Sputnik (2020)

My dad is a fan of Russian movies and he recomend me this movie who really impressed me. the script wasn't like the american movies where you can guess the next move and how it will end. The special effects were well made. I totally recommend this movie

Fmovies: I am happy to see that Russian scifi films are finally moving towards the Russian scifi literature that I loved so much as a child. This is a wonderful little gem, a Russian version of Life, but with more focus on the people and less on the special effects and action scenes. Not perfect, mind you, but so far the best Russian science fiction film I've seen them make recently. And the special effects were very good, too, which makes the decision to keep them in the background so much more laudable.

The weakest link is the main character, unfortunately, who does things that make little sense for a scientist. Yet her contribution is not that of a character, but as a carrier of the audience, so what she does is really not that relevant.

I hope Russian cinema will start bringing back the intellectual slow burn story, the civilian scientists that have to solve problems without relying on strength or weapons, but on their own thinking.

Usually you don't expect much from non American sci fi movies. But this one is a good find. It's like seeing those movies of the 80's or 90's that still weren't that formulaic and doesn't try either to lecture you on morals or is totally devoid of any moral standing. The pace is slow but not boring (something American movies have lost the ability to keep) and the story evolves naturally and never fails to its own logic (there is no "you gotta be kidding me" moment as it all matches and fits without foolishness or absurdity, given the preset premises). Maybe it needed a little more or a little else to excel but it's quite a good product and the special effects are perfect (on par or even surparssing the American CGI's).

Sputnik fmovies. I had a friend a long time ago who when we sat down to watch a movie together, if I attempted to name an actor, would silence me saying, "suspend your disbelief and just enjoy the movie for what it is". It's easy to make comparisons with the familiar. It's a lot harder to judge something unfamiliar on its own merit. I'm not Russian, neither do I speak the language so I was grateful for the steady paced subtitles to guide me through the plot. If you need to measure this movie against others of similar ilk. You are probably going to be disappointed? On the other hand. If like me you are prepared to leave your ego and bias at the door. You might notice what a little gem this movie is. Go Russia. Make some more.

The only thing this movie suffers from is an extremely misleading trailer, in the vein of "it comes at night". Do NOT expect an edge of your seat alien horror movie because that's not this one. It's instead an excellently crafted slow burn thriller helped on by excellent directing, cinematography, score, performances and some exquisite special effects (The creature especially!!!!!)

This movie starts off well enough with an intriguing, if a little slow account of the aftermath of a Russian space craft's return to earth. There is a good deal of suspense throughout the movie and its well acted and reasonably well directed. The problems stem from the failing plot that surfaces about an hour into the screenplay where the focus shifts from the extraterrestrial and scientific aspect of the events, to one of inter-Soviet self interest, coupled with professional ambition, deceit and posturing.

This is all done fairly badly and is incongruous with the preceding story line. The result is a sudden and very disjointed feeling from what was a quite immersive film experience. I'm not sure why this was done, but I suspect it was a foolish attempt to add depth and dimension to a plot that really needed something quite spectacular to successfully bring it to conclusion given the topic at hand.

Though this isn't Alien, or anything like a number of other titles involving extraterrestrial or extraordinary beings unwittingly coming to be present normal life, It is s subject that has been breached numerous occasions, and finding a unique path for development which is successful isn't always easy. Here, the plot becomes messy, the scenes and dialog delusive, and progression of the story becomes dependant and the characters making unrealistic decisions, poor choices, and atypical behaviour.

I definitely liked it initially, but sadly I began rolling my eyes with the later developments and by the end I was fairly disappointed with what really should have been a good film.

Old Hollywood films always had romance in them. It didn't matter if it was a Spy film, Sci-Fi, Comedy, Thriller or some other genre. There was always some romantic subplot thrown in for good measure. This movie had aspects of this dated approach included for reasons I can only guess, and the results made it feel stilted and hackneyed, especially because it was done so obtusely.

I can't recommend it in all honesty, though I think a six is a fair enough score given it did have some good aspects.