How sad is this?

what a terribly boring film. I'm sorry but this is absolutely not deserving of best picture and will be forgotten quickly. Entertaining and engaging cinema? No. Nothing performances with flat faces and mistaking silence for subtlety.

The film's masterful storytelling did its job. The message was clear. No need to overdo.

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

I like it, but I don't like it...Funny, but true. As a modern action movie it stands at par with other similar stuff that even Hollywood manages to produce (see "300").Not so much for special visual effects, of which there are virtually none, except for the occasional battle scene, but rather for the silliness in language and story development.It is a simple fun movie. One for popcorn chewing moviegoers.Unpretentious and yet captivating in its silliness.At times, while watching it, I was reminded of movies of yesteryear, such as Errol Flynn's escapades in "The Black Hawk" or more recently Johnny Depp as Jack Sparrow's shenanigans in "Pirates of the Caribbean".Costumes and settings are gorgeous though, and even the music is pleasant and appropriate for a movie of this type. But let's face it, it's just another cape and dagger movie, not really Russian history as it pretends to be.Sure, there are hints to that (and many, but then again distributed freely throughout, without an actual chronology). All we get to know is that after Czar Boris Godunov's demise and that of his entire family (but one surviving Princess), there is a period of anarchy in Russia.Add to this the ever-lasting "bad" Polish invader, riding in with very fanciful armor which sports applied feather wings (actually an accurate depiction, but just reserved for the Royal Polish Guards of that time and only worn during parades, never in battle - for obvious reasons).True to history is the fact that after the fall of Czar Boris, Russia had been literally invaded by opportunistic tradesmen from everywhere in Europe. This has been simplified and centered around a central Hispanic figure, represented by a mercenary, and apparently, former Conquistador. The reality though, was different, and the so-called invasion was far less pervasive and intrusive. Europe simply needed new trade routes through Russia and did indeed send out emissaries for this purpose.Yet then the entire story goes through a mystic development, even involving unicorns and a mysterious Hermit chained on a pole in the midst of a forest. It may be significant for Russians but for a foreign audience who may not know all the symbolic significances of this, it still remains a puzzle to the end of the movie.As said, as an entertainment movie, not too bad, but as a pretense in historic fact it really leaks all over.The actors, probably all unknown to the Western world are all competent, especially in secondary roles and do their job quite convincingly. The action scenes (battles, swordplay, fights, etc.) are all very well choreographed and at times, even spectacular.But does this mishmash stand for something?Not really.Not even as other reviewers have stated, as a propaganda movie for the Medvevev / Putin duo.If it is true that this movie was pushed by the Kremlin itself, then the taste of this entity has considerably diminished since Stalin's times. It has become so very simplistic and populist (mind you, not popular) that I question whether they are still able to read Pushkin, Dostoevsky or even just Tolstoy, or whether they too have slumped into just reading pulp fiction if not bad cartoon strips.Not wanting the invasion of Western culture in their Country, in that sense at least, is utterly wasted effort, since this movie proves without a doubt that they have already been "contaminated" by this bad taste kind of trendy movie.What next? Japanese "Animes" to entertain the masses in Russia too?At least Stalin had Eisenstein to propagate his views, and those movies have become true Classics.But "1612"? Forgettable at best.Being of Russian descent myself, I regret this popularization in Russian history. Why can't we have true historic, if not epic movies about the true history of Russia?The theme alone, Boris Godunov, already made famous by a well-known Opera, should entice any film-maker deserving this definition, to make an extra effort and develop a true biopic around this figure. But not just limited to this period.All we have are just excerpts from Russian history. We never get the whole picture. What about the first Viking invasion of Russia, when it was still unknown under that name? In fact Russia takes the name from the first Conquerors of the land, which the native population named "Rus" after their reddish scalps and beards.What ever happened between Boris and Peter the Great. Who were the various successors, what did they do, what have they achieved, how long did they all rule? These are all still unanswered questions that no one ever bothered to tackle with in any serious form.My simple question is: why?Russians of today want to be respected from Westerners and be considered as equals. Well, then help us understand your history in its fullness and allow us to penetrate your culture more thoroughly. Not just through literature, or through music, but also producing movies that open a window upon a respectable (or even not so respectable) span of time and allow us to penetrate this world of the past, to better understand your recent past and even the present."1612" is not it. It deserves only 5 stars out of ten just (and I have decided to be particularly generous) for the effort of all those involved, who nevertheless did their job. But none of these stars are referred to the story, nor the quality of the picture, which in my own opinion, is below the average level of movie-making, which I know to be otherwise excellent.Go back to film school and watch some true classics and you will see what I mean...

