36 recensioni
The plot in this movie is very thin, and there is not much acting. Val Kilmer--I don't know why he agreed to do this movie--plays a minor role as a gang leader. In short, the movie is tedious to watch.
One guy, who sort of resembles an archeology/religion professor, is exploring a subterranean area of Moscow, that has some history connected to railway construction and the Bolshevik revolution. A church tragedy in that history makes the exploration "spiritual" and spirits of a malevolent intent haunt the underground ruins. A friend of the professor decides to find his friend in the underground and hires a couple of Russian guides. The entire movie is based on this plot and contains much repeated footage of the underground, and some camera effects; much like those seen in "Day Watch", "Night Watch", etc.
One guy, who sort of resembles an archeology/religion professor, is exploring a subterranean area of Moscow, that has some history connected to railway construction and the Bolshevik revolution. A church tragedy in that history makes the exploration "spiritual" and spirits of a malevolent intent haunt the underground ruins. A friend of the professor decides to find his friend in the underground and hires a couple of Russian guides. The entire movie is based on this plot and contains much repeated footage of the underground, and some camera effects; much like those seen in "Day Watch", "Night Watch", etc.
- josepedrocarlos
- 16 ott 2006
- Permalink
- dbborroughs
- 8 dic 2008
- Permalink
In Moscow, the priest Owen (Vincent Gallo) hires a team to guide him in the underworld to find his friend Sergei (Rade Serbedzija) that is missing while researching the legend about the existence of demons and an entrance to hell beneath the city.
I bought this DVD based on the name of Val Kilmer and the interesting pictures on the cover. I am totally disappointed since this film is one of the worst movies I have ever seen. I do not understand how Val Kilmer accepted to participate in this production. There are two shameful reviews in IMDb promoting this movie and they are typically fake, written by users with only one review in this site. There are two possible ways to see this boring and awful film: my wife and I napped many times because of the monotony of this pointless story, and we used the rewind button of the DVD to repeat each lost scene. However, the correct way should have been the use of the fast forward or the stop button, to end this crap faster. My vote is one.
Title (Brazil): "Cidade Sombria" ("Dark City")
I bought this DVD based on the name of Val Kilmer and the interesting pictures on the cover. I am totally disappointed since this film is one of the worst movies I have ever seen. I do not understand how Val Kilmer accepted to participate in this production. There are two shameful reviews in IMDb promoting this movie and they are typically fake, written by users with only one review in this site. There are two possible ways to see this boring and awful film: my wife and I napped many times because of the monotony of this pointless story, and we used the rewind button of the DVD to repeat each lost scene. However, the correct way should have been the use of the fast forward or the stop button, to end this crap faster. My vote is one.
Title (Brazil): "Cidade Sombria" ("Dark City")
- claudio_carvalho
- 12 ott 2007
- Permalink
After watching this film I decided that it was so awful that I must join IMDb and write a review to warn other people of the pit falls of renting/buying this film. To be fair to the film there is only one good section to this film and that is the end credits cause then you know that this crap is well and truly over. I watched it to the end in the hope that I may get a little bit of pleasure out of the film. Just tunnels more tunnels and an old man talking to himself (If you watch this film too many time so will you). As for Val if he keeps selecting films like this he may as well kiss goodbye to his acting career. There is no point in even writing about what is in the film as that has already been done. Keep your money and sanity and keep well clear.
- chris-jones-peter
- 25 ott 2007
- Permalink
I can't remember the worst film I have watched.Total waste of actors and audience time.If you prefer sitting by your TV and think when will be this film over,then this is the right film for you.Maybe this film is recorded to make people believe that Moscow has some mystique past. But I must say I have not expect anything else from Rade Serbedzija,but I have expected more from Vincent Gallo.The film lacks a plot, character,development,denouement.Entire movie is about underground tunnels and how they are mystique.I must be fair there is some camera effect but even that is too poor.Over and over are the same pictures.Total waste of time.
