Night Swallows (2013) User Reviews

Review for first Episode

[gordonl56 · 7/10 · 28 October 2015]

Notchnye Lastotchki aka Night Swallows 2013

This Russian series is about a group of Soviet women pilots who flew night harassment flights against the German Army during World War Two. This is episode one of the 8 episode series.

During WW2, the Soviet Air force used female pilots to man obsolete PO-2 biplane trainers. These aircraft were first produced in 1928 and could only carry about 600 pounds of light bombs. They flew low level night time missions that were effective at depriving German troops of sleep etc. The German called the pilots "Night Witches". The Germans soon had their own version of these night harassment squadrons.

In this episode, we are introduced to the pilots of the Soviet squadron. There is all the usual Soviet types here, the brave commander, the disgraced officer, the understanding man in charge of the women and of course the swine of a NKVD officer.

The women carry out several pinpoint bombing missions for the Soviet intelligence service. These missions are of course spot on and the Germans are really put out. The story as a whole is rather far-fetched, but the cgi effects and camera work is quite good. The Germans are all shown are mindless buffoons, making you wonder how they ever managed to advance into the USSR at all.

Far Fetched and Disappointing

[chrissso · 7/10 · 27 February 2017]

I'm a big fan of Star Media's WW2 TV mini-series … especially the remake of classic The Dawns Here Are Quiet … but this one left something to be desired.

Yes the characteristic Star Media authenticity was there … yes the series looked great … yes the exceptional CGI was used … yes the cleaver sound editing was deployed … and yes the casting was as exceptional as ever (talk about good looking men and women) … but the series simply became far-fetched.

Far-fetched … that's not typical of Star Media's WW2 mini-series (for example Istrebiteli or Tri dnya leytenanta Kravtsova) and that's disappointing. The reason I say disappointing is that this is an excellent idea for a mini-series … Russia's heroic Night Witches. That's a story that doesn't need far-fetched embellishment (pilots with night vision goggles … seriously???). That is a story that can hold its own.

Despite my disappointment … despite the fact the series lost most of its historical context … it was still an entertaining watch that provides insight into the Russian WW2 experience. Too bad they had to dummy it down.

POST: Let's Thank IMDb for disabling the message boards ... way to treat your dedicated customers who want to share their passion for films and history! Hopefully it proves to be a bad business decision and some well-paid Execs learn about unemployment!!!

Worth the historical value

[cdejongh-93103 · 6/10 · 3 June 2020]

While not a technically great film, The Night Swallows is worth watching if you are at all interested in military aviation and female aviation history. The film gives a basic insight into a brave group of female pilots, referred to as the Night Witches by the German military, who flew outdated aircraft on night harassment missions. A little frustrating was that the entire film is be based on a relatively short period during a single winter. No matter, it remains worth watching as it appears to be the only film or series available on the Night Witches.

Night Swallows

[iljavenissov · 4 February 2019]

"Night Witches" was a World War II German nickname for the female military aviators of the 588th Night Bomber Regiment, known later as the 46th "Taman" Guards Night Bomber Aviation Regiment, of the Soviet Air Forces. Though women were initially barred from combat, Soviet Premier Joseph Stalin issued an order on October 8, 1941 to deploy three women's air force units, including the 588th regiment. The regiment, formed by Major Marina Raskova and led by Major Yevdokiya Bershanskaya, was made up primarily of female volunteers in their late teens and early twenties. In this series, we try to see the war and the dangerous missions through the eyes of these women, who are forced to fight the war they hate. A very strong cast helps this series to become a classic.

Uncle Joe's Flying Circus

[richardchatten · 6/10 · 18 September 2018]

Known to the Germans by the less affectionate name 'Night Witches', the all-girl wartime women's flying unit the 46th Guards Night Bomber Aviation Regiment had already been the subject of a feature film, 'Night Witches in the Sky' (1981), before this glamorous hybrid of soap opera and war movie.

The missions are led every week by snub-nosed Tatyana Arntgolts as Zhenya Zvonareva, and there is the usual restlessness to get stuck into the enemy and reprimands from their commanders for not always going by the rule book. Apart from Elizaveta Nilova as Galya Shevchenko we see little of the rest of the squadron, and on the rare occasions the unit suffers casualties their fate is signalled in advance in time honoured 'Star Trek' fashion by introducing new flyers to the latest sortie who don't return.

