Tropa de Élite

My first brazilian film. Intense, hectic, critical and lots of strong violent actions. first act: ok, second act: good, third act: Grandioso! 👍

Elite Squad is an impressive and enjoyable film. It is well directed, well acted, and well worth watching.

There has been a lot of criticism of Elite Squad for being fascist. Such a perspective is disappointingly superficial. Too many critics have failed to distinguish the narrative perspective from the ideological perspective of the film. Although an admittedly reactionary and authoritarian BOPE member, Captain Nascimento, narrates it, the film's primary criticisms are regarding low pay for police, systemic corruption, and, the middle class's irresponsible consumption of drugs. As for any feeling that the brutal violence is justified that a viewer may be left with, this has more to do with the fact that in certain extreme circumstances desperate times call for desperate measures.

Having seen "Cidade de Deus" and thoroughly enjoyed it (though it is a grim tale), I was at first having high hopes for "Tropa de Elite". Then I thought that it could never reach the same high standards, and my hopes were lowered a great deal.

About 3 months ago I happened to see about 15 minutes of the movie, and that lowered my hopes even more. How wrong I was to judge such a great movie on what must have been an unfortunate 15 minutes.

I won't go into detail about the story, but it is both believable and compelling. Like "Cidade..." this is no fairy tale. It's the world as it is. No more, no less. Of course, there might not be that many guns blazing in reality, but I'd reckon this isn't very far off.

We feel the pain, the lack of morale and the despair and hopelessness. Photography is spot on, the acting is both fantastic and realistic. "Tropa de Elite" never went into the big theaters here in Denmark which is rather unfortunate, since it's a true gem. Instead we get loads of mainstream crap. Not to sound arrogant, I watch loads of mainstream movies too (voluntarily, even), but it's movies like this that made me love movies as fondly as I do.

Do yourself a favour. Get this on DVD. See it. Feel the pain. Immerge yourself in the desperate world. Then, after it's all over, enjoy your life, a life that will seem much, much brighter after this.

After watching the amazing movie, City of God, a few years ago I just wanted to see more. Although Tropa de Elite has the same raw look of City of God, is different in content.

Tropa de Elite is about a group of Rio de Janeiro cops that grow tired of the system and declare war against crime and corruption and literally aren't taking any prisoners to the point that you just can't help but cheer for BOPE no matter their brutal methods of interrogation.

The photography is stunning and the action is extreme and realistic. You have to see this movie more than once because there is so much going in terms of plot and action that you might miss it. The story is well put together and the acting is as good as any, but what I liked the most was the sense of dread BOPE was able to inflict on the minds of criminals and corrupt cops. If you like City of God and City of Men, you will absolutely love Tropa de Elite. Highly recommended!

This is a complex film not in plot, but in the weave of the characters and how morality is completely blurred. I have watched over 100 films this year and this is in the top three I've stumbled across.

The acting, cinematography, plot, characters and the way this unfolds, will be loved by any fans of the City of God. This is like a way way more realistic portrayal of why all this dreadful stuff keeps going on, seen from several sides of the conflict.

The three main characters - Captain Niscamento of the Elite squad - paranoid, troubled, stressed but somehow holding it together. Andre Matias, would-be lawyer and member of the squad - who discovers that being a cop will cut him off from living normally. And Neto - hard man, yes sir, no sir tough lead in the squad, spilling lots of claret around the slums.

The sets are amazing - there is a scene in the slums where abandoned houses cover the landscape and are used for a gun battle. The shells of the properties erupt like rotten teeth from the rubble and i've never seen anything like it. There are plenty more examples.

This film is so well made it will appeal to many genre lovers. Hope you enjoy it as much as I did.