- bojan_agotic
- 9 apr 2007
- Permalink
If you enjoy sitting in the dark, both literally and figuratively, for ninety minutes then this is the movie for you.
A waste of actors, resources and audience time. Ultimately a waste of space. Don't be tempted by the resume. There is nothing of any further substance beyond it. The film lacks all of the basics that you might expect from the genre; plot, character, development, denouement. The cast may perhaps take heart from the knowledge that in this instance their efforts will be entirely forgettable and, given time, their careers may perhaps improve.
Absolute tripe.
A waste of actors, resources and audience time. Ultimately a waste of space. Don't be tempted by the resume. There is nothing of any further substance beyond it. The film lacks all of the basics that you might expect from the genre; plot, character, development, denouement. The cast may perhaps take heart from the knowledge that in this instance their efforts will be entirely forgettable and, given time, their careers may perhaps improve.
Absolute tripe.
There are good movies, and there are bad movies, and then there's Moscow Zero, a film so utterly bad it makes spending a month in solitary with an insurance salesman an attractive entertainment alternative.
With an incomprehensible plot about the gates of Hell opening within a labyrinth of tunnels under Moscow, the film is a mess of repetitive and nonsensical shots of a little girl running through tunnels, red lights floating about, and strange wall shadows, none of which serves to mount any fear or tension, but instead elicits the reaction of "here they go again with the girl (or lights)" from the viewer.
Directed by María Lidón, who for reasons I can only conclude as shame, was billed as Luna, the movie stars Vince Gallo as Owen, an American priest who travels to Moscow in search of Sergei (Rade Serbedzija), a friend and colleague who has gone missing in the tunnels. He enlists the help of a series of locals who, with the exception of Oksana Akinshina, are all portrayed by Spanish actors trying with limited success to inflect Russian accents.
Along the way they cross paths with members of some sort of underground leather-coated religious mafia headed by a portly Val Kilmer, whose career seems to be in such free fall that he's resorted to appearing in dreck like this, and henchman Sage Stallone (Sly's son), who seems to have been cast merely so the Stallone name can be included in the film's marquee.
Apart from watching the troupe try to navigate their way through the tunnels with the aid of a comically drawn map, and repetitive shots of them being followed or eluded by a pale faced young girl, not much else goes on throughout. Dialogue routinely switches between English and Russian, with actors frequently taking turns in each language, and entire conversations are uttered half in one and half in the other with the only apparent reason being they felt like it, adding a frustrating dimension for the viewer, over and above trying to figure out the crazily cobbled together story.
About the only thing Moscow Zero gets right, however, is its title, which could only have rendered a more accurate description of this movie if the word Moscow had been omitted.
With an incomprehensible plot about the gates of Hell opening within a labyrinth of tunnels under Moscow, the film is a mess of repetitive and nonsensical shots of a little girl running through tunnels, red lights floating about, and strange wall shadows, none of which serves to mount any fear or tension, but instead elicits the reaction of "here they go again with the girl (or lights)" from the viewer.
Directed by María Lidón, who for reasons I can only conclude as shame, was billed as Luna, the movie stars Vince Gallo as Owen, an American priest who travels to Moscow in search of Sergei (Rade Serbedzija), a friend and colleague who has gone missing in the tunnels. He enlists the help of a series of locals who, with the exception of Oksana Akinshina, are all portrayed by Spanish actors trying with limited success to inflect Russian accents.
Along the way they cross paths with members of some sort of underground leather-coated religious mafia headed by a portly Val Kilmer, whose career seems to be in such free fall that he's resorted to appearing in dreck like this, and henchman Sage Stallone (Sly's son), who seems to have been cast merely so the Stallone name can be included in the film's marquee.
