Today I will present for review three Russian films from perestroika, united by one person - a writer, a military journalist and a director Viktor Dotsenko, one of the first who in the post-Soviet space tried to bring a classic action film to the screens, making not just our answer to Hollywood, but also advertising the Armed Forces. Let's see if he succeeded...
In general, first of all, Viktor Dotsenko is known for his books about a former special forces soldier"Mad", the first of which became bestsellers and sold in large quantities: in them, "Mad" fights organized crime, using not only the skills of hand-to-hand combat, marksmanship and knife handling, but also tactical tricks. I read one of the books a long time ago, and I will try If possible, re-read the series about “Mad” as soon as possible. Later, adventure novels about former special forces soldiers from other authors filled store shelves, for example, the series “Piranha”, “Combat”, “Blind” and so on, where the heroes confronted the mafia, gopots, and former colleagues. and maniacs. The books contained cruel, detailed descriptions of fights, murders, violence, and so on, which “took” the reader.
Of course, it would have been a sin not to film this.
Called the Beast (1990)
Dotsenko's first film, in this case as a screenwriter - the director is a famous action filmmaker Alexander Muratov, about two films of which I already told you. The cast is impressive: in addition to the then not yet popular Dmitry Pevtsov starring: Boris Shcherbakov, Armen Dzhigarkhanyan, Yuri Nazarov, Lev Prygunov, Igor Yasulovich, Yevgeny Evstigneev and many others.
According to the plot, the main character Savely Govorkov travels along a convoy to the zone, where, trying to survive, he remembers what happened to him after returning from the army (where he fought in Afghanistan), when, succumbing to the persuasion of his former fellow soldier Varlamov (Vladimir Anikin), he gets a job to work as a bodyguard for Larisa (Tatyana Skorokhodova), the mistress of shady businessman Alik (Boris Shcherbakov), who launders mafia money. Everything would be fine: they pay a lot of money, the work is simple, but the hero commits several serious offenses and will end up in prison due to a setup. Everyone remembers what happened next; those who didn’t watch it, watch it, it’s a good movie and now I’ll explain why:
- Good fight scenes with Dmitry Pevtsov, especially at the beginning, where he fights in the bathhouse and his fight with Vasily Shlykov, you can see the good preparation of the actors, as well as choreography that was quite good for our cinema of that time with Van Damme kicks and (sometimes) destruction of the scenery. However, the further into the film, the weaker the fights became - I expected much more from the second fight with Shlykov, even if it involved the use of weapons. In general, there is not as much action as in American B-action films, but what is there is pleasing with a realistic reaction to blows: enemies collapse from a blow to the gut and balls, and do not fight overwhelmingly until the very end, which was the hallmark of perestroika action films .
- An interesting plot - through gradual memories, the viewer only understands at the end why everything happened and how the hero ended up in prison. However, cliches and naiveties are present here too, for example, how the hero escapes from prison and breaks away from persecution.
- Cast. As I said, he's pretty cool, but the celebrities don't get much screen time, mostly short cameos. However, unlike modern films, the scenes with Evstigneev and Dzhigarkhanyan were acted out very charismatically, you believe the actors and they adorned the film with their performance, which is a huge plus.
- I will also note the atmosphere of perestroika - cars, New Russians, foreign clothes, “anything is possible”, crime - everything is there and for those who did not experience this atmosphere, I highly recommend watching it to understand how people lived in the 90s. This atmosphere is presented unobtrusively, without garishness (for some this is a minus) and does not interfere with watching.
It is worth noting, however, that the film is not quite an action film; it is an action game mixed with a crime drama; If there were a little more fights, chases and shootouts, I would boldly call the film a hand-to-hand action movie. I highly recommend watching the movie, it doesn’t sag, there are no unnecessary moments, although there are some action movie cliches here.
Destroy the thirtieth! (1992)
"This is troublesome!"
In my opinion, the most famous film by Viktor Dotsenko, where he himself sits in the director’s chair, for some reason renaming Savely Govorkov to Sergei Cherkasov and replacing the leading actor with Igor Livanov.
