S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Shadow of the Zone

The acting was decent, even the military lingo and movement, maybe even some tactics. It had a slight Tarkovski vibe as well. However, the budget for this film must have been minuscule. The effects were very basic, for example.

Also, the story has almost no meaning to someone who has not played the games, such as myself. Random people go into the zone and shoot other people for long protracted periods of time, but I don't know who those people are and why I should care. When double or triple allegiances are revealed, I don't even understand the sides. Stranger still, the info dump at the beginning calmly announces stuff that never happened near Chernobyl, making it an alternate history that is never explained. So do yourself a service and read a little about the S. T. A. L. K. E. R. Game if you want to have any chance of understanding the film.

That being said, the film has no meaningful depth. Stuff happens, some mysteries are revealed, then clarified, but nothing is of consequence. It's all mostly atmospheric, where the movie did excel. A decent effort, but I would not recommend it.

Production quality is top notch for a guerilla studio, however, the authenticity to the source material leaves much to be desired. Especially when it comes to costume design for the main cast, Their gear is not conducive to what mercenaries wore in the games and in the time frame of the series, the general aesthetic seemed more to in line with escape from Tarkov than any of the main stalker games. Only Brain and Crow was remotely close to the designs of their video game counterparts (Ecologist and Loner). Not to mention the lack of mutants, and only ONE appearance from an actual anomaly that appeared in the video game. Disappointing watch for veteran viewers, very pleasing for entrance level/outsider viewing.

This movie gives you nothing if you haven't played S. T. A. L. K. E. R., and if you have played S. T. A. L. K. E. R. And lived with Strelok in its deep, desolate, ruined, poetic, dark, eerie, and dangerous world, then you will find this movie an insult to yourself and to that masterpiece of game making.

This film is shallow and worthless, a waste of even its very small $340,000 budget.

About 55 minutes of this film are wasted, and the film could have said All its own tasteless joke in about 15 minutes.

The only three stars I give this movie are because of the acting.

They are good actors who are stuck in a bad story and trying to save the movie from falling apart.

Chris James Berberidis and Michael Scott Crabb are far beyond a movie like this.

The world of S. T. A. L. K. E. R. And its story, creatures, and strange phenomena have great potential and merit to become a great and beautiful film.

A world that has been destroyed by this film.

I have been waiting for the release of this film since it's announcement and I have not been left disappointed

From the very start of this film, it grips you with a well choreographed action scene steeped in an knowledgeable amount of realism you don't see everywhere and the rest of the action in the film follow suit.

The story is easy to follow and straight forward but is by no means lacking, every exposition through dialogue or through the scene feels natural and each scene leaves onto the next leaving the former with distinction.

The cast are brilliant although the dialogue between them is mostly kept brief it's perfect for the setting and keeps everything left to the point. The scenes where Russian is spoken it never feels uncanny and it feels like it really made a big difference. The sets and locations feel like you are in the Exclusion Zone and help you place yourself in the setting.

The costumes and gear are a bit clean especially for the Monolith agents but the gear and weapons feel appropriate and the vests and rigging look full and like they are actually being used properly.

The whole film had me gripped tightly for the approximate hour it took to watch and I will watch it again. Massive props to all the crew for all the hard work they put in. It has paid off, I want to see these folks succeed and move on to bigger things.

I've never played the STALKER games but I loved the book Roadside Picnic by the Strugatsky Brothers, which is very clearly what the game is based on. This takes a more paramilitary approach to the zone than the book, factions fighting over territory with some sporadic anomalies. That's where I was somewhat disappointed.

I enjoyed the paramilitary stuff, I can feel how this is emulating a video game, but I would have liked more anomalies. In this they seem like a bit of a nuisance that can be avoided if you're careful, where in the book they're beyond human understand entirely and the stalkers are simply the people who have good instincts and recognize patterns well enough to get through the zone. Until they eventually don't.

So if you're looking for a Roadside Picnic adaptation this probably won't scratch the itch, but I thought it was better than the Tarkovsky movie. Maybe not as faithful, but certainly more entertaining.