Apart from watching the troupe try to navigate their way through the tunnels with the aid of a comically drawn map, and repetitive shots of them being followed or eluded by a pale faced young girl, not much else goes on throughout. Dialogue routinely switches between English and Russian, with actors frequently taking turns in each language, and entire conversations are uttered half in one and half in the other with the only apparent reason being they felt like it, adding a frustrating dimension for the viewer, over and above trying to figure out the crazily cobbled together story.
About the only thing Moscow Zero gets right, however, is its title, which could only have rendered a more accurate description of this movie if the word Moscow had been omitted.
- Craig_McPherson
- 27 mag 2009
- Permalink
- barkerking
- 25 nov 2006
- Permalink
If they had a Zero out of 10 I would of entered it. Everyone involved in this film should be ashamed of themselves taking money from the public. I don't know how films like this get released Video or Pay Channel. I am disappointed in Vincent Gallo. Val Kilmer was in it for about 8 minutes, so I can't get that mad at him. Only the person who listed him to be the star in it. It is like Marlon Brando in Superman.There is no plot except Gallo searching and finding his friend in the catacombs. Why they were searching for the gates of hell only the director knows. They should of kept this film in Moscow and burned it for fire to keep all the homeless extras warm for the night. There is nothing more to say about this film that all the other reviewers have written. I wish I could forget this movie it hurts my brain.
- Scott4Jesus
- 1 gen 2009
- Permalink
Very interesting movie. I liked the atmosphere of the church at the beginning and the progressive way down to hell, physically and emotionally, of the characters. I would recommend it. Besides, I liked the actors. Seeing Val, even if he is not a leading role, was very nice. Gallo is always a pleasure, and Rade was a great surprise. I had always seen him as the bad Russian guy, but he seems to have much more than that. I liked the story the children tell. And the main idea underneath the plot. The game between the two realities and the two worlds. Demons feed on fear and there is no worse enemy for man than man himself.
- marvin_looney
- 9 apr 2007
- Permalink
A mysterious and suspenseful film dealing with astonishing happenings. It concerns a priest called Owen : Vincent Gallo who hires a team to guide him into Moscow underword. His purport, along with his companions formed by a couple of Russian natives, is to find his friend Sergei, Rade Serbedzja, who was missing while researching dark legends about fantastic sanatic cults, as well as about a door leading to hell beneath Moscow. As in the bunch of misfits are the following ones : the beautiful Oksana Akinshina, the cunning tracker Joaquin De Almeida, Sage Stallone, among others. Along the way, they encounter scary demons and a group of children haunting them. A film by Luna in which the gates of the underworld have been opened !.
This is a supernatural and suspenseful shocker with thrills, chills and terrifying scenes.This ghost story picture displays lots of creepy, scary happenings and rare moments. It is set against the backdrop of seemingly endless underworld corridors in Moscow city, while a reverend accompanied by a motley group uncover strange evidences of horrifiyng spirits and bizarre devils . It keeps the mystery all around until he final, resulting in a complexing and puzzling conclusion. The main and support cast are acceptable, Vincent Gallo as an obstinate reverend with whom fall the beautiful Oksana Akinshina who previously starred Kyla 4 ever, the Portuguese Joaquin De Almeida, the veteran Joss Ackland, Rade Serbedzja, Sage Stallone who's Sylvester's son, and Spanish actors as Julio Periñan, Alex O'Dogherty, among others.
It packs an atmospheric and eerie musical score by Javier Navarrete, an expert musician who has composed great international successes such as : Pan's labyrinth, Wrath of the titans, Mirrors, Byzantium, Inkheart, Fireflies in the garden, Greta, among others. As well as dark and sinister cinematography by Ricardo Aronovich. The motion picture was regular but professionally directed by Maria Lidon or Luna, in her last one. Lidon is a good filmmaker who has only made three passable films, all of them starred by Joaquin de Almeida : Stranded or Naufragos 2001 with Vincent Gallo, Yo Puta 2004 with Denise Richards, Daryn Hannah and this Moscow Zero. Rating 5.5/10.
