Savior
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Movie Reviews of Savior
Movie Review: Gut-wrenching, honest portrayal of life in the Bosnian War
Summary: 5 Stars
I'm not sure that it's appropriate to call a movie like this "wonderful" as it delves into such dark themes and events, but it is a truly honest and admirable movie. If you know nothing of the Bosnian War of the early to mid-1990's, you can still watch this movie and learn about the madness and confusion that took place. Of all of the Bosnian War movies--including "Welcome to Sarajevo," "Shot Through the Heart," "Harrison's Flowers," "Behind Enemy Lines," "No Man's Land," "Pretty Village, Pretty Flame"--this story to me is the greatest war story, meaning that it shows what it's like to try to live in the midst of a war.Dennis Quaid portrays a part that you've never seen him portray before; he's riveting and believable. All of the characters work together to bring out all that is heinous and beautiful about human nature. I'm not easily moved by watching a movie, but several times I found myself pulled into the plot and wrapped up in the events in the lives of the characters. I've never seen another movie that was so capable of causing me to love, hate, and empathize with all of the main characters, with all of those emotions overlapping onto one another. After the movie was over, I found myself deep in reflection, humming the Serbian lullaby that is played throughout the movie. I immediately watched it again.
I can't recommend this movie enough, while at the same time I must caution that it's extremely unsettling and graphic in nature.
FYI, a technical point, the movie does NOT--as others have said--show the Bosnian war's struggle between the Orthodox Serbs and the Catholic Croats (although that is also part of the movie. It more closely settles on the conflict between the Orthodox Serbs and the Bosnian Muslims (or "Bosniaks"). A little knowledge of history is helpful in watching this movie as green was a color formerly reserved for Muslims in the Balkans during Ottoman times, so the Bosniaks are usually shown in the movie wearing green bandanas and armbands, which was often consistent with what really happened.
One other point worth mentioning is this: although most who were there at that time agree that there really were no "good guys" and "bad guys" in the Bosnian War, this film is the most sympathetic toward the Serbs of all the Bosnian War films available in English (with the exception of the Serbian made "Pretty Village, Pretty Flame").
Movie Review: A tough movie to deal with.
Summary: 5 Stars
A warning to all. This is NOT a "feel-good" movie. For how can it be? It is about terrorists and the war in Bosnia, and in representing the insane brutality, this film doesn't waver and pulls no punches. Much like "Schindler's List", you'll sit horrified as this depressing film tells its shattering tale. Here you have a hero that is a mass murderer and cold-blooded sniper for the Serbs -- a killer of men and even children. That should tell you something right there.Dennis Quaid gives the performance of his life as Joshua Rose, a U.S. military officer stationed in France. He needed to give such a performance because the subject matter deserves no less. Matter-of-fact, the acting throughout is top-drawer. Oddly, the beautiful Nastassja Kinski gets a top billing, but she really only has a cameo roll. Especially haunting is Natasa Ninkovic in her roll as Vera, a victim of a Muslim rape and carrying an unwanted child. Peter Antonijevic's direction (see Amazon's review) is steadfast in its relentless pursuit to lay before us the absolute cruelty of ethnic hatreds -- a war where there are no winners, only survivors whose twisted sense of honor leaves us shaking our heads in utter disdain and disbelief.
If you are looking for an action drama with a hero to save the day, look somewhere else. What you get here is heartbreaking reality....a glimpse of "Hell on Earth", of wasted lives, of families being torn apart, and man's incomprehensible inhumanity. This film could easily have been insufferable if it weren't for the thread of hope seeded in the birth of a bastard child. As a viewer, I grasped at this small ray of sunshine as I watched Quaid's character slowly become more human. But if you are seeking a happy ending, this isn't your film either. Ultimately, you do have a sense of hope at the end, but it is fleeting at best. And maybe that is as it should be.
"Savior" must have come and gone very quickly, because I never heard about the film before. That truly is a shame. While one has to be in a special mood to view this film, I promise you it will stick with you. Between 1 and 10, "Savior" gets a solid 9. It is truly unforgettable.