According to the plot, after Afghan captivity, special forces soldier Sergei is nursed by Tibetan monks and, after parting with them, becomes homeless in an Arab country, where a certain businessman Grigory Markovich (Alexander Porokhovshchikov) notices him and helps him get out to his homeland. Unable to find work in the country torn apart by the 90s, he is recruited into the KGB (as he thinks) as an instructor for young people and is sent to some top-secret base in Central Asia, which is crammed with the latest technical equipment. There he meets his brother, lost in the war, and finds out that this is not a KGB base, but quite a training camp for mafia fighters, where military specialists are gathered to conduct anti-Russian actions, terrorist attacks and, later, a coup d’etat. Both brothers escape from the base and are being chased.
The film combines several genres - Road movie (at least 60% of the running time is a chase), shooting action and military-crime perestroika drama (a little at the beginning), also, compared to "The Beast", the scope has increased - car explosions, helicopters, military technology and, like last time, famous actors in supporting roles. More details on the pros and cons.
Positive sides
- There is a LOT of action, but before it you have to endure about 20-25 minutes of the introductory part of the film, where the hero communicates with the main character and wanders in a foreign land. There is everything you need - shootouts, chases in different cars, military equipment (okay, okay, they “put the BMP out of action”, but the boss is a helicopter...), and a lot of destruction. Various weapons are used, from ultrasound and Kalash to RPGs, it’s a pity there wasn’t enough budget for a tank, I would have seen a duel with a T-72 or Object-279. In addition to shootings, “Rex” will have time to fight hand-to-hand, using a chain and a knife in battle, as well as use stealth (skills for silent penetration and destruction of the enemy) and tactical tricks with ambushes and traps for enemies, which will delight fans of military action films. In general, the action itself is varied, for example, the death of enemies - someone is burned (aaay garu, garuuuu!), someone is shot, someone is stabbed in the forehead and back with a knife, a tower is collapsed, thrown under a train, and so on - exactly this diversity, in my opinion, turned out to be the key to the viewer.
- A colorful cast - the Livanov brothers coped with their roles; In addition to them, there are Leonid Kuravlev as a corrupt cop, Porokhovshchikov, Vladimir “I broke Sean Bean’s record” Episkoposyan, Vladimir Ivashov and Stanislav Sadalsky as the final boss.
- Excellent music from Sobo Bardanashvili, completely consistent with the genre, this is not the comedy bullshit in “D-Day”, this is a harsh soundtrack and a good example of music for an action movie, the final song “Is it really trouble!” is also not bad!
- Many of the characters' phrases have been turned into quotes.
Disadvantages
- Not the best editing of many action scenes; in some places, hackwork is visible.
- There could have been more hand-to-hand fights.
- Bugs and cliched stuff.
- I was expecting more action from Aristarkh Livanov, all the action was on his brother.
- In some places there are unnecessary and drawn-out office dialogues, and also a boring beginning.
The main disadvantage of the film is the lack of a sequel - the film ends at the most interesting point, and we have been waiting for the continuation for more than 20 years.
Сonclusion: a very good perestroika action film with great variety and scope (compared to other CIS action films of both that era and current NTV films) of action, filmed for connoisseurs of the genre, so I highly recommend watching it - for example, the film is head and shoulders above "Snake Eaters" with Lorenzo Lamas. Low bow to the creators for the film of my childhood and, moreover, for a good attempt to bring the action genre to our country.
Black Berets (1994)
Also an adaptation of the novel, but not by Dotsenko, but Stanislav Gagarin, with whom the film was made in collaboration. According to the plot, four fellow soldiers led by Captain Yachmenev (Vasily Shlykov) from the Marine Corps decided to celebrate the end of their service on a huge ship. But the ship is captured by terrorists led by a certain Stas (Igor Murugov) and the heroes are forced to give them battle. They have an ally in the person of a special forces captain (Andrei Shcherbovich-Vecher), who, having never met the heroes, takes on some of the terrorists.