This is a supernatural and suspenseful shocker with thrills, chills and terrifying scenes.This ghost story picture displays lots of creepy, scary happenings and rare moments. It is set against the backdrop of seemingly endless underworld corridors in Moscow city, while a reverend accompanied by a motley group uncover strange evidences of horrifiyng spirits and bizarre devils . It keeps the mystery all around until he final, resulting in a complexing and puzzling conclusion. The main and support cast are acceptable, Vincent Gallo as an obstinate reverend with whom fall the beautiful Oksana Akinshina who previously starred Kyla 4 ever, the Portuguese Joaquin De Almeida, the veteran Joss Ackland, Rade Serbedzja, Sage Stallone who's Sylvester's son, and Spanish actors as Julio Periñan, Alex O'Dogherty, among others.
It packs an atmospheric and eerie musical score by Javier Navarrete, an expert musician who has composed great international successes such as : Pan's labyrinth, Wrath of the titans, Mirrors, Byzantium, Inkheart, Fireflies in the garden, Greta, among others. As well as dark and sinister cinematography by Ricardo Aronovich. The motion picture was regular but professionally directed by Maria Lidon or Luna, in her last one. Lidon is a good filmmaker who has only made three passable films, all of them starred by Joaquin de Almeida : Stranded or Naufragos 2001 with Vincent Gallo, Yo Puta 2004 with Denise Richards, Daryn Hannah and this Moscow Zero. Rating 5.5/10.
- ffflamingoes
- 31 dic 2008
- Permalink
- michaelRokeefe
- 20 nov 2008
- Permalink
Val Kilmer is almost nowhere in this film -lucky for him! He plays maybe 30 seconds of screen time and his role is completely irrelevant. After seeing the film I couldn't tell you what "role" he plays in the film!!?? OK... they suck you in the first hour by immersing you in dark underground tunnels. Spooky movies filmed in dark underground tunnels easily suck most people in to last the first 30 minutes to an hour. Then you will begin wondering, "why am I watching this?" I remember thinking how easy it must be for a director/writer to use dark underground labyrinths to make a film. Simply film people wandering around in dark tunnels and you have instant "suspense". But that is where this movie goes no further! We all wonder what goes bump in the night, but there is nothing out there in the dark in this film but more darkness. The story is even worse. Apparently there is an underlying story to the film that I learned of "after" watching the film. But the film uses such poor dialouge that it never came across clearly during the screening. I still don't understand what the writer/director meant to say. Some children trapped underground by a misled sister in Russia? Why? Are they in our time -the same time as the characters? Are they ghosts?
This was an absolutely Horrible film that drew me to write my first IMDb review to warn others to avoid it.
This was an absolutely Horrible film that drew me to write my first IMDb review to warn others to avoid it.
- johnpatrick-3
- 26 nov 2008
- Permalink
I think this film is a bit under-rated(3.4) Well, first the upsides: The plot is quite good. There is a sad and chilling main story behind, that is genuinely impressive. There is a certain atmosphere mainly depending on the space. It is suffocating and has a morbid effect on the viewer. The children's discretion adds up to the dark aura of the film. This is not the kind of film for an average viewer with an expectation to be entertained; you must have some patience to get some taste. I think it is not a typical thriller/horror film with cliché Hollywood scenes. It feels kind of experimental and some credit must be given for that.