As the series progresses there is increasing competing emphasis on dashing Alexander Makeev's (Denis Nikiforov) guerillas and his burgeoning romance with Zhenya, and the action comes increasingly to take place on the ground, as when they make short work in Episode Six of Germany's answer to The Dirty Dozen disguised in Russian uniforms.

Really interesting story

[lazygafiltafish · 7/10 · 26 February 2021]

I didn't know much about the "Night Witches". I was just looking up WWII stuff on Amazon to watch ad saw this remembering I heard something about this topic.

The acting was good with believable performances. The storylines too didn't drag, and there were definitely red herrings in it (don't want to spoil this).

As far as the cons, I have a few but they aren't really huge cons. There are voiceovers in Russian as the Germans are speaking in German. It was a bit distracting and annoying especially since I was reading subtitles anyway. I also don't know if it was supposed to be funny, but I kept laughing every time a German would say something like "Those DA** witches!". "Get me 1 witch!", and really anything about the witches lol. Additionally some storylines were a bit difficult to follow. That may be due to things getting lost in translation. I also wish that would have given the supporting actresses more of a storyline as the focus was really just on the 2 main actresses. Lastly, the ending just ended. That may be the American in me though who likes closure. I've noticed with non American movies that they just pick a time to end it and it's not all put together nicely. I was just left with what is going to happen to so and so.

Anyway I enjoyed it and binged watched it all in 1 day!

Highly watchable dramatization of Russian women combatants

[profsmartin · 9/10 · 16 January 2021]

This is a very good drama series that draws you in with action and relationship dynamics. The script does credit to the Russian production and the cast acted convincingly so that you get immersed in the goings on. I had no trouble seeing past what are, at times, rather simple graphics of the aircraft and quickly accepted that as the style of the piece, while the overall drama was really absorbing. They could easily have spent millions more without any improvement in the real quality of the thing. The drama is a condensation of many separate, real events. It feels odd to be exposed to such fine actors as Elizaveta Nilova and Tatyana Arntgolts who have no other US/European exposure. It leaves you wanting more of the stars and another series. OK, its not John Wick or Private Ryan for violence - it brings in humour and romance. It isn't going to be every war film fan's cup of tea, but if you want something cerebral, based on an incredible piece of history, this will do fine.

Enjoyable series

[harden_hopper · 8/10 · 22 June 2019]

Interesting and enjoyable. War series are always difficult to portray in scale, technically, and in context; however, I appreciated the telling of the experiences and perspective of these unique pilots.

Just Not Believable

[cjskama-956-515706 · 3/10 · 3 October 2020]

I've seen many post-Soviet series. From a technical point of view, Night Swallows was quite good: excellent cast, mostly believable characters, authentic equipment, good sound and photography, etc. But as the series went on, the plots just became more and more unbelievable. When they got to their version of "The Dirty Dozen" I had enough and stopped watching. I wish they had stuck to the basic story of the female pilots.

Night Swallows

[drvr-55365 · 10/10 · 16 April 2022]

Night Swallows, an excellent true story. Very well done. I hope they continue with the series. Very riveting. Shows compassion in the midst of War. Glad to have watched this.

Band of sisters

[GianfrancoSpada · 10/10 · 22 August 2023]

Excellent television series of very high technical and narrative quality. All the characters are highly believable, and the setting is very well recreated. It's a great approach to the mythical figures of these female Russian aviators, specialized in nighttime bombing during the sadly notorious WW2 Russian campaign.

Despite being a TV production, using relative technical and financial resources, the result is of extremely high cinematic quality, on par with the best multimillion-dollar Hollywood productions. This series, similar to the American "Band of Brothers" but with a much lower budget, faithfully brings to life the wartime atmosphere of a group of soldiers, this time women, and their human experiences in a context as tremendous as war. For those who want to delve deeper into the subject, I recommend watching the film "V nebe 'Nochnye vedmy'" from 1981, which is about the same group of women aviators.