User reviews

Historical drama. I will consider the series, and not the full-length picture, since it is the series that fully reveals the intention of director Andrei Kravchuk to show the life of an outstanding Russian naval officer, polar explorer, hero of the Russian-Japanese and World War I, admiral, Supreme Ruler of Russia Alexander Vasilyevich Kolchak. In the year the full-length film was released, the whole of Russia was buzzing, everyone was just talking about this picture, arguing, cursing, and rushed to study the history of the Fatherland, looking for flaws, and found. I myself fell under this wave, and it was from this picture that I came to grips with the study of the Civil War in Russia and the personality of the admiral himself. And I watched this series six times, and now I have revisited it for the seventh time, and I will do it as soon as there is a desire. And here's my brief opinion - One of the best Russian TV series. Of course, there are not only pluses, but also minuses, which slightly (or maybe not) spoil the overall viewing experience, and now we will analyze them. So the pros: 1. Historical events - the First World, February and October revolutions, the Civil War, the Great Siberian Ice Campaign - we will sweep through these difficult and fateful events for Russia in these ten episodes, the creators of the series transferred many historically accurate episodes to the big screen: the sea confrontation with the German and Turkish navies, two revolutions with its successes and horrors, including the massacre of brutal sailors with officers, the confrontation between the authorities and the people of the former empire, a monstrous Civil War that almost devastated our country, especially the creators succeeded in scenes of victims of all these events, not only the military, but also civilians. As a visual aid for history lessons - just right. 2. The life and death of Kolchak - Admiral Kolchak is a rather complex and contradictory historical personality (like everyone else), on the one hand, a hero of several warriors, who has well-deserved awards, an experienced officer, an Arctic explorer, the only senior officer who refused to "persuade" Emperor Nicholas The second to abdicate the throne, in an hour of need, led the White Movement in Siberia and the Far East, his offensive almost ended in the complete defeat of the Red Army, but soon suffered a series of defeats, and soon he was captured and later shot. He did not run, although he could. On the other hand - the terror that unfolded his government in the territory under his control (which cannot be compared with the Red Terror, purely because of its scale), which stirred up the peasants and workers and led them to the Bolsheviks, and the spoiled officer's honor, because he fell in love the wife of his faithful friend, which was very expensive for him and her, and became the cause of many conflicts and crippled lives of people close to them. In the series, they focused on the merits of the admiral, which are obvious to any sane person, but they preferred to mention the shortcomings only in passing, focusing on the admiral's love affairs. The admiral may not have been that licked, but I have no doubt about his sincerity and loyalty to Russia, this is especially evident in the moments of negotiations with the foreign military, where they want to use him as a puppet, and he uses them as much as possible. He has many enemies, but even they admit that they respect the admiral for his honesty and loyalty to the Motherland, and do not care about those labels that have been attached to him since the Civil War, or rather, the Bolshevik agitation. 4. Battle scenes - they were successful, because to deny it means not to have eyes. Dynamic, with the right amount of special effects, blood, dirt and other delights of mankind's favorite pastime. Everything from naval battles to military operations on the Eastern Front of the Civil War. It can be seen that the money was spent exactly here. 5. Emotions - while watching this show, it is impossible not to feel emotions. The joy of victory and the bitterness of defeat. Victories generally only happen at the beginning. Before our eyes, the Russian Empire perished, the Russian Republic did not last long, and finally the RSFSR was formed, and all this in a few years. The classes changed, the nobles felt what it was like to survive with practically nothing, the old notions of honor and duty did not go away for some time. Tsarist Russia was lost. I'm not saying that everything was fine in that country, but there was something that we revived only twenty years later, and then lost again in the nineties, and only now we are reviving them again - serving the Motherland, officer honor, caring for our neighbors, priority loved ones, not oneself beloved, faith in God. There are a lot of dramatic and emotional scenes in the series that cannot leave you indifferent. I myself am a proletarian, a descendant of the Volga peasants, but I sincerely felt sorry for the relatives and friends of the admiral and the family of officers who suffered a terrible punishment, after all, innocent people suffered no less than nobles, because no one considers it simple. Andrey Kravchuk decided to put pressure on the viewer - and it worked. Not a bad move. 6. Famous cast - in this series, almost all famous Russian actors, both old and new schools, play. Here and Anna Kovalchuk as the wife of Admiral Sofia Kolchak, Yegor Beroev as Rear Admiral Mikhail Smirnov, Vladimir Zaitsev as General Zinevich, Alexander Klyukvin as Viktor Pepelyaev and Andrey Tolubeev as Vice Admiral Essen, for whom this role was the last in his life, and many more famous names that I will not list, the creators even invited eminent foreign actors so that they looked convincing in the frame. 7. Music - many will call it "pop" and "blockbuster", but it fits very well into the series, and you can even listen to it separately, and the pleasure will not spoil. The composers have clearly done a great job. Well done! So the disadvantages: 1. Elizaveta Boyarskaya in the role of Anna Timireva - I don't like Boyarskaya, I can't do anything about it, and in the role of Anna she looked extremely lousy. Everything seems to be in place, and the costumes fit well, it seems that the dialogues are written well (except for a couple of places), but in the end - a complete lack of character. Well, she is not suitable for this role. It would be better if the creators took Julia Snegir, by God. 2. Historical inconsistencies - as in any historical series or feature film, there are some. Kolchak's life itself is shown only in the brightest moments, his polar expeditions, the defense of Port Arthur, and many more events that should follow, and the very interrogation that the Socialist-Revolutionaries are conducting, is freely available, and there you will find a lot of frank gag ... This is what everyone is guilty of, and the Admiral is no exception. And it was also the only series in which I watched the opening and ending credits from beginning to end, because it was impossible to tear myself away. As well as from the decoration of this creation. A little about the main characters: 1. Alexander Vasilyevich Kolchak performed by Konstantin Khabensky - Admiral of the Russian Navy and Supreme Ruler of Russia. A man sincerely devoted to his homeland who tried to cleanse Russia of the Bolsheviks, but failed. He accepted his death bravely, with his head held high, and even commanded his execution (this is not in the series). He was an imperfect person, but he was so, according to the code of honor of an officer and a nobleman, and Konstantin Khabensky perfectly embodied the image of this man. He generally succeeds in such roles, remember the recent TV series "Trotsky", where they played the Demon of the Revolution. Bravo Constantine! 2. Vladimir Oskarovich Kappel performed by Sergei Bezrukov - general, commander of the most efficient army of Admiral Kolchak, a patriot of Russia and an ardent enemy of the Bolsheviks, who more than once saved the situation at the front. Sergei again took up his usual role - and again - success, so Bravo! 3. Sergey Timirev, performed by Vladislav Vetrov, is a close friend and colleague of Kolchak in the Baltic Fleet, from whom the latter practically stole his wife. After that, life almost went downhill. An officer devoted to the Motherland, to whom fate was unfair. Vladislav played this role well. Dialogues, intonations, the voice itself fit this image. Bravo! He did not deserve the highest mark, due to the above shortcomings, but for the quality he is ready to give a good mark. As a result, we have a good historical series about the life and death of Admiral Alexander Vasilyevich Kolchak, with excellent music, costumes and decorations, an emotional script and great acting work. I also liked the final shots. They may be slightly naive, but they provide a portion of the pleasure, that's for sure!

