To me, this movie is perfection.

This movie is the proof that the world is becoming a sick and dumb place

Perfect cast and a good story

Great movie. Not sure what people expected but I found it highly entertaining.

"Elite Squad" is one of my favourite movies of all time. I saw it for the first time a couple of years ago and yesterday I rewatched it. And I back then I liked it a lot, this time, I loved it. Its a rough and realist depiction of the inner Rio de Janeiro, where cops and drug dealers take part on a never-ending war for the favela's dominance. Within the law enforcers side we are presented to three major characters - Captain Nascimento (played by Wagner Moura, the best Brazilian actor from my point of view), and the both aspirants to be cops Neto and Matias. Nascimento is the main character of the two movies and he couldn't be played by a better actor. Moura delivers a performance of a troubled anti-hero, who wants to retire from BOPE (Brazil's special law enforcers) to spend more time with his wife and his future son. Moura is so believable and real that we all tend to love him, despite some of the dubious actions he performs throughout the story. He's a conflicted man, who just leaves when he feels his duty is fulfilled. "A given mission, is an accomplished one". Neto (played by Caio Junqueira) and Matias (played by André Ramiro) are also deeply explored on the plot, with the first being a younger version of Nascimento, reckless and motivated by his sense of justice and duty, while Matias is a young man split between two worlds - the one of the law enforcers and the one of the drug dealers. The directing of José Padilha really leveled the movie up. The sense of tension and pressure is present in the way he shoots the scenes, with the use of over the shoulder angles and a bit of shaky cam on some chases. The firefights are perfectly shot and Rio is showed at its best and worst. The film was produced by the Weinstein brothers which solely gives it distinction amongst other productions.A must-watch.

ELITE SQUAD is another top-notch Brazilian thriller following in the footsteps of CITY OF GOD (the two films share a writer, I believe). Although the storyline is completely different, the two films share plenty of stylistic similarities: the gritty, on-the-streets style filming, the realism, the multi-layered storytelling, the realistic and sympathetic characters, the hectic pace.Needless to say that this is an excellent film that offers a thorough exploration of policing in Brazil and all of the violence and corruption that comes with it. ELITE SQUAD does tackle the menace of drug gangs and the like but that's not the sole focus here; instead we learn of the everyday corruption present in all aspects of the police force. The dialogue crackles with electricity and the performances are exemplary, particularly from Andre Ramiro, who plays my favourite character, a naive law student drawn into a dark and murky world.Fizzing with energy and loaded with brutal violence, ELITE SQUAD is as good as it gets for a contemporary thriller and it's also one of those films that educates as well as entertains. Be warned, it pulls no punches. A sequel, ELITE SQUAD: THE ENEMY WITHIN follows, and inevitably I have to track it down.

Life and death are separated by just a moment. We choose to live in a certain way, to achieve specific goals. When all is said and done, though, will we be happy with all we've accomplished?Working as a police officer surrounded with gangs and crime is a daunting task. Knowing tomorrow could very well be your last day is a fact that will haunt your personal life and remain with you while on duty. Then realizing your own fellow officers and superiors are supporting corruption is an even harder pill to swallow. Frequently we risk our lives fighting for the good cause; attempting to preserve peace in a land filled with turmoil. Sometimes it's hard to discern which side is doing that. BOPE is an extreme special forces unit of the military police designed to handle conflicts with lethal measures. Every day these officers, who are parents, spouses and siblings to others, risk their lives and the lives of others in the name of justice. After extensive fighting and anguish, it comes to a point where you question the efficacy of your work. All the lives you have permanently altered, loved ones you have taken away and the effect this has had on your own family. Whether BOPE or a more rudimentary strategy to decrease crime rates is better is subject to debate for another discussion, but the impact BOPE has on the lives of innocent civilians, both positively and negatively, is remarkable. At the end of the day, after all is finished, will you have fought the good fight? Was there a better, more effective, approach? Tropa de Elite is an enlightening film, not for the violent tactics used or exposure of urban warfare in favelas, but because it reveals the lives of those involved and how they significantly influence each other.

Tropa de Elite plays out like a fascist recruitment video.My main problem with this film comes from its exploitation of a real world problem, and creating a loud, violent action movie, and welding it to a pro-authority message.The film is shot in a manner similar to other recent Brazilian crime fair, but instead of the bursting intensity of City of God, the directors shoot in drab colours, with a drab lead, expounding a far from subtle, and rather sinister, social message.Although its quick, chopping editing should suggest urgency, we are left with a barely passable story of characters strewn together, in a bumbling action thriller.