So, the second part of the story about domestic action heroes and I think she won't be the last. I consider it necessary to make a remark: if you talk in detail about every domestic actor who once kicked someone on the screen, then I’m afraid I’ll have to write until the end of time. So for myself, I have identified several important criteria for inclusion in the list. To put it bluntly, we have very, very few “action actors” as such, so we have to approach the selection carefully.
The first criterion is knowledge of martial arts or simply good physical fitness. Based on this, it is immediately dismissed, for example Sergey Selin, who in movies and TV series fights and shoots not just a lot, but a LOT, but at the same time is completely unconvincing in the role of a tough guy.
The second criterion is that action roles must be noticeable and in significant quantities, so I do not include in the list some stuntmen like the respected Yuri Sysoeva, who has very few major roles, and general actors a la Dmitry Pevtsov or Alexey Serebryakov, who, although they shone in the genre, however, as a percentage of their filmography, the number of their combat performances was not so large. There will be some exceptions, like with Karachentsov. Go.
Sergey Vorobiev
What’s interesting is that there are several stuntmen with that first and last name, but I’m talking about the dude who starred in the series "Call sign "Flock" (2013-2014). I like Sergei - he is not the most outstanding actor, to put it mildly, but he is characterful: he always plays almost the same role of a collected, phlegmatic, but very tough security officer. "Flock" could be our answer to the British "Counter attack" (2010-2020), if not for the conspicuous low budget. There is a monstrous amount of action in the film, but almost all the shooting is done, and very poorly. There are also fights, also in significant quantities, but they are extremely spoiled by editing - a real scourge of domestic action films.
My friend uranium interviewed the screenwriter and performer of one of the main roles of this series Gennady Kazachkova, where the topic of shit installation was also touched upon. To the reasonable question “why do this?” Gennady couldn’t find anything better to say other than “why do you think that no one likes editing a la “salad cutting”?” Gennady! If you're reading this, you don't like it, damn it! This doesn’t even lend itself to pseudo-realism, and if a person is a fan of high-quality action scenes, then take my word for it, he wants to see every movement and savor it. Okay there Matt Damon someone who is not even a fighter - all his “outstanding” technique can be hidden by shaking and cutting in the style of “a reel of film was dropped into a mixer” (yes, I know that they shoot digitally, but that’s the impression), but you - everyone there knows how to fight, why the hell should they actually do that? Alas, the question is unanswered. Anyway.
Vorobiev also has a very decent mini-series "Druzhina" (2015), with almost the same cast as in "Flock" plus colorful Pavel Badyrov and a few more comrades. Here it is (the series), no fools, I liked it: it’s such a non-sci-fi, not entirely realistic quasi-historical project with an emphasis on adventure and delicious hacking. Very cheerful action, Slavic flavor, plus in one of the episodes there is cosplay of the third film about Mad Max, where Mel Gibson fought in a cage with a huge big guy nicknamed Blaster.
Vorobyov also had a prominent role in the Liteiny series, where he invariably wrote yoko-geri and other geri in virtually every episode where his character appeared. But the series was from NTV, here you just have to shrug your shoulders - the quality matches. There were other projects where Sergei demonstrated hand-to-hand combat skills, but, as a rule, it’s the same NTV, and I won’t mention them.
Boris Galkin
Here is another actor who, like Nikolay Karachentsov included in the list insofar as. There was an idea to put either him or his late son Vladislav on the list - I settled on Boris, since this comrade immortalized himself with his role in the film "In the area of special attention" (1977) - a real anthem of the Airborne Forces, which left a noticeable mark on the history of Russian cinema. I don’t remember how many times the recruitment into this branch of the military increased after the release of the film, but the figures are exorbitant, not one or two, but tens of times - this is about the impact of cinema on the minds of the masses.
There was an interesting situation with this film. I had the opportunity to talk with a very titled, but elderly martial arts master, a master without fools. Objectively, he is an MC three times (just don’t joke about Sergei Badyuk), plus he has students who are regional champions in kudo and so on. Well, being a film buff, I, of course, could not help but ask this citizen about action films. The first, of course, was the question about Bruce Lee, to which, smiling, Uncle Seryozha replied that Bruce is his idol (and the same nunchuck lover). But then things got more interesting. Since I am a rare noob in martial arts, it is not at all obvious to me how correctly this or that blow is delivered. But “experienced users” can see this very well. So when we started talking about fights in movies, I didn’t miss the opportunity to ask about "In the area of special attention".
