought provoking scenes including a particularly strong vignette following the capture of a German soldier.

Well worth watching.

Customer Review

An unashamedly proud film about Soviet forces in World War 2 and their forward scouts. The film uses many of the old cliches of war films but does so in a charming way, with plenty of tension as the patrol starts to take losses and finds itself with a very important mission. One identifies entirely with the patrol during the film and its final denouement leaves one in no doubt as to what are the director's feelings.

The patrol contains the usual mixture of Soviet nationalities and types (much as any American film must have a kid from the Bronx and one from the South). The Germans are shadowy figures seen only at close hand when they are captured or killed (indeed captured and killed). This is not a sentimental film about war, thought it is about the bonds of the patrol. There is even an effectively managed love interest back at base.

The final scene with the Soviet unit marching by while the credits explain how long it took to get the contribution of the scouts recognised is as proud as any episode of the excellent Band of Brothers. Saving Private Ivan, as it were.

As always with Russian films the Russian/Ukrainian countryside is a character in itself with its woods and swamps all lovingly shot.

Customer Review

I'm quite disappointed with this movie. You can usually count of Russian and German movies to be more accurate and blunt about war than mainstream American ones. I find them more tolerable because they dont tend to be romanticesd where the good guys always win and have wonderful wives or girlfriends suffering while they are away.

Unforunately, 'The Star' fails to realise that people who want a decent movie about the realities of war, especially the terrible ones that brought out so much courage in people don't need to see this.

We have Katya, a girl who 3secs after seeing this guy decides she's in love and he has much the same reaction. He also happens to be in charge of a team that is about to be sent behind German lines to gather intelligence. Katya happens to be a communication operator and is forever listening to the radio for his transmissions and gets all love sick about it.. sending him hugs etc... *eye rolling*

The team he leads is a small one of men with various specialised skills who only come together for this mission and have never met before. I did find their mission fairly interesting as it becomes them against thousands of Germans when it becomes known that the lines have been breached. Even more so since they manage to do what they are sent for and are successfully gathering info and passing it... Makes for an interesting cat and mouse chase... just not brilliant.

Very Patriotic Film.

Very good film about a Russian scout platoon that go behind the lines in WW2.

This film is made by the Russians so its a very one sided communist glory view of the war, but that said it was very watchable with some good cinematography but beware if you hate having to read subtitles do not rent this film.

Overall a good look at WW2 through the eyes of the Russians. If your a real war film fan then I recommend you watch this.

enjoyable

I really enjoyed this film and it was good

[Highly rated reviewer]

Disappointing

Anyone that would say this movie is realistic or gritty has a tenous grip on reality. This is a movie made with understandable pride in the Soviet armed forces, so much so that I think its to the detriment of the film. Star is more of a propoganda piece than a serious study of war. All the Soviet soldiers are charming and good-natured and the movie glosses over the purges and brutal discipline inflicted on them. I think this is a shame as the Soviet soldier put up with horrific conditions but by not showing how harsh the realities of the time are you take away from there very real and incredible achievements.

The movie also plays fast and lose with your suspension of belief. Having them stand in plain sight in broad daylight as extras walk past pretending not to see them does not make it look like they are experts at camoflage it just looks daft. Lastly the score (something I never normally notice) is a jarring mess. This is a shame as I feel in here somewhere is a good movie trying to get out.