Where the heck did Zwick go? Certainly not here despite his name being on the credits, I got no cliche or sappy scenes or general syrup to comfort me! It's like I was watching a sanitized Hollywood version of Idi I Smotrii, digestible but bloody depressing!

Its not a bad movie but its rather flat and by the numbers, the only piece of life being the German Stucka raid on the forest camp and the ensuing attack.

They also shot quite alot this with them speaking Russian which was admirable but I failed to see the point if they hop to English in the next scene.

Craig looked rather dashing thou!

Someone needs to explain to me the reason this film was made. Its rather shitty as oscar bait and its not Zwicky in any regard!

Looks like he didn't go anywhere at all. The bolded bits indicate that you clearly noticed his Ed Wood-ian fingerprints. Sounds all kinds of Zwicky, right down to your bewildered 'Why was this made?' A common response to Zwick shit. Hopelessly ill-concieved Oscar bait, and he's not even good at his easily transparent agenda; he's never even come close to winning one for his directorial efforts.

I hope there are at least three scenes of dashing white men saving confused minorities.

Just three would be a remarkable show of restraint.

Hey, at least the guy's got a signature. Hitch made cameos. Woody Allen has those identical credit sequences. Altman overlapped dialogue. Zwick sends caucasions to the rescue of infantile minorities, in a sad plea for awards and appreciation from middlebrow idiots.

Auteur Zwick.

On fear of inviting scorn Zwick doesn't really bother me to much, he's in no way a great director but he churns out diverting fodder.

No minorities saved by whitie in this film I'm afraid lads its all very pale Europeans drinking insane amounts of Vodka. Craig saves a bunch of old people at one point if that counts?

STOP DEFENDING THIS CLOWN

And the elderly totally count. He can portray them as helpless and feeble minded. Like he did with Africans and large swarths of the Japanese.

But Legends of the Fall is fun

The old people bits include Craig spending 2 minutes dragging an old intullectal to safety despite him moaning about books if that helps!

Gulli pretty much nailed it.

I liked Defiance, and I really like Zwick's films in general, but it was never really "great." But an interesting story nonetheless, as opposed to the usual stories of the Jews not fighting back. And the film is beautifully shot; I was really impressed with some of the scenes in the snow and the action scenes.

Daniel Craig is pretty good, but Liev Schreiber steals the show as a complete BAMF in this.

Coulda been better, but overall, it delivers.

There is a way to tell this story, but sadly this wasn't it.

Defiance is a merely serviceable account of the Bielski brothers, which given Ed Zwick's impressive track record, is pretty much an outright failure for him. Like the recent Valkyrie, I was familiar with the true story from having watched History channel shows, and I found that straightforward approach more satisfying than their respective dramatizations. I have every confidence that I will see the story of the Belarussian forest camps brilliantly adapted to film one day, but today was not that day.

The lead acting was pretty good, but the screenplay didn't permit their portrayals to truly soar. Craig and Schreiber did the best they could given their constraints, but the script was all over the place. Even Zwick's epic skill with battle scenes seemed random and tacked on here.

Still, I'll give him the benefit of the doubt, and will look forward to seeing every film Zwick chooses to make - - but with his pace of making a new movie only every 2-3 years, I hope he henceforth chooses every one wisely.

3 out of 5.

Schreiber was pretty great and Craig was better than usual. Davalos managed to look fetching even while muddied and under harsh lighting. Starts off odd with no real momentum but ends well and is pretty moving at times considering the story it's based on is pretty incredible.

Grade: A-

A great story given so-so treatment despite all the pieces being there. A wonderful (and surprisingly cool, given the circumstances of the story) cast leads the way in a story that starts out as somewhat boring and meandering, but finally finds its focus and is far more successful as it progresses. However, as is often the case with Edward Zwick films, there is a far surer hand guiding the action sequences than the rest of the film... and the way he handles the action is fantastic. It's a pity that the rest of the movie can't keep up with it. And in a post-Schindler's List world, if you make a Holocaust movie, you need to do damn good job. This one barely gets the job done, which just wasn't enough for me.

C+

It's disappointing that some of the actors, specifically Schreiber, aren't getting any Oscar attention... while he wasn't working with a fantastic script, he portrayed such a fierceness without ever having to scream, and I commend him for that.

I actually had a problem with this fetchingness - - it kept taking me out of the story. I spent too much time wondering how she ever managed to keep so clean and made up while living in the forest. That one small aspect of the movie kept shouting "Hollywood!" at me...

Started off really rough, but turned into a really well made and thrilling film. I still thought Craig was horrible as the lead and almost single handedly ruined the movie. B+, but could have been in the A range if it wasn't for the acting and slow beginning.

http://nevadasagebrush.com/blog/2009/01/20/%E2%80%98defiance%E2%80%99-reaches-far-but-ultimately-falls-short/

Defiance

From the director of The Last Samurai, I expected a lot more. For me, it felt cheaply made. There wasn't enough strategy, enough opposing the Nazis, enough suspense or fear of impending German forces, and the overall aesthetic was not striking (the dull and damp Lithuanian forest) nor was the cinematography outstanding to compensate. It was a good film. Just a good film. Nothing more. Craig was hit-n-miss with the accent, Jamie Bell plays the same character in every film now (the loyal #2 or under-study with the bravery to take charge), and the Diane Venora look-a-like pretty much just spoke with an American accent the entire time. The music wasn't even spectacular. It was nice to see a young Mia Wasikowska, though, and she did a grand job. I suppose it was too sentimental for my tastes, and the action felt slightly amateur considering Zwick was the director. It started well, and for the first hour I was engaged, but as it dragged on I lost interest. Overall, it just felt like a by-the-numbers war film.

B-