everything you have heard about this movie is true.

A lot of perfectly good film show their cards early, establish a unique premise and let the audience explore a topic at a leisurely pace, without much in terms of surprise. this film is not one of those films.

A movie that not only functions as a solid scarefest but a razor-sharp satire.

Yes, absolutely, there is fun to be had, as well as many, many things to go boom, all amid an atmospheric urban jungle.

This is a movie aimed at a youthful Russian audience with rock music drugs sex and a hero who knocks off Russian Gangsters and makes hoods pay for their tram fares. It shows the new underworld fast lane of Russia in 1997--with its shocking decadence (to Russian audiences).I enjoyed the first 30 minutes or so of it as it is so different and the action was pretty exciting. But then it begins to drag...it needed some editing and a clearer explanation of the story line. What happened exactly during the first killing? Who were the people in the Volvo? Why did his brother turn on him? I suppose if you watched it 2 or 3 times you could catch the story but who wants to see those party scenes again and the skeleton trolley (what function does such a trolley serve?--kind of neat image) going up and down the street and a lot of other excess baggage....just some editing is all that is needed.Also it is filmed in a sepia that is also something you might not want to put yourself through again.Lots of potential.. I am sure it was popular and more versions of this hero will follow--the hero is headed for Moscow in the last scene. But am not sure I want to sign on....this one was fun will look for more from this director rather than sequels.The music kind of makes this thing work but am not interested in purchasing the sound track any more than watching this thing twice.Reading on the internet I discovered Bodrov the protagonist is the son of Bodrov Sr. the director; he is now deceased from an avalanche accident...so there will be no more sequels starring him. However: RECOMMEND

Many people have already stated why this movie is excellent, read through their reviews.This is far better than any Hollywood dribble, as almost always is.I can see why many Westerners don't understand the movie - things aren't fed to you quite as much as they are in Hollywood. You actually need to figure things out for yourself in this film. It's great for it if you actually have a brain.Definitely worth watching. Slightly violent, but worth it.If you can't speak any Russian, chances are you will miss a LOT of the innuendos and not understand a lot of this movie.If you read, most of the "bad" reviews have come from insecure pro-Hollywood people who aren't used to foreign films and people who can't speak the Russian language.

Set in St. Petersburg, where the fall of communism has led to a sort of wild west anarchy between competing sections of the Russian mafia. Into this steps a young man fresh out of Army service, who comes to stay with his older brother who (as it turns out) is himself a hit man. Before long, the younger brother has taken over for the older, and is coolly and efficiently killing off targets and double crossing bosses alike. Sort of a combination art film and gangster action film, this never does much more than entertain, and there's a certain phony James Bond quality to some of the violence. But it's never dull, and has some nice subtle touches, wry comments on the ruthlessness of capitalism and the 'free market' taken to the extreme, and solid performances.

We had a similar lawless period in Bulgaria (the closest satellite to ex-USSR), so I believe that the film is fully correct in this aspect. More important, however, is that of the thousands of films about crimes and criminals, only a few are more or less realistic; my work is closely related to the judicial system, so I know what I'm talking about. Even the real-crime TV shows lie somewhat, their cases carefully selected - always fully resolved, always black and white. For that, and for that alone, Brother deserves a 10/10.Note that in Russia, "kavkazian" (caucasian) stands for immigrants from the southern ex-USSR republics, mostly muslims, a fair share of them involved in criminal activities.