Reviews

its a harsh view of the life lead in stalin's russia. The title indicates that a war was on even before Hitler invaded (it takes place in '40 before russia was invaded). 1984 in its true, real, form where people are so penetrated by the dogma around them, they are virtually willing to denounce their children and words like truth and justice are unknown. (one of the girls asks her mother, "what is istina?" which means 'higher truth') the suffering befalling the kids in the movie is tragic and heartfelt. Its excellently done and the acting is superb (in the russian style). There is a reason why it is rated higher than godfather.

the first 5 minutes were intriguing, but once Cruise appeared on the scene, it soon became clear that this was not going to be the chip off the old block.

quick summary of the good points:

John Woo brings his masterful choreography to the screen

not so good points:

-ridiculous (and almost non-existent) plot

-awful action (i won't list every element that was wrong since i'm under a 1000 word limit)

-woeful attempt at some sort of romantic repore between Hunt and Nida.

-pathetic acting (save perhaps A. Hopkins part - which amounted to about 4 minutes)

-horrid cinematograph, probably because Cruise co-produced it.

If you want an action movie, see ANYTHING else, rent a tape, pay-per-view, but do not pay for this waste of time. On the other hand, if you liked Universal Soldier 2, you might enjoy this too -- but the fighting there was definitely better.

I can't explain the 7 Rating of MI2 here, but do not be tricked, this is ONE OF THE WORST MOVIES OF OUR AGE.