FlossieD

If you are into beheadings, dismemberment, disembowelment and any number of other horrors, then this is the movie for you. But don't go expecting to learn anything of worth about the Mayan culture. What's here has nothing much to do with historical accuracy, apart from the costumes perhaps. This is just a lot of gratuitous gore that makes one wonder about the filmmakers' own personal appetites. The shocking thing to me is that critics are even taking this film seriously. There was so much blood and guts that after a while you have to start laughing for sheer relief from the nonstop violence. Please, please don't take your children to see this movie. If you do you will be sorry before the first scene ends.

This is an excellent movie, one of the best I've seen on the subject of the Bosnian-Serbian war. It says so much in understated action than any amount of proselytizing could say about the futility, and often sad ridiculousness of war. It gave an insight into the personal feelings and resentment of the individual soldiers that I had not previously seen. I especially liked seeing the responses to and by the UN soldiers, the complexity of that situation, and how their hands are tied by bureaucratic wrangling. A superb, highly recommended movie for anyone with an interest in the subject of modern war.

Director Wolf has a small masterpiece in this film, which is about the exploration of a young German-born Russian soldier's attempt to find his roots during the final days of World War II as the Russian Army advances on Berlin. This is also an unsweetened account of the chaos of war. Many suspenseful moments and never boring. Gregor, the nineteen-year-old of the title reveals himself throughout as the confused, self-conscious, prideful and sometimes ruthless young man that he is, not unlike any young man of 19 caught up in wartime situations. Highly recommended. Another look but an unusual one at the war that marked the 20th Century.