Priklyucheniya Sherloka Kholmsa i doktora Vatsona: Sobaka Baskerviley

Once, a poll was conducted in England, and Vassily Livanov and Vitaliy Solomin were found the best ever impersonation of Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson in the movies all over the world. Here, the brilliant couple delivers again. In addition, the winning plot and the magnificent guest performances of Nikita Michalkov as Sir Henry and of Oleg Yankovsky as Stapleton make this movie exceptional even amongst the Russian Sherlock Holmes series. A must!

Russians are good at adapting English detective stories.Didn't they make the best version of Agatha Christie's "Ten little N....." aka "ten little Indians" aka "and then there were none" ,the only one which followed the plot of the novel till the end.

"Hound" is no exception.Its unusual length is explained by the fact it was a two-part MTV work.(One should notice that Russian "ten little N..." had a running time of two hours +)Well acted ,the movie sounds English wherever it takes place,in Baker street in Sherlock's flat -the streets of London are the only flaw ,but we do not see them that much- or in the Baskerville castle or on the moor .The butler serving porridge every morning could not sound more English.The flashback concerning Hugo Baskerville receives a treatment which retains its mystery.The landscapes and the color are excellent and the subtitles allow non-Russian-speaking to follow the plot ,in case they would not know it,which is ,like for Christie's novel ,dubious for whodunit buffs.

Russian TV version of the story that was filmed as part of a series and then released elsewhere as a stand alone film. For the most part an excellent adaption of the story with a real genuine chemistry and warmth between Homes and Watson that would seem to predate the Jermey Brett series. This feels the way the stories should feel. If there are any flaws in the film it would be that Henry Baskerville is not English raised in North America rather he's decidedly Russian in manner, The moors, while very ominous-possibly the most in any adaptation-are not quite England and the last "flaw" is that the film is overly faithful to the story and runs two and a half hours.They are minor flaws and should not keep you from watching one of the better Holmes films made.

If you have slightest possibility to get it and if you enjoy reading Conan Doyle, you have to get it! It's the best film about Holmes I've ever seen! Its director made no one step from the original plot and kept everything safe. You will appreciate warm irony and humor of this film. It's a masterpiece.

When you visit museum of Sherlock Holmes in London, Baker St., first thing that you see on the second floor is a number of pictures of all actors who ever played Holmes in the movies, and in the middle of that compilation you can see the biggest photo - the photo of Vasiliy Livanov.

All world cinematographers (including British ones) have admitted that Vasiliy Livanov is the best Sherlock Holmes that ever appeared on screen. And it is true. There were made several movies about the adventures of Sherlock Holmes and Dr.Watson for Russian TV in the late 70-ies and early 80-ies, including such films as The Meeting, The Hound of the Baskervilles, Bloody Script and many more (about 10 total number). Livanov as Sherlock, Vitaliy Solomin as Watson, Rina Zelenaya as Mrs.Hudson, Borislav Brondukov as Inspector Lestrade all make these series directed by Igor Maslennikov an all-time masterpiece. Almost all of actors started their careers in theaters (Livanov, Solomin and Zelenaya continued giving performances even after their success on the big screen) which gave films amazing atmosphere of reality. The images of old London were carefully reconstructed in Baltic cities almost untouched by time which gave movies a lot of similarities with real XIX century London. All movies (it wouldn't be right to call them episodes) are set on very high level, and from the opening unforgettable music score they charm every viewer. It's very hard to distinguish the best film of the series, every of them has something unique. The Hound of the Baskervilles for example has the greatest number of participating celebrities, including Nikita Mikhalkov (internationally known for directing and playing in such movies like An Unfinished Piece for Mechanical Piano, The Barber of Siberia, Oscar-winning Burnt by the Sun etc.), Oleg Yankovskiy (Nostalgia by Tarkovskiy), Evgeniy Steblov and many more. This set of movies is a must-see for everyone whether you've read the book or not. It's rather difficult to find these movies with English subtitles but they exist and trust me, they worth searching for them. 10 out of 10 for all films.