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39 out of 40 people found the following comment useful :- Best Story Line Ever, 1 June 2004 Author: PinkNinja
Although another member of IMDb commented on how the English subtitles in this movie were poorly done (which I agree with) the movie in its essence was brilliant. I was born in Russia and speak the language fluently which has to be the reason I understood and enjoyed the movie so much. Despite all that, I've had many non-Russian speaking friends who understood the concept and meaning of the movie fully. Sidorov captured the lifestyle of the Russian mafia very accurately. The movie spans the life of 4 friends over a period of 10 years, going from innocent young men who wanted to be tough guys to being big time crime leaders after being left with no choice of other lifestyles. The best part about everything was how Sidorov showed his audience the changing mentalities in the 4 characters before and after the Soviet Union broke up. He made it very clear that many crime bosses came into power and became politicians and people who influence Russia with an iron fist. The movie also shows a lot of dedication. After watching the special features DVD and looking at all the behind the scenes footage, I realized the actors poured their hearts and souls into portraying these 4 characters properly. For one, they spent 2 years of their lives (while production was running), having their friends and family call them by their character names. Some of the actors (like Sergei Bezrukov) had to adjust their acting style. He went from being Russia's Golden Boy who played innocent boyish roles to proving to the Russian community that he has a wide range in his acting skills. I give this movie my full 5 stars and recommend it to everyone.
33 out of 36 people found the following comment useful :- one of the greatest movies in the last years!, 21 January 2005 Author: toltec from Bulgaria
The movie is extremely realistic of what happened in Russia in 1989 - 2000 - actually it just shows the top of the iceberg, but it shows enough to imagine what is beneath. "Brigada" is a great story about 4 friends that remains friends in spite of all that happened. May be you can named it the Russian 'Godfather' movie. It is exactly so great. Actors are great performers. Sounds are great. Surroundings and details till the time span shown - 11 years - are true and absolutely realistic. I couldn't find any weak point in all movie. There is a lot of persons in the movie with their own destiny shown but not in a helter-skelter way or heaviness - rather you can feel with all your being the atmosphere in Russia in these years of changes and the Russian's feelings and spirit. And in the end - the movie is so well done that on many occasions you just wonder - to cry or to laugh. It is for sure one of the best movies I saw in the last years.
30 out of 35 people found the following comment useful :- Worth watching - I tell you the truth., 17 May 2004 Author: TinySparrow from Moscow, Russia
I have never watched Russian TV series before as I expected them to be stupid and boring. But 'Brigada' was so extremely popular among my friends and so much talked about in the newspapers and magazines, so I decided not to miss it. And I wasn't disappointed at all. Many people said that 'Brigada' makes youngsters like criminals and gangsters and fight against the militia. They said that in this series militia men look much more criminal than the criminals themselves! But unfortunately it is the regrettable truth of Russian life nowadays. That's why audience didn't judge the guys – Sasha, Phyl, Kosmos and Pchela – too harshly. They were the victims of the circumstances. About the movie itself. I liked the soundtrack very much. ('Brigada' ringtone was extremely popular among the people of all ages.) The actors' performance was great, sometimes brilliant. I especially liked Sergey Bezrukov and Vladimir Vdovichenkov. Dmitry Dyuzhev was excellent, but on my opinion he's doing his best job acting in 'Twelfth Night' – the play by Shakespeare staged in Pushkin's theatre. His performance is so funny and wonderful that everybody can't help laughing. Katya Guseva is the most beautiful woman on the screen. Andrey Panin is a splendid villain! His character is so disgusting that I wanted to throw something heavy at his head every time I saw him. To sum up, the movie is well-written, well-directed and well-played. I'm very surprised (and pleased) that not only in Russia people watch and like it. Hope some new great movies and TV-series will come soon. For instance, 'Zvezdochet' (Astrologer) starring the same Vdovichenkov and handsome Strahov. Looking forward to watching it! 9 out of 10 – and my applause - to 'Brigada'.
