Nochnye lastochki

Night Swallows, an excellent true story. Very well done. I hope they continue with the series. Very riveting. Shows compassion in the midst of War. Glad to have watched this.

"Night Witches" was a World War II German nickname for the female military aviators of the 588th Night Bomber Regiment, known later as the 46th "Taman" Guards Night Bomber Aviation Regiment, of the Soviet Air Forces. Though women were initially barred from combat, Soviet Premier Joseph Stalin issued an order on October 8, 1941 to deploy three women's air force units, including the 588th regiment. The regiment, formed by Major Marina Raskova and led by Major Yevdokiya Bershanskaya, was made up primarily of female volunteers in their late teens and early twenties. In this series, we try to see the war and the dangerous missions through the eyes of these women, who are forced to fight the war they hate. A very strong cast helps this series to become a classic.

Interesting and enjoyable. War series are always difficult to portray in scale, technically, and in context; however, I appreciated the telling of the experiences and perspective of these unique pilots.

I've seen many post-Soviet series. From a technical point of view, Night Swallows was quite good: excellent cast, mostly believable characters, authentic equipment, good sound and photography, etc. But as the series went on, the plots just became more and more unbelievable. When they got to their version of "The Dirty Dozen" I had enough and stopped watching. I wish they had stuck to the basic story of the female pilots.

This is a very good drama series that draws you in with action and relationship dynamics. The script does credit to the Russian production and the cast acted convincingly so that you get immersed in the goings on. I had no trouble seeing past what are, at times, rather simple graphics of the aircraft and quickly accepted that as the style of the piece, while the overall drama was really absorbing. They could easily have spent millions more without any improvement in the real quality of the thing. The drama is a condensation of many separate, real events. It feels odd to be exposed to such fine actors as Elizaveta Nilova and Tatyana Arntgolts who have no other US/European exposure. It leaves you wanting more of the stars and another series. OK, its not John Wick or Private Ryan for violence - it brings in humour and romance. It isn't going to be every war film fan's cup of tea, but if you want something cerebral, based on an incredible piece of history, this will do fine.