the audience applauded

This movie feels like it was made purely to piss off people who want good shows

One of the best movies of the year! Incredible from the beginning to the end.

It is neither dumb nor smart enough to be fun, and spends way too much time with its boring human characters.

Contains SPOILERSIn this film, Bodrov goes beyond the anti-war dialog by portraying those who fight the war (at least on the Russian side) as the root cause of the problem. Although it contains many of the same elements as anti-war films produced in the United States, the dichotomy between the two prisoners, Sasha and Vanya, is unique.Introduced to the viewer in a scene in which their unit comes under fire, their reactions to the ambush establish their character differences. Sacha stands in the open, shooting from the hip at anything that moves with a crazed look on his face (anyone who has seen Kubrick's "Full Metal Jacket" will be reminded of Animal Mother). Vanya, on the other hand, hides behind an APC unwilling to shoot back. Sacha's soldier mentality is fully born out when he describes in detail how he will come back to the village and kill his captors. This message is presented to make him sound evil and bloodthirsty, and it also reminds us of a "Full Metal Jacket" character, the helicopter gunman who, when asked how he can shoot women and children responds, 'it's easy, you just don't lead them as much.' On the other hand, Vanya's affection towards his captors is glorified. He forms a bond with a young Chechen girl, fixes clocks for the villagers, and tries to understand their culture. The end is predictably self-serving; one guess as to who lives and who dies. That having been said, this bastardized version of Tolstoy's "A Prisoner in the Caucasus" is worth seeing.

Excellent and intriguing movie about the situation in the kaukasus, a very sensitive movie also which allows you to really live into the situation of the main characters on both sides, with brilliant acting and screenplay.

Sometimes I think you could show two hours of a ploar bear sleeping in a snowstorm and film critics would find some kind of interesting if not apocalyptic story in it. Such is the ability of cinema buffs to project their beliefs, sentiments, and subjective interpretations into film. For this and only this reason can one explain the many awards and nominations of the bleak, tedious, and uneventful "Prisoner of the Mountains". Adapted from a Tolstoy novel about the age old struggle between Russians and Moslems in Chechnya, this film follows the misadventures of two Russian soldiers who are captured and detained by agrarian, mountain dwelling locals. There a prisoner for prisoner swap goes sour. There's some brief violence and scurrying around which takes about 10% of the movie run time. The rest of the time is spent watching the two captive soldiers getting drunk, whittling, chatting with passers-by, and making friends with their captors, etc. Were is not for the fact that the film gives a rare look (for westerners) into the beauty of the mountains and people of Dagestan, this film would be difficult to recommend.

Prisoner of the Mountains is an excellent movie. Vanya a young recruit , and Sasha a veteran soldier in the Russian army are captured after an ambush by the Chechens. The Chechen leader keeps them to trade for his son who is captured by the Russians. Then a friendship develops between the Chechens, and the two Russians. I study Russian in college, and even though the subtitles aren't very accurate at times it still helps. The whole plot is just amazing. It shows the human side of soldiers. I definitly recommend this movie to anyone who hasn't seen it.