31 out of 37 people found the following comment useful :- Russian answer to"Godfather", 1 February 2006 Author: ivana-s from Yugoslavia
I think"Brigada" is one of the best shows I have seen on TV in last few years.I have watched it twice,the crew,music,idea everything I like when it comes to mafia stories.Also I can understand how can bad subtitles spoil a good story,but that wasn't my problem and my friends(Russian is very similar to Serbian).My only hope is that there will be more shows like"Brigada"to come from Russia(Hollywood is having problem with stories that have already been told)I love the passion and dedication of actors,which you can not see in Hollywood production. PS(I have told everyone I know about how excellent"Brigada"is and now all my friend are fascinated with Sergei Bezrukov)
12 out of 14 people found the following comment useful :- One of the best Russian series of all time, 3 January 2006 Author: Charkov from Bulgaria
This movie is similar to the reality in Russia in the past and what is at present in my country - Bulgaria... It's about an enormous Russian mafia-empire built with the common effort of a young Russian mafioso called Sasha Belov and his BRIGADA (which means Brigade from Russian). The film is based on true story of a real criminal group and the film shows the whole history of 4 old friends helping each other from bad interests.I think that most of the English-speaking viewers can't really understand some things, which are happening in the movie, but for me as a Bulgarian (my culture and the Russian culture are almost one and the same) everything from the mafia-thing in Russia is clear to me. There was a user of IMDb who said, that the subs were not very good. It's because there are jokes and phrases that aren't understandable to others except east-European countries. It's better to read something about the Russian mafia, before you watch the series , that will help you understand thе film better. For me this film is a blockbuster, in fact the nowadays American rubbish that we watch is 0 in compare to this unbelievable true story of Sasha Belov and his BRIGADA.10 out of 10
11 out of 14 people found the following comment useful :- A must-see mini-serial, just pure excellence!, 23 March 2006 Author: Marko Pikani from Estonia
For starters i would like to say that i have watched every episode for three times and i still have not got tired of it.Secondly since Estonia(my home country) was formerly a part of the Soviet Union, i have special relations with the subject of this masterpiece.Enough about me.i guess the main reason for watching this is not only the great play by S.Besrukov, but also Andrei Panin,V.Dovitchenkov and the others.The strong bond between the 4 friends makes you think about your own comrades.It reminds us to remember our friends during rough times and shows us a new side of "bratva" a.k.a. The Russian Mob. It is hard to write a deserving comment for this, but i don't want to include spoilers.So the best summary that i can pull of is simply put:rent it,buy it or do whatever it takes because its well worth the effort and money.
11 out of 14 people found the following comment useful :- An absolutely great show., 1 March 2004 Author: vk_babygirl from Stockholm, Sweden
The plot is great but I dont think that a non russian mentality would understand all the aspects of the story. Personally I think it's a great mix of crime, friendship and how the surcumstances can change people, weather they want to change or not. It's really a more fun way of displaying criminals. The show has a very good style/atmosphere to it. Great acting, all the actors are very diffirent, they look diffirent and they act diffirantly, but everyone did a great job. I love the music. Also a great thing is that it doesnt matter weather you have seen all the spidoes or not, basically you can start watching at any time and still get whats going on.I would deffinatly recomend it.
9 out of 11 people found the following comment useful :- Great movie, bad subtitles, 20 June 2003 Author: mvoight (mvoight@sbcglobal.net) from Scotts Valley, California
There should be more detail on the movie in IMDB. For now, I assume it is the multipart series that we have on DVD. It is an excellent movie and my wife loves it. Unfortunately, I speak very little Russian. I think it would have an much better audience in the US if the subtitles were redone. In fact, my only dislike for the movie so far is related to subtitles.They are very incomplete. Some of them are even in Russian. Not only that, but the names of the characters should not be translated. If someone is saying "Belov", I don't think it should be translated as "White". The same with "Bee", and the others. One subtitle even said "Michael Gorbachev". There were several instances of the word "dump" showing up instead of "dumb". A police complaint was referred to as an "application" and another similar word to application that would not be understood as "complaint". In my mind, the person who wrote the subtitles should find another job.So, Avatar.. Fix the subtitles and you may have a hit in the English speaking world.
10 out of 13 people found the following comment useful :- Absolutely the best from Russia!, 15 August 2006 Author: BeamJim from Sweden
How much do you know, have seen or have heard about life in Russia in the 90's? I guess if you aren't Russian, don't pretend to be a smartass... you know nothing.Brigade describes the last decade of the 20th century Moscow with incredible exactness: difficult life of the "mortals", rise of the oligarchs, power of corruption and lack of moral principles. All political events are absolutely accurate and should be revealing to any person who didn't experience "perestroika".But apart from that it is a story about endless friendship, about four simple boys building the most powerful organizations in the world's biggest country. This movie is filled with personalities, complicated relationships and describes perfectly the indirect meaning of the word "brat" (brother) in Russia.Great action scenes and fantastic actors! One of the greatest movies ever!
3 out of 4 people found the following comment useful :- The Dark East or How to Survive-Excellent, 24 August 2006 Author: Sybilla Stoyanova from Pleven, Bulgaria
I'm sorry if my English is not so good:)You MUST watching BRIGADA-this is a story about childhood friendship,about 4 men who knows what they must to be to survive in a world of big change.This is the new world of the old well-known evil-the money,the freedom to do everything you need to reach your own purpose...But it's coming a time when the man must make his choice-to save himself,to save his money and precious life or... just get right-to take vengeance for his childhood friends dead and destroy their killer!You CAN learn a lot what life can make for you and on the other side-what you can make for your life to be just more harmonious and nice. "Brigada" is a film which show and remind to us the meanings of words like 'friendship','love','courage','trust','security' and 'duty'.Words-matrix of our life.But "Brigada" is not just romantic and action film in Hollywood West style-this is the real life and we must understand how to use it right."Brigada" is the East with its own tragedy and dark history...BIG BRAVO for the star of the film-Sergei Bezrukov and all his full of talent colleagues-BRAVO.Well done job.The undertaking was very difficult,hard-but you won guys...you won and create the most real film story I've ever seen!!This is THE Film-2 thumbs up!!!1000000000000 stars for you:))!!!Sergei you are THE BEST!!!
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