Change Your Image
hweideman46-382-585516
Reviews
Iron Sky: The Coming Race (2019)
Not a worthy successor to the original.
I enjoyed Iron sky 2012 because of the seamless blending of reality & vfx, as well as the original (Nazis on the moon) concept & decent plot - however I feel the latest entry doesn't hold up to those standards.
Modern day moviegoers expect something more then the usual generic, politically correct fanfare as seen coming from Hollywood 24/7 & it's starting to show. My advice to Timo & his team would be not to fall into the same trap, don't over compensate with CGI due to the lack of a compelling story & plot - because the latter 2 elements, is what makes a memorable film. Good vfx should only be the icing on the cake.
Udo Kier & Julia did their best with the mediocre material at hand but that didn't save it for me as often bad writing does, it's unfortunate considering the potential the franchise had. In summation - keep your movies 'European & organic' because trying to emulate hollywood at every turn is a sure recipe for disaster.
I will recommend this one for a rent only.
Padenie Berlina (1950)
One Sided depiction yet very entertaining WW2 ride
One must accept this film as extremely political because of the time period it was produced(Cold war era)1949.Making fun of the Nazis in motion pictures was a game both sides of the Iron curtain played.In this movie the tactic of depicting them as mentally crazed by using actors that match their historical counterparts in "looks" works pretty well in the make believe category!! Indeed most of the leaders portrayed here are reminiscent of their true life counterparts for example Stalin,Molotov,Goering,Zhukov,Hitler(GEEEE I wish I had Mr V.Savelyev to play me a fuhrer in a more honest depiction because this guy really does have his appearance),the intention of their "look alike ness" being to rub in the victorious Soviet view at the time by making the events and people seem factual.For example,the idea of introducing an Englishman named "Bedstone" organizing deals with Goering is pure Communist fantasy,the idea of this scene being to show us a heartless "Western power" collaborating with the Reich in their common ideological struggle against Bolshevism,not true,just another Russian excuse for opposing the "Capatilist Imperialists".But OK being an Soviet propaganda movie made for Stalins birthday we must not judge it the way we should a modern/honest documentary dealing with ww2!!For those buffs out there who like the authentic war gear of the period you'll be pleased when viewing "The fall" as its crawling with it.Romance is also featured in this epic with big guy Aliosha clearing enemy territory by scaring the Nazis back to Berlin using his PPSH mg while searching for his stolen Natasha,giving the viewer all the more reason to cheer for the Reds no matter how much one might dislike them.An pretty love story that meets an happy ending with the defeat of Nazi Germany and the sudden unexpected visit by Stalin The Great(butcher) next to the Reichstag.All in all its a great movie loaded with nice scenes(some laughable),one that made beautiful use of color and lighting.I had the benefit of English subtitles when I watched it on Youtube so gone are the days when Russian seemed such a complicated language!!!!Great film
Brestskaya krepost (2010)
A true favorite of mine and well worth a watch
The events that took place on the Eastern front were wide and complex but when one steps back from the neatness of usual Soviet or Russian documentaries about the great patriotic war and zooms in on a smaller yet infamous event such as the defence of Brest fortress one is up for a real ride in blood.The film portrays only a small area that suffered as a result of Hitlers aggressive push eastward that shook the world with his sheer comitment of military might.I own about 15 Soviet movies all dealing with ww2 and this has got to be my first choice when voting for the "best".The fighting and battles look realistic almost as if modern movie cameras were transported back in time to capture the situation!!!! The war gear used and computerised all look identical to their historic counterparts(mention should be made of the mocked Panzer 111 and screaming Stukas that appear here and there).Though the excellent hardware will lock ww2 buffs enough to create a trafic jam,the gory atmosphere will test the faint of heart.Using the Russian kid(Alexander Akimov)for telling the story does however bring another dimension for those who need a soft character to identify with.The musical score also contributes greatly to the overall feelings that the film represent,the bit of it in the last minutes of the movie clearly voicing the hopelessness of the resistance made by the brave defenders. The small amount of propaganda blown into some gunfight scenes are minimal but never the less distracting at times because of its "godlike" fighting capabilities given to the Red army who seem to be invincible in hand to hand combat with the Nazis!!! In anycase the Motherland deserves the right to glorify the war it had with the Fascists,she withstood all the evil that the Fuhrer was capable of unleashing and eventually saved the planet from his reign more than any other country can credit itself with.In todays world we must take on an sober view when we recreate events of the past and this epic film delivers that message in my opinion.