So, the person rummaging around in the BI immediately remembered the showdown between the ensign and the bandits in the hut. Tsimes is that he didn’t fight there Mihai Volontir, and his understudy - Tadeush Kasyanov. In principle, it is obvious that this is the top fight in the film, but only another professional can understand that a professional is hitting. I was extremely happy, I remember. So, Boris Galkin in the film he also fights, well... gives out very (VERY!) clumsy kicks and blows, well, like army hand-to-hand combat. He looks much below average, but his hero, the flyer Tarasov, is an extremely bright and charismatic character in his own right. In general, the film is a real diamond, despite its simplicity and simplicity. If only all propaganda films were like this. Boris Galkin, unfortunately, turned out to be not the most discerning person, and perhaps simply the owner of the “philosophy of Michael Madsen”, so he acted (after the collapse of the USSR) in general wherever he was offered, and most often they offered low-quality television films and series on the channel NTV. But with a huge number of fights. The series of films "Sump"..., that is, ugh - "Retiree" (2009), for example, where the first part practically copies "Hostage" (2005) with Liam Neeson, only twenty times worse. There Boris Sergeevich stuffed so many faces that in some places it was already Chuck Norris hiccups. This slag seems to have 5 parts and another one is about to come out, although Polkan Dedov (Galkin’s hero) seems to have been trashed in the last one (sorry, I didn’t look - I had enough of the first three).
There was also a "masterpiece" "Male Talisman" (1995) - a film with a not very trivial idea about Russians stuck in Tajikistan, where there is a civil war and only eagles in the person of the heroes Galkin and Gostyukhin can evacuate them from there. Could be "Argo" (1998) with action, but it turned out to be such an unbearable slag crush that you have to make an effort to get through it to the end - it’s terribly boring, poorly filmed, and most importantly, the action is crazy: 50 shots, one fight, several blown up armored personnel carriers (the best scene in this piece of "masterpiece"). But there is a shovelful of patriotic pathos. I have nothing against it, but this is clearly too much.
Despite all the “claims” (although what claims could I have for such a distinguished artist), Boris Galkin is a cool Soviet and Russian actor. And he knows how to fight - the actor was engaged in wrestling for a very long time, plus he boxed a little, but what really surprised me was that he knows how to throw AXES. This skill Boris Sergeevich learned after watching "Vikings" (1958) with Kirk Douglas. There is, by the way, in Soviet dubbing - an excellent film, even Sylvester Stallone praised him.
Evgeny Sidikhin
A lanky performer of the roles of various cool cupcakes, often military or representatives of the police/special services, in a word - “a man in uniform.” To be honest, I never liked him and I put him on this list not so much for any merits, but because. Sidikhin is a basic wrestler, and in films, as a rule, he uses simple judo/jiu-jitsu with limited striking techniques. It looks something like this: a punch, putting the opponent’s hand behind his back and putting him face-first into the ground - this is probably 90% of his fighting game episodes in his career. Apparently, the fact is that he stars almost exclusively in inexpensive TV series, where they don’t bother with choreographing fights.
There were also interesting exceptions, for example the film "Beyond the Last Line" (1991) where Evgeny Sidikhin He played a mega-boxer and very actively distributed cabbage soup to everyone. A good film, although it wasn’t made without some “fig in your pocket” from the screenwriter Eduard Volodarsky. We also cannot help but recall the rather famous mini-series "Russian transit" (1994), where Evgeny plays a karateka. To be honest, he plays so-so. At one time I even had a chance to read the book on which this series was based. In truth, it was the most ordinary criminal waste paper with which stores were littered in the 90s, but it had one rather significant plus - this is the gusto and aspiration with which karate was described there. It is clear that the author dearly loves this martial art. And this love for karate was transferred to the series, and it is considered not just as some kind of ordinary scuffle, but as a path to physical and spiritual self-improvement. Here we count it as a plus, but the rest... is not so rosy.
Firstly, it is clearly visible that Sidikhin has never been a karateka and the fight scenes with him look rather clumsy. Perhaps understanding this, the creators brought a real karateka to the project Vladimir Illarionov, who plays the semi-biographical role of Vladimir Larin. Secondly, even Illarionov’s “professional” karate does not save the situation, because the problem is that the authors of the series seriously overdid it with slow-mo, which is why all the fighting scenes look not spectacular, but somehow viscous, viscous and heavy and It's not a particularly dynamic series. Alas, not very much.
I would also like to note the Eastern "Wolf blood" (1995), where Sidikhin has the main role of the red commander Rodion Dobrykh. There are no fights in the film, only shootouts, which can hardly be called good, but the film has several significant advantages. Firstly, a very cool atmosphere of the “Wild East” with majestic and somewhat gloomy Siberian nature. Secondly, interestingly written and well-played characters, who, moreover, are not very clearly divided into sinlessly good and satanically bad. The main commander, Ataman Erofey Serkov, played by the charismatic Alexander Kazakov. Kazakov, interestingly, played (also a villain, but of a different type - a werewolf in uniform) in another film with Sidikhin - already mentioned "Beyond the last line", where he yelled at a character Igor Talkov, calling him "goat face". I don’t know why, but this moment made me laugh very much.
