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To the best of my knowledge, Clive Barker is the one who can be credited with pioneering the idea of hell+paradise. According to Barker, hell is not your average general-purpose sink for sinners. No, sir, it's something designed for the exclusive pleasure/torment of those who like to dabble in forbidden S&M practices. So it all looks pretty optimistic in a way: if you ain't much into leather, you've got nothing to worry about; the other way round, if it just happens to be your cup of tea, you've got nothing to worry about either, because then you are guaranteed to spend the eternity in the hellacious company of the Cenobites ("demons to some, angels to others") who's got "such sights to show you" that you'll say along with one of the characters: "I thought I'd gone to the limits. I hadn't". Overall a properly sick and disturbing yet truly imaginative and thought-provoking picture. Recommended as a popular illustration of shrink classics.

A properly light-hearted adaptation of A. Dumas' book, with a lot of singing, dancing, fencing and prancing around.

What's bad about this movie, is that it's ultimately brainless and looks like it was made for 8-year-olds, or something, but this is why I still remember it in the first place - because I first saw it when I was about that age. (True, this is just the age when people normally read the book). Another disadvantage is that the characters don't look like Frenchmen at all - and don't even attempt to, except D'Artagnan and possibly Athos. These two arguably do have something "French" about them.

What's good about this movie is that it offers no angle to the wind, and you can take it in like a glass of beer - you're through before you even know it.

One more thing, the film was obviously made under a strong influence of "CJ Superstar", which shows especially in the fact that Aramis is the spit and image of Ted Neeley (with a goatee) - looks like him and sings like him, though I can't say if that's good or bad.

Score it 3/10.

In Russian cinematic history, this film stands out as one of the high points in projecting the truth about war on screen. It focuses on the tragedy of the expendable man and questions the moral license of those who claim the right to play with his life. The film is full of bitter, unrelenting observation of human nature, combining a brilliant study of characters with a deep insight into relationships between people.

The available English translations of the film's title ("Checkpoint" and "Check-up on the Roads") are incorrect because of an ambiguity in the original name. A more adequate (yet also ambiguous) rendering would be "The Road Test". The idea behind it is the guerilla practice of testing new fighters by sending them on the mission of ambuscading the enemy's vehicles.

This film alone would be enough to earn director Aleksei German the name of a genius of Russian cinema.