This TV miniseries (10 series in total) is the extended version of the two hour long feature film 'Admiral'. While the shorter theatrical version of 'Admiral' centers primarily on the love story between Admiral Kolchak and Anna Timireva, the miniseries is a much more expanded look at the Russian leader's life and struggles during the Russian civil war. Indeed, the theatrical version of this film suffers from being almost too fast paced, because of the need to condense the storyline. Seeing the miniseries puts everything in balance.

'Admiral' is a first in that it moves counter to the trend of Soviet era films, which had a clear political agenda especially when discussing revolutionary history. It also doesn't present the events merely from the side, as with Boris Pasternak's 'Doctor Zhivago'. 'Admiral' puts the viewer right into the seat of the anti-bolshevik movement, offering a realistic, historically respectful perspective of the events of the day. Kolchak is portrayed in a balanced manner as a man who was led by vision, honor, and patriotism, and also as one with a complex human side - torn between loyalty to family, and his passion for Timireva.

Excellent performances are accompanied by quality cinematography, well paced editing, tasteful music, realistic costumes, and rich locations from Siberia to Paris. The battle scenes are realistic while being devoid of Hollywoodisms.

Two points of critique: even though this miniseries manages to cover a lot of territory, it lacks the more laid back pacing of the Soviet era miniseries, such as the 17 Moments of Spring, which allowed more time to absorb scenes. The second critique is that Boyarskaya's portrayal of Timireva while satisfactory is somewhat lacking in depth at times; the substance of the relationship is not sufficiently explored despite the screen time allocated to it. Outside of that, quite a milestone for Russian television and a must see for Russian cinema aficionados and history buffs, if you can find a subtitled version of it...

It is a very extraordinary and powerful film. I was crying several times during the movie like it was me who was suffering. I was deeply touched inside of my heart after I watched this movie. I highly recommend this movie to everyone!!! Too bad there are not many movies like this one. Our kids are growing watching junkie movies and the we are wondering what is going on with younger generation... This movie will make you think about your duty, priorities, life, faith, and too many other important things we never think about in our lives on the daily basis. This movie is about sacrifice for your country (to the highest possible level), military honor (to the very last blood drop), patriotism, intellect, intelligence, love, faith… It is simply an amazing movie that makes you think, tear, laugh...