72 metra

This movie seems to be alright. And it desperately tries to feel alright. And for a large part of the population it might be alright, but it isn't.

This movie may have become the greatest drama of recent Russian movie history. However, it's attempt to describe too much at once greatly undermines its quality.

One one hand we have a typical disaster movie - an explosion on a submarine, with all necessary genre "features" - survivors, random acts of heroism etc.

On the other hand we have a standoff between main characters, which could have (only could have) been very intense. Unfotunately, Russia seems to have lost all of its acting talents. These actors simply cannot deliver.

On the third hand (oh, yeah, there's more) we have personal drama of one of the main characters, delivered through a series of flashbacks. Again, it doesn't touch on any emotional level.

On the fourth hand we have a feeble attempt to describe the dire state of Russia'a fleet after the collapse of the Soviet Union. These attempts are not only feeble, but overly nationalistic as well (things like "Hey, Slavs, anybody here" followed by "You are not Ukrainian, are you").

Et cetera, et cetera.

This movie could have been great. It isn't. It may have been Ernst, who didn't let the movie blossom, but you can't blame Ernst for everything, can you? 5/10, not more

The only modern Russian film I can label a total failure (given it was directed by Khotinenko, formerly the leader of 1980s Russian intellectual cinema).

Nothing and nobody worked well in this piece of crap. How can one shoot a film which is a total disaster given the best opportunities provided: Ennio Morricone as a music composer, Chulpan Khamatova (the best Russian cinema actress (along with Ingeborga Dapkunaite)) as a leading female hero, enormous funds of Russia's Channel One, good (meaning cheap:) connections with the military allowing to use resources of the Russian Navy, and a plenty of good examples of "submarine movies"?

It is almost impossible to make a bad submarine movie nowadays given the stunning (e.g. Das Boot by Wolfgang Petersen) or simply good like "K-19" or "U-571" sub film examples. "72m" even employs some citations from Das Boot which means that somebody from the film crew has seen that film:)) - however, ineffectively.

One might argue this was the first experience of a "blockbuster" film by contemporary Russian TV producers - I regret they have not realized that they should better shoot their TV-series crap than to spoil the perception of the great Russian cinema. I mean the great Russian directors like Eisenstein, Kozintsev, Pudovkin, Dovzhenko, Klimov, Tarkovsky, etc. just whirl in their coffins when somebody tries to judge about the Russian cinema thinking of the "72 meters".

The same producers later delivered the "Night Watch" - an evenly questionable, though better shot, piece of film. So there is some hope for Russian viewers - maybe the Channel One (ORT) producers in a dozen of films will learn what they had to learn at a film school which nobody of them have attended.

Please do not waste your time or money. 0/10.

I have seen an advertisment on TV and went to see this film in cinema. And i was shocked - this is really good film with good playing of all actors. This film is provided by Mariccone's music that help the film to be more pretty. I can't say it is action nor comedy. No, it is well-made drama with an atmosphere of the best films, No, it has its own atmosphere - sad, but sometimes funny. The film to think, and to hope, the film to cry and believe in a better life. This is good film about strong mans. I was depressed for some time but when I saw the film the depression left me. I think forever. I hope, 72 metres would be well-comented and become one of the best films in imdb. Big thanks to creators of this film and good kuck to restorated cinema of Russia!

I advice this film to everybody 10/10.