Surprisingly incoherent and boring

Excellent adaptation.

everything you have heard about this movie is true.

It's the kind of movie you'll want to see a second time with someone who hasn't seen it yet, to remember what it was like to watch it for the first time.

This is one of those hate it or love it movies. I personally love this film.For one the dialogue is witty, moronic and amazing at the same time. The acting is nicely done, the soundtrack is amazing as usual. All in all, the life of crime during the 90's in provincial Russia is accurately portrayed.The action scenes are great and plentiful so its easy to pay attention. Not like its trying to deliver a philosophical message. The plot is very simple and the characters are memorable.If however,you are a sensitive viewer, stay away. There is a generous amount of graphic violence, torture, politically incorrect ideas and mild language. If you are a cynic or a Russian angry at the government of the time and this kind of material brings back bad memories, the black humour in this film will not be to your liking, so pass this one up. But if your are looking for a fun way to spend a little less than two hours, don't mind some blood and have an open mind, give this a try.

It was a great time of true freedom. The only freedom portrayed in this movie is the freedom to kill. As if mafia style killings are non-existent now... Why do they try to make the 90s look awful? Because as usually in Russia the production is financed by the government which is "bringing back law and order after dark years of Yeltsin era"?Performance is poor. Actors do successfully portray imbecility and nothing else. I guess this was their task but otherwise there is no directing. The plot is weak. Some scenes and characters make no sense. This is the usual feature of a modern Russian movie. Star cast. Every character is played by some sort of star and it does not matter that this particular star does not fit or appears only for several seconds. Do they respect themselves? Do they think a movie would fall apart without their blessed appearances? Disappointing 3/10. Should be less, but I am sentimental about the time.

Well, the movie is very well done technically... Looks exactly like all these "bandits/gangs" Russian movies from perestroika times. Definitely inspired by "Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels" movie takes another direction and shows us the REAL world of early 90s violent gang wars. Actors are great and atmosphere is superb. I have never enjoyed a Russian mafia movie (Except for Balabanov's "Brother"), but this one got me. The movie takes place in Nizhny Novgorod (Gorky at the time), not Moscow! This is my first complain about the movie. Driving scenes are poorly cut, and I used to live in this city and I notice that in one shot the car is going one direction, but in the next shot it's going the opposite way! You have to pay more attention to things like that (I know that other people who are unfamiliar with this city are not gonna notice that). Another thing is WHY somebody came up with this movie? It shows you the real life as we all know it? If you live in Russia, just get out on a street and look around, very little have changed!

This is truly the best Russuian movie since Brat 2. It is very realistic, bloody, and it precisely depicts one of the most dramatical episodes of the history of the modern Russia. Directing is flawless, the usual Balabanov style rocks. Acting is just superb, especially part by Dmirty Dyzhev, who played psycho hit-man - the new version of fairy-tale folk hero Ivan. All other parts, even the smallest ones, are played by the top Russian actors - Nikita Mihalkov, Viktor Sukhorukov, Andrej Merzlikin, Sergei Makovetskij, you name them. The movie has tons of black humor, but the best episode is the one, in which gangsters with "strategic vision" become member of the Russian Parliament, and those without it lose everything. The soundtrack, consisting of Russian gangster-era pop and alternative, is just as good as OST from "Brat 2". So, to sum up - a true modern masterpiece!