The downsides are many: this is also not the kind of movie that can satisfy any good viewer (sorry to say). Despite the toil of all the cast and crew, the result is not bright: -There is a great cast but the acting is somehow missed by the camera... -Although I am a huge fan, I am starting to grow an opinion that Val Kilmer doesn't really know how to choose a right project. Not only is he seen only as long as a cameo, his awesomeness is also totally ignored. How and why his group is dwelling there is a boring riddle that I don't want to solve... -Someone must tell Vincent Gallo that despite having a very characteristic face, being expressionless all the time can only be afforded by great and aged actors... -The screenplay is also bad: the dialogues are not integrated, nor able to add up to anything... -Misleading without intention is frequent. A more dedicated director could have made a great film with this story because here, opportunity to boost the mystery is lost while also some explanatory scenes were omitted as well (such as the revolution incidents) -The motive of the children (are they all children?) is also not clear: is it fear or vengeance or protection or punishment??? Also the sadness of the situation could be emphasized someplace. while a simple reflex of grudge must not be an issue here. -Tension and relief is a chemical must for such movies even for a marginal example. Here both the dialogues+acting and the maze shoots are monotonous. -The relationships between the main characters are totally vague and without any depth. - Just a little more effort on the visual effects could have been much useful. And I don't mean expensive CGI, but some some sweat for editing.
Last word: This movie is only for freaks like me who love to experiment and review new possibilities in cinema and choose to waste time on it.
The downsides are many: this is also not the kind of movie that can satisfy any good viewer (sorry to say). Despite the toil of all the cast and crew, the result is not bright: -There is a great cast but the acting is somehow missed by the camera... -Although I am a huge fan, I am starting to grow an opinion that Val Kilmer doesn't really know how to choose a right project. Not only is he seen only as long as a cameo, his awesomeness is also totally ignored. How and why his group is dwelling there is a boring riddle that I don't want to solve... -Someone must tell Vincent Gallo that despite having a very characteristic face, being expressionless all the time can only be afforded by great and aged actors... -The screenplay is also bad: the dialogues are not integrated, nor able to add up to anything... -Misleading without intention is frequent. A more dedicated director could have made a great film with this story because here, opportunity to boost the mystery is lost while also some explanatory scenes were omitted as well (such as the revolution incidents) -The motive of the children (are they all children?) is also not clear: is it fear or vengeance or protection or punishment??? Also the sadness of the situation could be emphasized someplace. while a simple reflex of grudge must not be an issue here. -Tension and relief is a chemical must for such movies even for a marginal example. Here both the dialogues+acting and the maze shoots are monotonous. -The relationships between the main characters are totally vague and without any depth. - Just a little more effort on the visual effects could have been much useful. And I don't mean expensive CGI, but some some sweat for editing.
Last word: This movie is only for freaks like me who love to experiment and review new possibilities in cinema and choose to waste time on it.
This is by far the worst film i have ever seen it has next to no plot and the plot it does have is very scattered. The story line is lacking in both content, suspense and subtitles, as what would appear to be story line is in Russian. The set appears to be only one room with various lighting effects and at the moment you think something good is about to happen you are let down by the total lack of acting, drama, suspense, horror, gore, story line and mythology. The directing style has been done to death(The fisheye camera). It would seem that the only action in this film is within the last 10 - 15 minutes and the action is made worse by the actors inability to portray the suspense correctly. The only interesting thing about this movie was my dog barking at the surround sound.
- dean-lennard
- 4 nov 2007
- Permalink
This movie is total dreck. I love Val Kilmer and was very surprised earlier this year by "Felon" (a good movie!). The entire DVD box is misleading. Val Kilmer while being billed as one of the main people in this film, is in the movie for about 2 minutes. Even the summary on the back of the DVD is not entirely true. This could have been a good movie but the direction was horrible and the plot was about as thin as a sheet of paper. Usually when a movie is this horrendous you can sit back and laugh at it. This film though is so bad and boring I actually fell asleep to it (which I never do during a movie). AVOID AT ALL COSTS!
- thebigitaly50
- 1 gen 2009
- Permalink
A slow boil that leaves a lot of the plot up for the viewer to decide what to do with. I gave it a solid 5.
- poisonbrothertwo
- 10 ago 2021
- Permalink
I must say the movie is highly under-rated in IMDb. We are not looking here for a typical FBI Thriller or a romantic plot. It is a discovery of a legend by Sergei and this leads to so many discoveries. Although the movie is mostly set in dark and closed alleys, but it was well shot and actually depicts the real feeling as if you are inside that place as defined in the plot.
