Istrebiteli

Did you know that Eketrina Vilkova is the most beautiful woman in acting today? And that her acting skills are second to none. If not just watch this show and others of her movies to see what I say is the truth. She is simply heavenly and has such stage presence. If she was in Hollywood she would be in the top echelon of actors. Scarlett Johansson is a joke in comparison to Vilkova. Hollywood is missing out by not casting her in top movies. The finest actress I've seen in the past decade without a doubt!

Thanks to Amazon Prime Video, I watched all 12 episodes of this series and enjoyed them. After serving in Europe during the Cold War and studying a lot of WW2 military history, I have a pretty solid understanding of Soviet tactics and equipment. "The Attackers" (the title used by Amazon) is realistic on many levels, and reasonably well acted. It's definitely worth watching if you're interested in this aspect of WW2.

As for specific elements, here's my opinion: 1. Aviation scenes: While it appeared to have a lot of CGI inserted, the cockpit close ups looked pretty realistic, as if they were filmed in the air.

2. Military weapons and vehicles: Extremely realistic! Both Soviet and German forces were operating what looked like original trucks, half tracks, and tanks. All of the weapons used by both sides were the real thing, or perfect reproductions.

3. Uniforms: Spot on.

4. Political commentary: This is definitely not a propaganda series. Topics ranged from Stalin's pre-war purges of military leaders, the German war crimes, Soviet war crimes, courage and sacrifice, religion, and ineptitude of higher levels of command.

5. Personal relationships: Sometimes cheesy, but generally authentic. (Reminded me of my deployment to Iraq, especially the humor and sexual tension between male and female soldiers.)

This was a great series.. I'm glad I found it. The story, plot and the actors are fantastic. Some very good actors all the way around.

And Elkatrina Vilkova... omg I'm in love. She is a beautiful lady and great actress. I'm trying to find more movies she's been in. Maryia Andreeva and Anton Sokolov are excellent in this as well. Seriously they're all good, some very prodigious actors in this show.

If this is a typical Russian production I hope Prime or Netflix picks up more of them.

If you like war flicks, especially those with war planes, you don't want to miss this.

Ok let's get the bad out the way first, Subtitles are way too fast making them difficult to read but that doesn't mean you can't follow what's going on, the female pilots are way to glamourous and the male pilots are far too photogenic. It's not a big budget production, but they do well depicting the air battles using the Sturmovik computer game which 'Air Crash investigation' has already done successfully. But they make a good fist of it, most of the story is about the Pilots and groundcrew's interaction, blundering political intrigue, love interests and the sudden loss of colleagues. I have been binge watching during the lockdown and the Attackers have been a pleasant distraction, yes it's a bit far fetched but it give good indication of the trials of the Russian air force in WW2 which had male and female pilots serving together. It's not going to challenge you but you will care about the characters, their losses and their victories whilst it gives a different view of WW2 from the Russian angle. Currnetly watching the 2nd series 'Attackers the last battle' which only has a few of the first cast in, but the women are even more glamourous and the political intregue more vicious!

This miniseries does not offer great acting or visual effects. But let the imagination run wild, and immerse yourself in the "world" it offers: it soon becomes an emotional roller-coaster ride into the unknown, whether it be love or loss. Be assured of moments of sorrow and tears, and moments of joy and laughter as well.