Reviews

This one works as a "zombie" disaster survival movie for seasons one and two. For season three, it becomes a scifi thriller that will have you watching the episodes back to back. Excellent acting all around, and a strong script, gives this series a vivid reality that Walking Dead never achieved. In third season, the character playing the mercenary should get an award for projecting a monstrous character who makes Hannibal Lector look like a teddy bear by comparison.

I give this show 9 out of 10 because of the depth of the script. The characters interact, pair up, part, and struggle to cope with the horror around them. Sure, the budget for the show wasn't very good, and it shows with the endless reuse of the same stock shots, but the writers and the director made the very best with what they had.

Interesting moral messages in this one as well. The refusal of the Murania Queen, Nadya, to abort, or otherwise permit her developing baby to be harmed, certainly sends the message that the developing baby is not just " a collection of cells". Real bravery on display here as well: the IT guy, Sasha, shows as much bravery in the face of horror as the alpha male/quasi "Rambo", Valera. The female characters are all strong in their own way in this one but are still women who are different than the males in the series; compare to the remake of Battlestar Galactica with the Starbuck character .

* The last few episodes of season three have graphic scenes of torture so be prepared with an empty stomach as needed*. Good news is that the torturer gets his in the end.

Heart wrenching documentary, made with input from both Croatia and Serbia. Chronicles the fall into anarchy, then war, followed by the merciless siege, of this Yugoslavian city touted as a triumph of multiculturalism before the war. Even handed, as far as assigning blame for the battle and the (moderate) atrocities. All sides have their say. People suffer from all ethnic groups because of politicians far from the scene and from hate-filled bigots of other ethnicities. The ending is understated, but appalling; worth two tissues for anyone.

Four Millennial buddies make money scavenging battlefields for medals and other collectibles. They start out superficial and materialistic. They end up maturing a decade or so in the course of a few days spent in the middle of the Patriotic War in 1942.

Only flaw in this fine film, IMHO, is that the director does not show the group giving the cigarette case to the old woman whom they wronged at the start of the adventure.

This is mainly an intense war film with some scifi trappings. The four friends rapidly learn that loyalty, patriotism and courage count for more than the latest game or nihilistic hanging out. Very good acting all around though the individual roles are from Central Casting: the ultranationalist, the nerd, the puer aeternus, the potential-to-be-a-leader, the brave female.

SPOILER FOLLOWS The action proper begins when the group is approached by an old woman who asks them to find out what happened to her son who was MIA in 1942. The group laughs at her and shines her on-why, oh why, don't we teach our kids to never ever wrong and old woman whom they meet in the wild? Yep, she sends them back to 1942 on the eve of an offensive. Some temporal paradox here but the director crafts such a fine film that these are easily forgotten.