It is a 'different' kind of a movie and it is actually very nicely done. The story has been treated well.
The Sister tried to protect the kids from daemons that lived at higher levels... and I presume all the kids and the sister died of hunger... But what was not clear is why would children (shadows of daemons) kill people who would come down... Well maybe because all of them had to sacrifice their lives and die of hunger.
It is a 'different' kind of a movie and it is actually very nicely done. The story has been treated well.
The Sister tried to protect the kids from daemons that lived at higher levels... and I presume all the kids and the sister died of hunger... But what was not clear is why would children (shadows of daemons) kill people who would come down... Well maybe because all of them had to sacrifice their lives and die of hunger.
- ranjitsisa
- 22 dic 2008
- Permalink
MOSCOW ZERO is a really dark, mystical and supernatural film. The plot is very straight to follow since it's just about a quest to find SERGEI (played by Rade Serbedzija) an old friend of the father OWEN (played by Vincent Gallo) that went to the catacombs of Moscow alone. The entire movie is passed in there. Though the film has a very open ending, which is, by the way, very well connected to the mysterious and mystical ambiance that is always present
What I appreciated the most in the film was precisely this mystical and supernatural ambiance of this story and the way it was shot. It has a great cinematography, creating very dark and claustrophobic scenarios. The soundtrack is also good, because it also has mysterious, dark, melancholic and melodic music, like a ghost story must have! One other detail that I also appreciated was the fact of the demons were characterized only as shadows, as a dark light in the underworld
I found it so much better than the traditional way of characterize demons as little monsters with sharpened teethes, horns and a back tail
I think this film is very well produced, though I agree it's a bit slow sometimes and could have been more suspenseful. However I also think this melancholy present in the plot and the soundtrack fits perfectly in a dark and mystical story like this.
The acting is reasonably good, but I only would like to mention the Portuguese actor Joaquim de Almeida, playing YURI character It was a surprise to me hearing him speaking some lines in Russian, but he's a "box of surprises" anyway
I also would like to say that I think this movie is too much underrated here on IMDb. I Liked this film, especially because of its ambiance as I said before, and I found pretty absurd that a user can say things like this: "There are two shameful reviews in IMDb promoting this movie and they are typically fake, written by users with only one review in this site". Just because he has more than 3000 reviews he thinks he's opinion is better than anyone else's! It's really sad
My final vote to this different but good film is 7/10.
I think this film is very well produced, though I agree it's a bit slow sometimes and could have been more suspenseful. However I also think this melancholy present in the plot and the soundtrack fits perfectly in a dark and mystical story like this.
The acting is reasonably good, but I only would like to mention the Portuguese actor Joaquim de Almeida, playing YURI character It was a surprise to me hearing him speaking some lines in Russian, but he's a "box of surprises" anyway
I also would like to say that I think this movie is too much underrated here on IMDb. I Liked this film, especially because of its ambiance as I said before, and I found pretty absurd that a user can say things like this: "There are two shameful reviews in IMDb promoting this movie and they are typically fake, written by users with only one review in this site". Just because he has more than 3000 reviews he thinks he's opinion is better than anyone else's! It's really sad
My final vote to this different but good film is 7/10.
This may not be the worst movie ever made, but it is absolutely the most boring. Wonder why it is shot mostly in the dark, and mostly with Vincent Gallo walking away from the camera, or looking down? Because he doesn't want to show his face for actually agreeing to being in this movie. I liked his early stuff, but the pretentiousness of the "Brown Bunny" and then being cast in this drivel knocked him down a peg in my book. And Val Kilmer? I actually want to send him a sympathy card. The "doors" to this??? Actually the casting was the only reason I watched this movie, and Val doesn't even show up until the movie is more than halfway over. Simply a sad movie.