The most historically correct retelling of the dynasty's last days. This beautifully filmed and expertly acted retelling of the czar's final days in pre-revolutionary Russia is the best in its class. This film would be an excellent two-part introduction to the emergence of communism if paired with the equally brilliant "Dr. Zhivago." It would be a great 4-5 hour tour de force. whf.
Excellent This is a great video. Characters feel real to history (and Nicholas looks amazingly authentic!), issues are clear, and movie leads right up to the fateful moment of infamy.
Great Movie This is a wonderful movie. Quite moving and if you are a history buff it is also quite true to the story. Well worth the price and does a good job of evoking the feel of that era. As I say, if you are a history buff this is a must have.
He ate all my sturgeon, clever man... This film on Russian history is everything Zhivago is not - it's good. Though it takes the Lean-esque line of poetic cuts to meld the story together, it does it in a far subtler, less "here's another clever cut for you audience" fashion. Young's cinematography dwarfs what he was not able to do in Zhivago (because Lean wanted his film to be deliberately ugly) and there is a far more Russian feel to it.
As far as the portrayal of the Romanovs; it is quite fair. It never takes the side of the Reds, but it certainly does not deify Nicholas and Alexandra, who were utter idiots. This doesn't mean that they should have been gunned down in a basement with their children and doctor. It means that he was a political idiot and she was a paranoid religious fanatic. They were the weak link in a rusty chain that was going to snap, and snap it did, just when the weight of the 20th century was starting to drag on it.
I refuse to deify these people because they were just that, people, flawed, silly, but with human feelings and desires. I've no problem admitting that Thomas Jefferson had slaves or that Lincoln said if he could have won the war without freeing the slaves, he would have done so. These are human beings. Deifying them, and that includes the Romanovs, is just dangerous.
Watch this film as history playing out, despite its occassional dramatic liberties, and revel in the view that opens from the window before you. It's ultimately disturbing, and hopefully we can learn from it.
History and Fiction Since this was put out so long before DNA and history have managed to merge with new theories, this is truly a timeless movie. I love this era and found this movie to be the best there is to date of the life of these two people and the tragic story they wove. To me it's the best rendition of their family.
Anything Goes Trivia
Last Kiss
Megaton Man
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