Gagarin: Pionero del espacio

What I like most about this movie is its relative neutrality. Of course, there was that historical, almost 'light the world up' tension between the two superpowers back then, but this one, however, menages to be almost solely Russian. It does not blame either part of the equation. It is Russian because of its characters, who are developed well throughout the movie. What baffles me that, in the same year, Gravity won everything, but this movie wasn't even mentioned. I think, Gravity will soon be forgotten, but this one, about Gagarin, will linger for a long time.

Hands down, this is one of the best movies about space exploration. It is as close to the real events as it can be, no special effects, just a plain story of a country boy, who become an icon of 20th century.

Gagarin was a talented pilot, so were many others, but what set him apart was his demeanour towards his friends and colleague in the space training.

His life path wasn't easy, born to a family of humble peasants, who were pretty beat up by the life after the decimating WWII, he wasn't nurtured as a dreamer or even given any aspirations in his life.

It remains a mystery how Gagarin became such an eternal optimist. His own father refused to believe that it was his son orbiting around the Earth.

This disconnect haunted Gagarin most of his life, and therefore made the movie a true drama of human life and a triumph of a daring explorer, as Gagarin by chance found himself.

If you are looking for a Hollywood flick- look elsewhere, this is a very exact historic drama of a life of a person, who risked everything to be first of a kind, and it will keep you in suspense to the very end.

Is it propaganda? Yes in the same way as The Right Stuff or Apollo 13 are propaganda but this does not detract from the massive technical achievement of the Gagarin's flight.

At that moment the USSR was vastly in advance of US in space technology.

This would change but nothing can change the events of April 1961.

The film is very well made with breathtaking and realistic special effects and fine acting especially by Yaroslav Zhalnin... his Gagarin is intense intelligent and determined.

I imagine he an Neil Armstrong were cut form similar cloth.

Overall this film is a fine drama not afraid to discuss the political games in play.

Worth a view especially for anyone interested in space and as a antidote to the endless mindless CGI fueled science fiction we see in our cinemas.

This film is another cinematic masterpiece in the history of spaceflight. I'm no film expert, but as an American engineer with a love for spaceflight history, I found this to be a very good film in all respects. Technical, drama, realism...all were good in many respects. The Russian cinematic effort and acting that went into this movie is 1st class. As an English speaker with only limited Russian language abilities as of this review, I found it very easy to follow the movie.

Bravo to all those involved in bringing this great story to the movie screen. Russia and all the other former Soviet scientists, engineers, cosmonauts, and everyone ever involved with the former Soviet space program have much to be proud of. Congratulations from America.

The film explores the tale of Yuri Gagarin, the legendary first man in space, who won the space race for the Soviet Union. The viewer is presented with a recap of that memorable day when humanity finally reached the final frontier, with a multitude of flashbacks to Yuri's youth and childhood.

We see Yuri's humble beginnings and his journey through life and the events that shaped him into the man who would become the greatest space explorer in the history of mankind.

The actors do a magnificent job of capturing the raw emotion of that day and present us with a story of all the people responsible for the first flight into space. Particular regard is to be had for Yaroslav Zhalnin who does a stellar job portraying the man himself.

For any fan of film or space exploration.

10/10