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Movie Overview
Cast
Daniel Craig
Liev Schreiber
Jamie Bell
Director
Edward Zwick
MPAA Rating
R - for violence and language
Defiance (2008)
REVIEWS
NEWS
INTERVIEWS
OTHER
(1 - 38) of 38
OFCS Rating: 47% Rotten
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4/5
"An engaging and inspirational story about the spirit of survival, bravery and brotherhood."
Cut Print Review
Anders Wotzke
3/5
"
Defiance
is without a doubt the best of the Holocaust themed films from 2008. Unfortunately, that may be faint praise indeed."
PopMatters
Bill Gibron
C
"A respectable shot at a Holocaust story with uplifting qualities and plump moral questioning,
Defiance
is a handsome production, just not an especially inspiring one."
BrianOrndorf.com
Brian Orndorf
C
"Historian Nechama Tec's factual book "Defiance: The Story of the Bielski Partisans" provides the basis for an underwhelming war film done in by miscalculated episodes of violence and inept dialogue."
ColeSmithey.com
Cole Smithey
4/5
"For all of its flaws, 'Defiance' presents a fresh and engaging view of World War II that's all the more startling because it's based on the actions of a real Belorussian family."
eFilmCritic.com
Dan Lybarger
1.5/4
"...ultimately does a disservice to the real-life figures that inspired this story."
Reel Film Reviews
David Nusair
C+
"Comes off as flat as latkes."
Ozus' World Movie Reviews
Dennis Schwartz
3/5
"Un drama bélico eficaz que rescata la heroicidad de los hermanos Bielski, protagonistas de un episodio poco conocido de la Segunda Guerra Mundial."
Uruguay Total
Enrique Buchichio
C
"The problem is the screenplay, which has weak, unforceful dialogue and tends to substitute dramatic events for characterization."
Film.com
Eric D. Snider
2.5/4
"In the end it's not the best of the sub-genre and it won't replace "Schindler's List" or "Uprising," but it's a good enough film where Craig and Schreiber shine..."
Cinema Crazed
Felix Vasquez Jr.
"The tone is desaturated gravity, the action is smudged, the Old Testament parables subtle as anvils"
CinePassion
Fernando F. Croce
C
"A powerful tale, but one that's done in so old-fashioned, heavy-handed a fashion that it already seems dated."
One Guy's Opinion
Frank Swietek
1/5
"An action-oriented drama about members of a Jewish resistance movement hiding from and fighting the Nazis in Belorusssia during World War II."
Spirituality and Practice
Frederic and Mary Ann Brussat
B-
"Undercuts its own dramatic concerns by alternating heavy-handed moralism with the style of contemporary action franchises, dulling and smoothing out the horrifying edges of murder."
Modern Fabulousity
Gabriel Shanks
3/4
"Ultimately, the film works not just because of the character arc it provides for its main character but for its ultimate theme of the triumph over adversity."
ReelViews
James Berardinelli
3/4
"simultaneously encourages us to cheer in the aisles while also recognizing the disquiet that must accompany any moment of violence, not matter how seemingly righteous"
Q Network Film Desk
James Kendrick
7/10
"Gets by with a solid traditional mounting and a healthy interest in the dynamics of a growing micro-community."
Window to the Movies
Jeffrey Chen
"Parental Content Review"
Screen It!
Jim Judy
6/10
"A story that ought to be heartbreaking and ennobling...comes across as little more than ordinary."
DVDTown.com
John J. Puccio
1.5/4
"Much of it reminded me of those well-intentioned, ingenuously performed school Holocaust programs like Survivor and The Wall where the actors emote like it's a grand ole mitzvah."
Bangitout.com
Jordan Hiller
1/5
"o Zwick trabaei parapano apo ektyflotika profaneis parallilismoys tis sygkekrimenis istorias me ekeini tis Eksodoy, poy profanos den tis skeftike o Zwick monos toy, o opoios to mono poy epideiknyei synehos, einai i apithanotita toy na epinoisei otidipote"
Movies for the Masses
Joseph Proimakis
7/10
"The story is made a little idealized, but this is a chapter of history that has rarely been explored before."
rec.arts.movies.reviews
Mark R. Leeper
"[T]here isn't a lick of phony sentimentality, not a moment that rings false. It even manages to make us feel as if we
haven't
seen much of this before, even though we have."
Flick Filosopher
MaryAnn Johanson
2.5/5
"A little sentimentality can fuel a lot of action, yet Zwick buries his film in cloying guilt, in the end sinking "Defiance" with the holocaust film's bait."
Film Threat
Matthew Sorrento
2.5/4
"Pretty much the textbook example of a Year-End Prestige Studio Drama."
TheMovieReport.com
Michael Dequina
2.5/4
"
Defiance
plays more like an action movie than the award-worthy prestige film the studio is making it out to be."
Aisle Seat
Mike McGranaghan
B+
"The natural world of the forest is for the escapees a sort of Arden where many things are turned upside down."
Beliefnet
Nell Minow
C
"Smacks every clichéd note with maximum gusto."
Lessons of Darkness
Nick Schager
2/5
"Zwick has once again brought together an intriguing premise and a strong and compelling group of actors and has somehow managed to transform the entire thing into something that is relentlessly flat and banal throughout."
eFilmCritic.com
Peter Sobczynski
3.5/5
"An epic scope weakens what's actually a gritty, intimate drama about survival. But it's a terrific true story."
Shadows on the Wall
Rich Cline
C
"Emotionally robotic and superficially deliberate."
Projection Booth
Rob Humanick
B
"The story needed a new twist."
Reeling Reviews
Robin Clifford
3/5
"an interesting story, sporadically told in an interesting way."
Filmcritic.com
Sean O'Connell
8/10
"It's earnest and intense but it's a shame they didn't tell - as Paul Harvey would say - the rest of the story."
SSG Syndicate
Susan Granger
5/10
"Zwick is a terribly consistent filmmaker, and he's done yet again exactly what he always does.
Defiance
is technically accomplished, and fumbles its story right from the word go."
Antagony & Ecstasy
Tim Brayton
0.5/4
"It's finally happened:
Red Dawn
with Russian Jews. You could go your whole life without conjuring something so perverse."
Film Freak Central
Walter Chaw
"Click here to see review"
Wolf Entertainment Guide
William Wolf
3/5
Read review
Laramie Movie Scope
Robert Roten
(1 - 38) of 38
OFCS Rating: 47% Rotten
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