The Beast

Incredibly engaging war film, which is a huge pity. However, this film has far more paradoxes. For example, the fact that the film was made before the fall of the Iron Curtain, filmed by Americans and is actually about Russians, is quite strange. Nevertheless, all military and non-military shots seem very natural and sometimes it is a joy to watch that strange landscape of Afghanistan. At least until a Russian T-55 tank comes on the scene and destroys the whole landscape. Which is probably right in the second minute. If the film had kept such a disgusting course as it did at the beginning, I would give it five stars, but it actually presented the craziest part of that conflict right from the start and then it just smoothly unfolded. The actors themselves also didn't really manage to play anything special. Most of it was played by the tank itself. Nevertheless, this film deserves attention. It is evident that there is still much to discover. (07.05.2012)

To the depths of wartime madness along a Conrad-style journey to the parched, vast horizon and beyond. It is mainly Isham’s background music that is fascinating; it’s like straight out of a creepy horror movie from the 80’s which together with wide-angle shots of the awe-inspiring stony desert create a captivatingly and disturbing atmosphere that helps us to understand the impulsive (and often also illogical) behavior of the characters balancing on the edge (and in some cases dangling over the edge) of sanity. The only criticism maybe just the thick American accents in the mouths of the Soviet heroes and the first third of the movie after an excellent prologue which is standard to the extent that it borders on dullness. (11.08.2014)