Titanium

This is not really a review, it should be taken more as a collection of impressions of the film.

This movie has crazy potential but it's done so badly that it's almost completely wasted. The film wants to be a great film of social criticism with a dystopian future rendered very well and then transformed into a journey of growth of both positive and negative characters. Talking about the characters they are also very well characterized so where does this film lose its potential? Well a lot is lost with terrible special effects and the rest is terribly wasted with the abominable acting performance.

I am still watching the movie as I write this... I am not sure if the script is poor or its the french translation. I will force myself to finish it, but after 30+ minutes it feels like waste of time.

The problems with the film are mostly technical. The actors are really bad and the direction is next to non existent. The special effects are decent, but can't cope with the lack of movie making skills. For some unfathomable reason Vinnie Jones is in this, too.

Where the movie shines, though, is the hero. Where an American movie would have placed some blonde athlete as the protagonist, saving the girl by the power of his muscles and emotions, the Russian hero is a wimpy ex-aparatchic, a smart guy who thinks of solutions in advance of facing the problems. Cold, like a computer, but capable of some human emotions, he survives by the force of his brain. Reminds me of the Russian sci-fi of old, where the actors were all scientists and engineers. We need more of that.

The made for the French version of this film is called Titanium for some dumb reason, so people will have trouble not only hearing of the film, but also finding it on IMDb, like I have and also finding a decent translation.

Bottom line: the low quality in directing and acting make this a movie difficult to recommend. Something hard to understand, since the Russians have a decent film school. I wish they would invest more in Russian sci-fi stories, which are usually refreshingly original and closer to my heart. Or maybe I am just melancholic about my childhood.

I stumbled across this by accident and it ended up being better than expected.

The plot is decent and has enough twists to keep your attention throughout. The black & white setting of the planet gives it a stark feel, which works well. CGI effects are good and the swamp creatures are relatively original.

The acting overall is not great but is definitely passable. Evgeniy Mironov stands out in this respect and his performance was excellent throughout.

The inclusion of Vinnie Jones was slightly bizarre although it did get my attention at the start. I watched it in the original Russian so hearing him dubbed was a little odd but you quickly get used to it.

The ending leaves room for a sequel although as far as I can tell, there has not been one?

In conclusion, it won't go down as classic sci-fi, but it is a solid, decent sci-film film that is well worth watching.

I bought it on bluray because i collect scifi b movies and i was pleasently surprised.

Not original but really atmospheric with great ideas for the monsters, good main character and some cool spaceships designs with a tron flavour. Overall i dont think it has major flaws, its simple but fun, and i really enjoyed it.

Very giod b movie which works great in russian too.