Mongol: The Rise of Genghis Khan — A deep dive into mongol life — 8*/10

• Scenario: Very slow development, unusual amount of set backs, and very quick passes over achievements. Don't watch it for a sense of victory or for the conquests, there are almost none. It's really just about the rise, the very early parts of it. The way it plunges you in the era, though, is without par, very realistic. Captivating, once you get past the hardships.
• Dialogs: Solid, even if it's difficult to say since it's in a foreign language.
• Characters: Well developed for the most part.
• Actors: Good acting, even though it's not easy to tell in a foreign language.
• Photography: Solid, often beautiful.
• Sound: Very good music and score.
• Special effects: None.
• Synopsis & information: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0416044/
• Who is it for? Those wanting to get an understanding of what the early years of Genghis Khan might have been like and life on the steps. Just don't take the events as historical facts.

Day Watch — The grimy Russian fantasy finally makes a lot of sense — 8*/10

• Scenario: It's full of nice ideas and details. After seeing the confusing first instalment (read review here), it's a joy to watch this final chapter that takes the time to explain a few things without doing so or patronizing us. It also heightens the value of having watch the preceding chapter. One of the rare sequel that's better than the original. I guess money helped.
• Dialogs: As previously.
• Characters: Much more depth to the characters now.
• Actors: Even better work on the part of everyone.
• Photography: Improved camera work probably because they didn't have to hide things anymore.
• Sound: As previously.
• Special effects: Much improved, even good looking.
• Synopsis & information: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0409904/
• Who is it for? For all fantasy lovers, especially those who have watched the first chapter. Or anyone looking for a flick with a grimy setting.

Night Watch — Fantasy lovers will be interested in this grimy Russian battle — 7*/10

• Scenario: Very interesting background story and setup, as well as a world with captivating inner workings. Good intro, intrigue and ending.
• Dialogs: Won't comment on the account of being in Russian. The subtitles have nice animation, making the dialogs easier to assimilate for the readers.
• Characters: The main one is well developed, the others are simple, but varied and non-stereotypical.
• Actors: Good work, but difficult to say when you don't speak a word of Russian.
• Photography: The choppy camera work in combat scenes serves nicely, but is probably there to simplify the edit and cover budget limitations. The grimy sets and decors are very barbaric and well used. Nice costumes.
• Sound: Nice music and score.
• Special effects: Acceptable, but mostly covered up in edit to save money, because the few ones that are there in full are not that good.
• Synopsis & information: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0403358/
• Who is it for? Mostly for fantasy fans who want to see something different. Others should probably pass.

9th Company — Be there and live the trauma — 9*/10

9th Company a Russian film giving a taste of their recent military past.

The good. Smooth setup, you get to know the characters and the situation pretty well. Very realistic situations, actions, reactions and battles. Extremely compelling story. Solid scenario that makes the us transition from the unknown to the personal without ever dropping our attention.

The bad. Jarring first few moments, very confusing. The subtitle are sometime difficult to follow.

The ugly. Nothing.

The result. A gripping reality-like war movie from the Russian Afghan War.

9*/10