Brigada

This is truly the greatest modern film about mafia! It is so realistic! Anybody who lived in Russia in the 1990s will tell you that this movie brilliantly reflects the social reality of that time period. At the same time the movie has an exciting and gripping plot that literally glues you to the television in a way few movies ever do. You are literally sitting at the edge of of your seat throughout the entire film. Personally, I think this movie is even better than the Godfather series.

All the negative comments speak about how this movie is "immoral" and give that as THE reason for giving the movie a low score. But this is simply not true! Yes, the protagonists of the movie are mafiosos. But they are no more romanticized then the protagonists of Godfather were. No one gives the Godfather series a low rating just on those grounds? I think it's just that because this movie was so popular in Russia and a lot of kids/teenagers watched it and started fantasizing about becoming mafia gangsters. And some parents got very upset about it. That is the only reason for giving a lower rating to this movie! Those parents just needed to keep the children away from the TV. This movie is not for kids anyway.

You know, I remember the time when all the kids were trying to look and act like Sasha Bely and his fellows. There were different bands in the streets, who called themselves "Brigada" and they thought that they were cool. It was hysteria and obsession. But it proves the great influence this movie can have on you.

Actually, it happened for real. All this Russian mafia, brutality, numerous crimes really took place when the era of Soviet Union was coming to its final. The only drawback of the movie that Sasha Bely and his band seem to be heroes, but in fact they were just criminals. Though it's a film, isn't it?

Those who do not like criminal dramas can find there a wonderful story of friendship and love, and excellent playing. Actors have done a wonderful job. So enjoy the movie!

I think"Brigada" is one of the best shows I have seen on TV in last few years.I have watched it twice,the crew,music,idea everything I like when it comes to mafia stories.Also I can understand how can bad subtitles spoil a good story,but that wasn't my problem and my friends(Russian is very similar to Serbian).My only hope is that there will be more shows like"Brigada"to come from Russia(Hollywood is having problem with stories that have already been told)I love the passion and dedication of actors,which you can not see in Hollywood production.

PS(I have told everyone I know about how excellent"Brigada"is and now all my friend are fascinated with Sergei Bezrukov)

This movie is similar to the reality in Russia in the past and what is at present in my country - Bulgaria... It's about an enormous Russian mafia-empire built with the common effort of a young Russian mafioso called Sasha Belov and his BRIGADA (which means Brigade from Russian). The film is based on true story of a real criminal group and the film shows the whole history of 4 old friends helping each other from bad interests.

I think that most of the English-speaking viewers can't really understand some things, which are happening in the movie, but for me as a Bulgarian (my culture and the Russian culture are almost one and the same) everything from the mafia-thing in Russia is clear to me. There was a user of IMDb who said, that the subs were not very good. It's because there are jokes and phrases that aren't understandable to others except east-European countries. It's better to read something about the Russian mafia, before you watch the series , that will help you understand thе film better. For me this film is a blockbuster, in fact the nowadays American rubbish that we watch is 0 in compare to this unbelievable true story of Sasha Belov and his BRIGADA.

10 out of 10

There should be more detail on the movie in IMDB. For now, I assume it is the multipart series that we have on DVD. It is an excellent movie and my wife loves it. Unfortunately, I speak very little Russian. I think it would have an much better audience in the US if the subtitles were redone. In fact, my only dislike for the movie so far is related to subtitles.

They are very incomplete. Some of them are even in Russian. Not only that, but the names of the characters should not be translated. If someone is saying "Belov", I don't think it should be translated as "White". The same with "Bee", and the others. One subtitle even said "Michael Gorbachev". There were several instances of the word "dump" showing up instead of "dumb". A police complaint was referred to as an "application" and another similar word to application that would not be understood as "complaint". In my mind, the person who wrote the subtitles should find another job.

So, Avatar.. Fix the subtitles and you may have a hit in the English speaking world.