5 Days of War

Based on fact, I'm not familiar with the actual events, and therefore cannot comment on the film's accuracy on the matter.

Regardless, despite mostly negative reviews from critics, I enjoyed '5 Days of War'. I found it very exciting from an entertainment perspective. The film's action sequences are visually stunning. To add to this, the cinematography and photography are also really good.

Rupert Friend stars as a reporter, who lost his girlfriend on a previous mission. Moving on, he is once again on a mission to find the perfect story. Val Kilmer stars as his informant, Dutchman. Along for the ride is his friend and cameraman, Sebastian (Richard Coyle). There's a hint at a love interest here in the form of Tatia (Emmanuelle Chriqui), which - fortunately - never develops. The result is a film that is fast-paced, concentrating only on the events around the war.

I didn't find Andy Garcia believable as President Mikheil Saakashvili - not his accent, nor his performance. I think this was the only element about the movie I didn't like. The film illustrates the danger reporters face for the sake of a story, and also shows the horrors and brutalities of war. There are a few disturbing scenes. Considering the actual war in Georgia on which the movie is based, its unbelievable to think only five days caused so much death, destruction and mayhem...

I've watched '5 Days of War' a few times already and enjoy it every time.

Would I watch it again? Yes.

but a primitive story is too much of one-sided pro-Georgian propaganda.

Good Georgians, bad Russians and nothing in the middle.

Well, AFAIK Georgian government sponsored production so it wasn't for free.

Don't try to learn the history of the conflict after that.

Cold War is back. Seems like Rembo from the 80s but lacks Silvester to save the day.

On the other hand it doesn't look like a typical B-movie it could be considering it's screenplay.

Director's work is good, acting is not too bad. Special effects is nice too excluding cheap gasoline explosions.

Worth watching anyway.

I recognize, I will be subjectively. my ancestors are Georgians and the impression about that war was powerful. so, I love this movie. not very much but it is good price for the ambiguous speech of E.U., U.S.A. in the days of Russian aggression. the Olimpic Games were more important than massacres and cynical experiment of Moscow. yes, it is a propaganda film, not very inspired,naive, some stupid, unrealistic and full of American dusty recipes. an interesting script is prey of special effects. Manicheic rule is not best solution. but , more that, it is a lesson about Georgia existence. crumbs from Cold War, drops of friendship and heroism, cruelty in pure form, pieces of fake moments are ingredients of movie but not its essence. the American style to present fight of David against Goliath is only cloth for a profound story about hidden monsters. in fact, a cry of a lost world for who history is just bad wolf out of rules.

The open sequence is gut wrenchingly brilliant and raw, leaving you genuinely shocked. But as this scene fades into the next it appears the film changed director to one who watched to much A team and any 1960's World war II film.

For a film that purports to be a vision of real life events the director could not have got it more wrong. We are left with ridiculous battle scenes that are in fact an insult to the real horror of war on civilians. Hind gun ships firing bending missiles, the director loves this and we see these Hinds firing their bendy missiles all through out the film. Andy Garcia does his best Borat impression while the most shocking element of all is how much Val Kilmer has let himself go.

If you want to watch a brutal, raw and realistic film on the horrors of war, watch the first scene and then turn your TV off. If you want to watch some comic book propaganda film then keep on watching. A bad film that at the start hinted on how good it could have been!!

My hopes were high for this movie. The War between Georgia and South Ossetia/Russia in August of 2008 would seem to be a great background to a well-plotted, carefully crafted film that captures all the intrigue of the Caucasus. Since the Caucasus have always been a nest of ethnic divisions, political double-dealing and vicious banditry I would think any decent screenwriter and director could piece together a fairly intense thriller, I was so wrong. 5 Days of War is a twisted train wreck of special effects laden action and blatant propaganda with a parade of terrible acting. This film was disappointing on many levels. About 40 minutes into the film I realized I was watching a $20,000,000 piece of pro-Georgian anti-Russian propaganda. If anyone does a little research on this war they will clearly see that both sides committed illegal acts under international law. Georgia is actually blamed for triggering the war by using heavy artillery on a city unprovoked which killed civilians, Russian Peacekeepers and damaged large tracts of the city. Once the war began some Ossetia militias fighting with the Russians committed acts of ethnic cleansing and were not stopped by the Russian Military or Government. Shame on them and shame on Georgia for bombarding a city. I do not have a dog in this fight, I think that the problems of that part of the world should be answered by the countries and governments of that region. It is obvious that the filmmakers feel that we should clearly be supporting Georgia with their charismatic leader Mikheil Saakashvili played by Andy Garcia who is portrayed as a Georgian Thomas Jefferson or JFK. Why the hell did they use Andy Garcia anyway? This movie does nothing to help the outsider with the complexities of the actual situation. I want to know what the target audience was for the filmmakers. I was insulted by this film. Why would they take such a complex and historical subject and simplify it down to this? Westerners are natural allies of the peace-loving, compassionate Georgians therefore the obvious "Bad Guys" are the Russians and South Ossetians who bring murder, terror and misery upon the progressive Georgians. The world isn't so black and white and even us dimwitted moviegoers can appreciate the intricacies of politics in the Caucasus. The protagonist of this wreck is an unlikeable American journalist (Rupert Friend in a career ending role) who jumps head first into danger because of his troubled past. He is surrounded by a cadre of American/British journalists (Val Kilmer, Kenneth Cranham who are both wasted as ridiculous caricatures) who drink hard, take big risks and are always crying about how nobody cares about what is going on in the world. At all times they are protected and working directly on behalf of a group of saintly Georgian soldiers. They do not even pretend to be impartial and objective. The contrived role of Tatia (Emmanuelle Chriqui) is another low point in a film filled with an excruciating level of inaccuracies, clichés and thoughtless dialogue. Special effects are strong, location looks beautiful but the storyline and fact every major character is played by an American or British actor and not native Georgians/Russians is thoughtless and insulting (insulted again). ONLY WASTE YOUR TIME ON THIS FILM IF YOU HAVE TIME TO WASTE AND REALLY WANT TO HAVE YOUR INTELLIGENCE QUESTIONED. A TRAVESTY.