S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Shadow of the Zone

As a long time fan of the game series, directors and actors both did source material justice while providing a new spin on, what would be just one of the stories happening within the Zone, and provided they are a small studio with limited funds and resources, they did amazing job portraying life and dangers in the Zone! I honestly wish they would get proper funding and access to resources to do a full fledged 2-3 hour movie because 1 hour is just not enough for the huge potential that Stalker world offers, and that is also my only complaint, that the runtime is too short for the action - horror - adventure type, but also I understand why that is.

Production quality is top notch for a guerilla studio, however, the authenticity to the source material leaves much to be desired. Especially when it comes to costume design for the main cast, Their gear is not conducive to what mercenaries wore in the games and in the time frame of the series, the general aesthetic seemed more to in line with escape from Tarkov than any of the main stalker games. Only Brain and Crow was remotely close to the designs of their video game counterparts (Ecologist and Loner). Not to mention the lack of mutants, and only ONE appearance from an actual anomaly that appeared in the video game. Disappointing watch for veteran viewers, very pleasing for entrance level/outsider viewing.

At best, this feels like some sort of college project or assignment. Everything in the film is as flimsy as a soaked sheet of newspaper. The lack of budget is the first and most obvious flaw-it shows in every single frame. The action scenes creak like rusty gears. The dialogue sounds like it was written by an AI without a premium subscription.

I'm not even a fan of the video game of the same name, and still, I can't understand how the copyright holder allowed such an abomination to be made-let alone carry the name STALKER (insert dots where necessary).

Honestly, I wouldn't recommend this film to anyone.

This movie gives you nothing if you haven't played S. T. A. L. K. E. R., and if you have played S. T. A. L. K. E. R. And lived with Strelok in its deep, desolate, ruined, poetic, dark, eerie, and dangerous world, then you will find this movie an insult to yourself and to that masterpiece of game making.

This film is shallow and worthless, a waste of even its very small $340,000 budget.

About 55 minutes of this film are wasted, and the film could have said All its own tasteless joke in about 15 minutes.

The only three stars I give this movie are because of the acting.

They are good actors who are stuck in a bad story and trying to save the movie from falling apart.

Chris James Berberidis and Michael Scott Crabb are far beyond a movie like this.

The world of S. T. A. L. K. E. R. And its story, creatures, and strange phenomena have great potential and merit to become a great and beautiful film.

A world that has been destroyed by this film.

The acting was decent, even the military lingo and movement, maybe even some tactics. It had a slight Tarkovski vibe as well. However, the budget for this film must have been minuscule. The effects were very basic, for example.

Also, the story has almost no meaning to someone who has not played the games, such as myself. Random people go into the zone and shoot other people for long protracted periods of time, but I don't know who those people are and why I should care. When double or triple allegiances are revealed, I don't even understand the sides. Stranger still, the info dump at the beginning calmly announces stuff that never happened near Chernobyl, making it an alternate history that is never explained. So do yourself a service and read a little about the S. T. A. L. K. E. R. Game if you want to have any chance of understanding the film.

That being said, the film has no meaningful depth. Stuff happens, some mysteries are revealed, then clarified, but nothing is of consequence. It's all mostly atmospheric, where the movie did excel. A decent effort, but I would not recommend it.