In 1605 the armies of Lithuania and Poland invade Russia and capture Moscow at the same time murdering the Godunov line of Czars save for Kseniya Godunova (Violetta Davydovskaya), who is captured by a Polish hetman (masterfully played by Polish actor Michal Zebrowski). An unwilling witness of these events is a 10 year old boy Andrei.7 years later Andrei is a ca 25 year old slave (yep, that's right... the kid aged a minimum of 15 years within the given timeframe) with no rights to his own life. Fate drives him to once again meet Kseniya, who is now the unwilling / willing (take your pick; the script gives you no favours and you don't really know what the uninspiring actress is actually trying to convey) lover of the Polish hetman. Luck takes a fortuitous turn as Andrei gets bought out by a hardened Spanish mercenary. Soon after the Spanaird dies tragically in battle and Andrei uses the opportunity to steal his identity. All this as part of the peasant Andrei's path to becoming the next Tzar of Russia...You can see the budget splashed out on this movie and everything glitters and overwhelms. All the set designs are exquisite and some scenes are breath-taking. But really this movie is evidence that throwing money at a movie does not a classic make.There is absolutely no tension or build-up and I had a nice 30-minute nap during the movie, which apparently didn't matter as nothing of consequence happened in the meantime. Storybuilding is pathetic and the overuse of slow-mos and 'mystical' flashbacks or dreams just mulls the pace even more. What's worse is that there are actually times where it would have been beneficial if they focused more on various parts of the story and fleshed out the background more. Instead the script rushes where it should have walked and crawls when it should be flying.The two redeeming things in the movie are the detailed and historically faithful set designs (the Polish hussars are especially beautifully done) plus the great role of Michal Zebrowski, who absolutely nails his character despite having the director and script against him. In the end those are the only two things you are sure to remember. That and the ridiculous unicorn (just what a historical movie needs... sic!) that plagues the picture every 5 minutes...I'm not sure what the game plan was here. It seems like the director wanted the aura of mysticism to dominate the story, but it failed miserably with the biggest and most ridiculous yawn of a movie I have viewed in ages.

For someone who is not prepared to handle this movie on the first try, like myself, it would be logical to suggest watching it again. Trouble is, you don't want to. The movie is all over the place with a very vague storyline. I agree that the special effects were descent, the rest of it was borderline horrible. The language used, is "bydlorussian" in many instances. Almost nothing in the movie is remotely believable. Many commented had pointed to a leather cannon, well, it has been done with some success, even reproduced in our time. Such a cannon takes several weeks to produce and a lot of patience. Some would not believe it, but Germans used reinforced cardboard mortars in WW1. As others had noted,the script sucked, actors would look OK in a "clean" porno movie, but are completely unfit for what was attempted as a historical film. I gave it a 5, based on the fact that, even barely, it prevented me from changing a channel, thanks to commercial-free transmission.

Well if anyone into physics and pure common sense, for them the plot is too unreal that is for sure. But there were so many other "Pure" historical movies with about the same historical accuracy, and I still Loved most of them. This movie is a great show, I personally loved it way better than all the rest recent Russian movies. I believe that if it gets translated to English it'll become a huge box office hit in US and Canada. Great costumes, Good enough acting and excellent special effects alone make this movie worth watching. The only historical series\movie till now that i put above all other is the "Rome" series. It delivered spirit of the era along with quite accurate general facts and an imaginative interpretation from different more simple point of view. Now if we look at the famous historical movies like Gladiator or Braveheart, besides the fact that the actors are much more talented (in Hollywood interpretation of talent) and charismatic, they are exactly as "real" as this one. I gave this movie 8 out of 10 and definitely advice to see it just to relax and enjoy.