Once upon a time, when I was a child, I liked the film, but after rewatching it, it somehow didn’t work out so well. It was clear that the creators tried to combine 2 genres - a film advertising the Russian Armed Forces (like "In the Special Vimania Zone" and the American "Marines") and an action movie about the capture of something by terrorists ("Capture" with Seagal, "The Last Cruise") and if They more or less coped with the first genre, really showing the toughness and ability of the Marines to fight, but the action movie let us down.
The first problem is the length of the introductory part - the main action begins too late, already in the second half of the film, and the variety that was in “The Beast” and “The Thirty” does not shine: shootouts, some of which are behind the scenes, and occasionally stealth and knife work. There were also hand-to-hand fights, but only one will be remembered - Shcherbovich-Vecher against a man with an axe, the rest are spoiled by weak editing with flickering, as well as the darkness of the premises - and this is the second problem of the film. Script flaws are also visible - the character of Vladimir Yakovlev (who will play one of the main villains in “Sword”) was simply leaked, because he could effectively roll away from a shot and kill Stas with a knife, for example, as well as the Pak brothers, who are completely unnecessary in the plot
Nevertheless, the film cannot be called bad - there are colorful characters (Slavok, Beard, Stas, the Special Forces Captain and the heroes themselves), and, I repeat, the advertising of the Marine Corps troops in general turned out to be, however, the same "Zone of Special Vimania" and "Response progress" is STRONGLY inferior. My result is a one-time pass-through, from which you expect much more.
As far as I know, there have been attempts to return Crazy Rex to the screen more than once, but for some reason they failed. On Viktor Dotsenko’s YouTube channel there is an unfinished editing copy of either the film or the series “The Return of the Thirtieth” with Yan Tsapnik as Rex and Nikita Dzhigurda in a minor role, which you can evaluate for yourself.
I again thank Viktor Dotsenko for Rex’s film adventures and contribution to the domestic action film, and on behalf of all action movie fans, I still ask him to film Govorkov’s new adventures with an even greater scope, military equipment, tactical ingenuity and an abundance of both hand-to-hand and shooting action.
Author: uranium
Especially for Fight-Films.Info
Thanks for the review. With nostalgia for the years of youth (sweatpants, demonstrative stretch marks and homemade nunchucks from stool legs))).
Alex,
Well, yes, everyone in their yard had such a figure who tried to imitate 100%)
Of these three, only “Called the Beast” I consider an interesting and good film. Or maybe all this military bravado is just not for me, but sometimes I still watch “The Beast”, and the other two don’t arouse any interest then and to this day.
DIV,
Well, 30th is, first and foremost, a road movie with shootouts. And The Beast is the most even film, balanced or something... Everything in it is somehow correct.
Returned to childhood) All three films were on video cassettes) My favorite was “The Beast” “The Thirtieth..” My dad liked it the most, and my brother liked “berets” because he himself served in the Marine Corps. Likes to remember the dialogue before the ax fight. "Let's see what color your liver is!" - “..let’s see...” Overall, D. Pevtsov was the most impressive of all. It seemed that there would be other films where he would show what he was capable of. And he has excellent physical training and knows karate. But alas, “The Beast” remained his main film for me (as did “The Fan” by Serebryakov. Both preferred to build a career separated from such action films, and the fashion for such films quickly passed.
Cyclonus,
The singers and Serebryakov were then burned in Gangster Petersburg, which I already reviewed, Serebryakov also defeated vampires in “The Ghoul,” was in “Afghan Break,” there were some other films with him about wars of different years, and later he slipped into Leviathans. Thanks for the comment)
uranium, Well I do not know. I wouldn't call "Leviathan" any kind of "slide". He played his role brilliantly, as he has done in many other films. In general, one of my favorite Russian actors. Even the controversial “Clinch” hooked me with him.
I agree with the assessment of “Leviathan”)) (although this is clearly not the right platform to remember this painful film for Russia!).