Movie Review: The Clash of Humanity and War
Summary: 5 Stars
This movie brings to life the horror of what war is really about. Civilization becomming zombies to ethnic cleansing...it continues to happen right before our eyes.Dennis Quaid does an EXCELLENT job as an American soldier who witnesses the murder of his wife and son, while in Paris, by terrorists. He reacts the way most people react, with anger and revenge on his mind. This lands him in the Foreign Legion where he continues to kill in anger as a mercenary for the Serbs. He plays the part of a heartless killer, backed by an army, with great conviction.
Natasa Ninkovic plays a Serbian woman who is pregnant by a Muslim rapist. She suffers the fate of many women during war, persecution for something that is not her fault. She is beaten because she carries a Muslim child, disowned and stalked by her family for dishonor and walking through life unsure if she even wants to live. Who would? After giving birth because of the beating she becomes distant and withdrawn only surviving by the protection of Dennis Quaid who comes to her aid and wakes up from his own death trance. The scenes with the baby will rip your heart to pieces, especially when you imagine the reality behind it all. Children are born into this hateful nonsense everyday.
This movie is an excellent saga that brings the truth behind hatred to a head. War kills and creates killers out of people who once were only men. It changes societies into cleansing grounds and forgets the individual heart. This war of the Muslims against the Serbs was mostly ignored in America but it was yet another genocide that needs to be remembered and addressed. The director Peter Antonijevic pulls no punches in dealing with the atrocity head on. Bravo to this film....but shame on acts of war!
Movie Review: A Very Intense Anti-War Film
Summary: 5 Stars
Some reviewers have criticized this film for allegedly being pro-Serb. But this film portrays all sides of the Balkans conflict in a very unflattering light. The real message of this film is not that Serbs are good and their opponents are bad; rather, it is that the Balkan conflict wasn't the simplistic bad, evil Serbs versus the poor, innocent Bosnian Muslims and Croats conflict that was portrayed in the Western news media. The film is historically accurate in the sense that it makes clear that all sides, not just the Serbs, were guilty of war crimes against civilians.
The movie starts out in Paris, where an American (Dennis Quaid) loses his wife and child to Muslim terrorists. After he exacts revenge by taking the the law into his own hands, he flees to the French Foreign Legion under an assumed identity. Seeking to fight for a cause he can believe in, he joins the Serbs fighting against Muslim Bosnians, only to be disillusioned after witnessing Serb brutality against Muslim civilians, and their wrath against a Serb woman whose only crime was to be raped and impregnated by a Muslim. He tries to rescue the Serb woman and her child, and, along the way, witnesses massacres of Serb civilians first by Muslims and then by Croats.
This is, more than anything, an anti-war movie, and it is much better than most other films about the Balkan conflict, which tend to come across as preachy, anti-Serb propaganda.
One thing to note, however, is that while Nastassia Kinsky is given top billing as one of the films stars, she only appears in the film for about five minutes, as Dennis Quaid's wife, before she is killed off.
Movie Review: TOO REAL
Summary: 5 Stars
This film took me utterly by surprise. Frankly, I didn't know to expect. What I thought was going to be a typical Hollywood take on war, was instead a difficult, unflinching and harrowing film about the horrors of war in general and Bosnia in particular. I must admit, on more than one occasion I had to walk away from the screen. I felt helpless and angry and, at points, shivered at the sheer horror of what was unfolding before me. This film is yet another testament to man's inhumanity to man. To be honest, I don't think I shall ever forget this film. Even though I read much on the subject and stared in disbelief at the pictures broadcast on the evening news, "Savior" completely redefined for me this grim and inhumane chapter in modern history. Dennis Quaid gives an honest and gut-felt performance as Joshua (a.k.a. "Guy"); a role very different from anything he's ever done in the past and, quite frankly, unlikely to do again. This film steered clear of Hollywood clichés, gimmicks and tidy endings. This is a movie about the chaos and horror of war and at no time, does anyone attempt to glamorize it, thus diminishing it's power to move and anger, shock and repel. There's no happy ending to be had in this movie. The end only conveys the ultimate truth: In war, there are no winners. I watched this movie with a friend who was reduced to tears by the time the end credits rolled onto the screen. I, on the other hand, was still and speechless. A cathartic experience and one that will be with me for quite a long time. An all around outstanding film, difficult as it was to see.