Vladimir Turchinsky
Well, who doesn’t remember the famous Igor "Dynamite" Turchinsokgo? The death of this actor, athlete and TV presenter, I remember, not only amazed me, but even shocked me. It's no joke, the man who was a walking advertisement for a healthy lifestyle and strength sports died in the prime of his life. By the way, I still don’t understand why he died. Of course, I feel sorry for Vladimir. Despite the fact that Dynamite was better known as a representative of weightlifting, he was also a very competent wrestler: he participated in the Greco-Roman wrestling championships and is a master of sports in sambo. Getting a master is still not a shame, they don’t just give it to you, it’s not some kind of “honorary seventh dan in taekwondo” Boris Yeltsin, who should have been awarded the 10th dan in Literball as soon as possible - honestly deserved. Also Vladimir Evgenievich practiced boxing and hand-to-hand combat. Considering his extraordinary strength and physical condition, it seems to me that of all the Russian action actors I mentioned, Dynamite is the coolest. Was...
Alas, Turchinsky’s film and television career began in the 2000s, and even if little good can be said about modern cinema and television in his native country, then everything was even sadder. Vladimir demonstrated his hand-to-hand skills in projects such as the TV series "Cobra: Anti-Terror" (2003) - a rare horror even for those years, in which Vladimir, moreover, suffered due to the “talented” staging and coordination of fights. Turchinsky was hit in the face with full force several times, he even lost some of his teeth; "Special forces in Russian" (2002-2004) in two parts (also a joke, but a little smaller, because they tried to dilute it with some average humor); comedy series "Soldiers" (2004) (as much as the FIFTEENTH season!) - in it, by the way, the character of Dynamite, Ensign Borovoy, is the main and almost the only advantage of this creation. In contrast to the other two “ensigns” of this series - the pathologically stingy and lazy clown Shmatko and the other (also stingy, also lazy and also a clown) Danilyuk. Please note that both have Ukrainian surnames - is this trolling or what? Borovoy is trying to teach soldiers something useful, and does not drink vodka instead of performing military service and does not steal gasoline from the fuel and lubricants warehouse.
Vladimir also fights in the mini-series "The Motherland is Waiting" (2003) and the already mentioned film "Invincible" (2008). And I can call them successful. Filmed both projects Oleg Pogodin, who, although he tarnished his reputation with some completely deranged clone "Die Hard" (1982) entitled "Syrian Sonata" (2022), but is still one of the most respected contemporary Russian directors by me. Perhaps in my personal top he is number two after Alexey Balabanov. The advantages of these projects are that Pogodin (who, by the way, has a very serious understanding of cinema) clearly understood that it was impossible to make a genre film filled with standard cliches in all seriousness and played them comedically. In fact, both of Oleg’s creations are an “affectionate parody” of spy action films. Precisely “affectionate” - with love for the genre, but not slipping into the grotesque and absurd. "Catfight" in the final "The Motherland is Waiting" In general, in my humble opinion, it is one of the best hand-to-hand fights in the history of our television series. They also let Vladimir fight, although the fights with his participation, unfortunately, were not very long.
There was also a rather stupid, but I personally liked, action comedy "Anti-dope" (2007), where, together with Turchinsky, he desperately made faces and overacted Dmitry Dyuzhev. There, Dynamite also gave away lyuli, but I cannot recommend this film to everyone, because unlike Pogodin’s more subtle comedic films, "Anti-dope" It's pretty stupid, and it looks pretty cheap. By the way, myself Vladimir Evgenievich I was quite skeptical about my role as an action hero, assuming that a “smaller” (compared to Dynamite, this is almost anyone) actor would look more cinematic in the frame and his fight scenes would be more spectacular. If we make comparisons, then Turchinsky reminds me most of the South Korean actor Ma Dong-seok: also huge, but with a calm phlegmatic temperament, who doesn’t get into hyper-emotional acting in the “biting on props” style. TO
Unfortunately, if Dong-seok got his finest hour and starred in quite high-quality and successful films, often in leading roles, then Dynamite, alas, was not so lucky. Whether he could become a real action star is anyone's guess. In 2009, death put an end to the history of such an extraordinary personality.
Oleg MapintasBangis Chernenko
Especially for fight-films.info
There was a version that Dynamite overdid it with steroids and his heart could not stand it. This is not uncommon among security forces. A 40-year-old friend of mine died right in the gym during training.
There really was a version, but it was never proven