Serebryakov is certainly a serious dramatic actor; he has many worthy acting works both in cinema and in the theater.
barsug,
Slipping - because he began to appear in such controversial films, and indeed everywhere, although this does not detract from his acting skills.
uranium,
“Controversial films” are not about slipping, but about choosing roles at will, experiments in the end. He's a good actor. Why not?
Danil Chupakhin,
As a rule, after an unsuccessful role, an actor’s career can go downhill, for example, Alexei Gorbunov, who starred in some political film, and now he is rarely invited to act in our films, also Alexey Poluyan, who was beaten several times by the military on the street after Cargo 200, and his career Balabanova collapsed after the Cargo.
Serebryakov seems to be lucky. but for some reason I haven’t seen him in epics lately. Again, the actor is great even in controversial roles.
barsug,
He's an excellent actor. It’s just that in the early 90s it seemed that there would be more cool action films with him. And all sorts of “Nudes with a Hat” and so on came out. Apparently they didn’t offer any good scripts.
uranium,
I saw it all. But 1.5 fights in Ghoul, a throw from M. Placido in “Izlom” and gangster suffering in “Petersburg” are somehow not at all what I expected) I wanted a full-fledged hand-to-hand action movie with one of them, but alas, beyond the Lion’s Share things didn't work out. But I never liked Livanov at all. There was a movie with him. "Screw" 1993. He played a villainous karateka there and I didn’t like his crooked leg swing even then) Although, of course, Serebryakov is also a karateka and didn’t do BI before Fan, but he looked more convincing on the screen. I also remember “Rat Corner” in 1992 with Inshakov. But despite the maestro’s experience and coolness, he didn’t look very good on the screen now or then. Although in those years, of course, such films looked great.
Cyclonus,
By the way, I reviewed films from Kim In Ho. And Serebryakov is a great guy, he’s still a plowman. In Izlom he had a couple more fights with the new guys + a couple of shootouts.
Uran: Will you do an analysis of the series, instructor? There is a very good cast and a fighting scene. As for Dotsenko’s films, they are not bad, but now they don’t look so bright. By the way, you reviewed the series “Russian Transit”. The series is excellent, It’s a pity they didn’t make a sequel. I would like to hope that Sidikhin will remember about it and it will be completed.
beast,
Instructor... I don't remember. If it's not long and I have time, I'll take a look. I have a review of Transit. What can you say about Dotsenko’s films?
uranium,
Uranus, please write a review of the series. Like Fighter, Instructor, Chief Caliber... I mean, not for everything, but for the best of our country.
PS regarding the above review, I agree with you. Only I don’t remember the Berets, maybe I haven’t seen them at all.
JOHNSON,
I've written about TV series more than once https://fight-films.info/obzor-8-mi-russkix-ekshn-serialov-ot-uran/, https://fight-films.info/recenzii-na-serialy-mech-i-strelyayushhie-gory-s-romanom-kurcynym-ot-uran/ and here a little https://fight-films.info/russkie-neuderzhimye/,часто they ask, but they don’t use the search)
https://www.kinopoisk.ru/film/405732/,это according to the instructor. As for films based on Dotsenko, of course, the most famous one is nicknamed THE BEAST. The film made Pevtsov a star, and later he will repeat the success together with Advocate. The film is great to watch, somewhat reminiscent of the last line, but the films were shot at the same time. 30 destroy, yes, I don’t argue, the film is also not bad, Livanov looks good in the frame. His karate training, they helped him at the “King of the Ring” show, where he boxed. Black Berets, this is a kind of remake of Under Siege, and pirates of the 20th century The hero Committeeman, of course, is very cool. But there are few fights with him, I remember only one. The film is patriotic, came out in 94 to show that you need to serve in the army.
beast,
Thank you!
Who remembers the name of the Ukrainian militant, also about the seizure of a ship, from 1997-1998?
Mery,
I'll have to look for it in my spare time. Was the movie interesting?
And what would you add to the above?