stevelunamotion
Joined Sep 2021
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stevelunamotion's rating
First up: I'd like to contradict one reviewer who apparently had huge problems with the audio. I don't know if he saw Russia House in a movie theater, on disc or via streaming.
As a post-production professional I can assure potential viewers that having seen this film both theatrically and on Amazon Prime (5/20/25) there's *nothing* wrong with the audio. It sounds properly balanced and mixed, and does not smack of being entirely replaced in post with a dry, ambient-free feeling.
As a Connery fan I feel he gave one of his finest post-Bond performances here, as an Everyman stuck literally between two continents and figuratively as a man whose political allegiances become malleable when his first true love knocks him for an unexpected loop much later in life.
Russia House requires a lot of close attention, but the details to this unusual spy story are all in place and shouldn't be confusing to any intelligent viewer, particularly book readers who enjoy more than mere surface plot elements. Russia House contains a rich subtext which I won't spoil.
TBH I think a real Russian actress who speaks English would've made the romance more credible. Pfeiffer's accent cones and goes in degrees that are slightly distracting. But it's stars that get major movies financed and she's not egregiously bad.
The supporting cast of Brits and Americans are low key and convincing. I found there was too much music used like aural wallpaper when none would've been more effective, as the cold and dreary Russia depicted here needs no saccharine music to warm it up.
Recommended for movie lovers who prefer not to have all the plot points handed to them on a silver platter.
As a post-production professional I can assure potential viewers that having seen this film both theatrically and on Amazon Prime (5/20/25) there's *nothing* wrong with the audio. It sounds properly balanced and mixed, and does not smack of being entirely replaced in post with a dry, ambient-free feeling.
As a Connery fan I feel he gave one of his finest post-Bond performances here, as an Everyman stuck literally between two continents and figuratively as a man whose political allegiances become malleable when his first true love knocks him for an unexpected loop much later in life.
Russia House requires a lot of close attention, but the details to this unusual spy story are all in place and shouldn't be confusing to any intelligent viewer, particularly book readers who enjoy more than mere surface plot elements. Russia House contains a rich subtext which I won't spoil.
TBH I think a real Russian actress who speaks English would've made the romance more credible. Pfeiffer's accent cones and goes in degrees that are slightly distracting. But it's stars that get major movies financed and she's not egregiously bad.
The supporting cast of Brits and Americans are low key and convincing. I found there was too much music used like aural wallpaper when none would've been more effective, as the cold and dreary Russia depicted here needs no saccharine music to warm it up.
Recommended for movie lovers who prefer not to have all the plot points handed to them on a silver platter.
I'll keep this brief as many others already cited the plot. The smuggling of industrial diamonds out of Amsterdam lest the Nazis get their hand on them to expand their war effort is just the Maguffin. This could easily have been an episode of the Mission: Impossible TV show.
It's plausible enough (despite my title) and the cast is capable. The fact that it's filmed in an almost documentary style helps considerably. Sans the typical trappings of a romantic subplot and other nonsense it comes off as a tough and gritty mission, though had Hitchcock directed the suspense would've been amped up considerably.
As mentioned elsewhere, some of the editing is a bit choppy. What bothered me the most was the reliance on rear projection for almost all of the car scenes. Yes, it was still being employed in 1959, but such old fashioned trickery was obvious and going out of style.
Enjoyable, semi-realistic espionage. NOTE: the print used on Amazon is not widescreen.
It's plausible enough (despite my title) and the cast is capable. The fact that it's filmed in an almost documentary style helps considerably. Sans the typical trappings of a romantic subplot and other nonsense it comes off as a tough and gritty mission, though had Hitchcock directed the suspense would've been amped up considerably.
As mentioned elsewhere, some of the editing is a bit choppy. What bothered me the most was the reliance on rear projection for almost all of the car scenes. Yes, it was still being employed in 1959, but such old fashioned trickery was obvious and going out of style.
Enjoyable, semi-realistic espionage. NOTE: the print used on Amazon is not widescreen.
Not a bad way to pass the time if you're tired of typical Hollywood product. They throw on the red herrings pretty thick, but the stakes are low for Bana's character, who has no pressing need to solve a murder of an old high school chum.
The ostensible motivation is that Bana's character lied as a teen to possibly cover for a friend in an unrelated case, so he needs to assuage the guilt. Ultimately it has no bearing on the contemporary case, for which he's giving all his time despite having a job elsewhere.
Beware that this print has frequent and arbitrary fade outs right in the middle of dramatic scenes, leading me to believe it's a TV print with built in breaks for commercials. My inner editor screams that it would've been so easy to remove those and keep the tension from dissipating.
The ostensible motivation is that Bana's character lied as a teen to possibly cover for a friend in an unrelated case, so he needs to assuage the guilt. Ultimately it has no bearing on the contemporary case, for which he's giving all his time despite having a job elsewhere.
Beware that this print has frequent and arbitrary fade outs right in the middle of dramatic scenes, leading me to believe it's a TV print with built in breaks for commercials. My inner editor screams that it would've been so easy to remove those and keep the tension from dissipating.