There is some praising on I-net and so, here goes my reply with a snarl.
The film is almost forgotten in Russia. No information about it for years. Have noticed the unofficial DVD on the shelves of a near-by store these days (it brought back some memories from my childhood - most of them not connected with the movie itself, though). As a matter of fact, it is fair.
It is not original. It borrows things from other titles (mostly American), I am sure. If you want to taste real solid Russian movies of the highest quality, watch "Viy", "Solaris", "Kin-Dza-Dza", "Mimino", and some others. Those ones live their own life on screen. They deserve attention. As to this one - it is a passer-by.
It was created when tough revolutionary movies began penetrating into Soviet everyday life. "Ninja", "Terminator", "Conan", "Aliens", "Cyborg", "Max", "Commando", "Batman" became the words so familiar and so cool. We were discussing Terminator between the lessons, some of us drew "Alien" images upon their caps, we made pictures of ninja-warriors during the classes, and recited the phrases from the action flicks. Suppose, the Russian directors of that time also wanted to create something tough and so this film appeared. It was shown here in theatres in late 1980s and it did not amaze me (unlike the mentioned "Terminator", "Aliens", "Cyborg", and "Mad Max"). The directors failed, in my humble opinion. They should have looked deep into Russian traditions - that could be really useful. They should have revived the trend of "Viy". Tough movies about Russian heroes with proper use of the fairy-tale presentation style would have been marvellous. Instead, they wound up arranging something that looks like a Conan-clone with a sci-fi touch, all done with a very limited budget.
Yes, human heads are being cut off, naughty spiders are attacking but being eaten by Conan-like men, some witches are thrown in, a positive hero with hastily pumped-up muscles walks about, etc. A simple action 2D video-game would have been more than enough.
One more piece of fault-finding: the actors were out of place here. They all are well-known actors in Russia, usually operating in comedies and melodramas, therefore the whole movie looks like a joke. Unfortunately it is not funny either. Cannot remember a single line from this flick.
But this movie is not offensive and can be easily consumed by the whole family. Nothing remarkably violent.
Anyhow, it is not complete junk and deserves an average mark. Thanks for attention.
The film is almost forgotten in Russia. No information about it for years. Have noticed the unofficial DVD on the shelves of a near-by store these days (it brought back some memories from my childhood - most of them not connected with the movie itself, though). As a matter of fact, it is fair.
It is not original. It borrows things from other titles (mostly American), I am sure. If you want to taste real solid Russian movies of the highest quality, watch "Viy", "Solaris", "Kin-Dza-Dza", "Mimino", and some others. Those ones live their own life on screen. They deserve attention. As to this one - it is a passer-by.
It was created when tough revolutionary movies began penetrating into Soviet everyday life. "Ninja", "Terminator", "Conan", "Aliens", "Cyborg", "Max", "Commando", "Batman" became the words so familiar and so cool. We were discussing Terminator between the lessons, some of us drew "Alien" images upon their caps, we made pictures of ninja-warriors during the classes, and recited the phrases from the action flicks. Suppose, the Russian directors of that time also wanted to create something tough and so this film appeared. It was shown here in theatres in late 1980s and it did not amaze me (unlike the mentioned "Terminator", "Aliens", "Cyborg", and "Mad Max"). The directors failed, in my humble opinion. They should have looked deep into Russian traditions - that could be really useful. They should have revived the trend of "Viy". Tough movies about Russian heroes with proper use of the fairy-tale presentation style would have been marvellous. Instead, they wound up arranging something that looks like a Conan-clone with a sci-fi touch, all done with a very limited budget.
Yes, human heads are being cut off, naughty spiders are attacking but being eaten by Conan-like men, some witches are thrown in, a positive hero with hastily pumped-up muscles walks about, etc. A simple action 2D video-game would have been more than enough.
One more piece of fault-finding: the actors were out of place here. They all are well-known actors in Russia, usually operating in comedies and melodramas, therefore the whole movie looks like a joke. Unfortunately it is not funny either. Cannot remember a single line from this flick.
But this movie is not offensive and can be easily consumed by the whole family. Nothing remarkably violent.
Anyhow, it is not complete junk and deserves an average mark. Thanks for attention.