Ukroshcheniye ognya

Ukroshcheniye ognya (1972) is probably among several most important visual documents of the 20th Century Russian\Soviet history. The film was made in dangerous times of the Cold War between the Soviet Union and the USA, when the two superpowers were about to destroy each other with nuclear missiles. Deadly Russian missiles and nuclear explosions, and more interesting stuff is superbly shown in this epic film. It isn't important that the leading character is based on Sergei Korolyov, who was the number one rocket scientist in the Soviet Union. More important about this movie is the rare view through the Iron Curtain, an original insight into the Kremlin politics, some intriguing atmosphere of Soviet secrecy and enigmatic ambiance of Russian military science of that era. Lavrov's acting is superb, as he leads a nice ensemble of top Russian stars, such as Smoktunovsky, Kuznetsova, Gerdt and Popov with other actors. Excellent cinematography with two cameras. Powerful depiction of the first military use of missiles during the Nazi invasion of Russia in WWII. Interesting shots of Russian space centers and rare footages from the original flight of Gagarin - the first man in space. This epic is a desirable collector's item.