Exoticalot People are voting emotionally.

Comwayon A Disappointing Continuation

GarnettTeenage The film was still a fun one that will make you laugh and have you leaving the theater feeling like you just stole something valuable and got away with it.

filippaberry84 I think this is a new genre that they're all sort of working their way through it and haven't got all the kinks worked out yet but it's a genre that works for me.

Grant Bullert "Defiance" had potential to be a truly gripping and emotional film, but its lack of depth and less than impressive technical production caused it to fall a bit flat.-Analysis of Notable Work- *Writing/Directing: The story is one of survival and selflessness. It has the workings of a masterpiece, but it felt more as if it was trying to fill all the check-boxes for cliches in a WWII/Holocaust film. The brothers are at odds half way through the film, there is an old man who says it is hopeless (he is proven wrong), there is a weak character who shows strength in the time of need, etc. This wouldn't be a problem on its own, but each of these moments feel forced, and that is why they fail. Edward Zwick delivers moments of greatness, but much of his direction seems to lead this film into areas that have already been well-explored. *Cinematography/Editing: Eduardo Serra puts in average work in this film, enough to get the point across. The camera placement and movement makes us feel like we are in the moment for most of the film, yet other times it feels out of place and as if there was no real goal for telling a certain part of the story visually. There are too many close-ups in this film, which actually takes power away from the characters because it makes the close-ups feel unimportant. The color palette works well; it appears cold and washed-out which adds to the feeling of death and hopelessness the Jews must have felt. The editing is effective and simple. It has its ups and downs. At times there are too many shots of people being hit by bullets that it loses its weight in the storytelling. But overall, the pacing is even and serves the story well. *Dialogue/Acting: There are moments of brilliance and power in some dialogue and monologue scenes. Some characters give inspiring speeches and some scenes feature dramatic face-offs. However, much of the dialogue written for the supporting cast and extras is rather clunky. The delivery of the extras and supporters does not help matters. When it is brought to the audience's attention that the people on screen are, in fact, actors then it takes away the power of the film. A great film can have the audience convinced throughout the entire film that the characters are authentic people. Liev Schreiber and Daniel Craig deliver adequate performances, but nothing more. They hold the film above water, but do not make it soar. *Music/Sound: The music is subtle for much of the film, but it delivers power to the necessary scenes. It does not try to gain the audiences attention, and it serves the film well by doing this. The sound design is one of the strengths of the film. It provides a sense of realism all the way through, apart from maybe one or two scenes. *Production Design/Special Effects: The costume design and set pieces/props feel authentic and serve the story well. It is easy to get wrapped up in the feel of the 1940s while watching this film. The practical effects are impressive and another of the film's strong points. The visual effects/CGI are less powerful and end up hurting the film. One of the most poorly done parts of the film is when the German planes come through to bomb the Jewish refugees. This scene should terrify us, but it more-so looks laughable.*Conclusion: "Defiance" delivers an impressive story, but not the best way it could have. The end result is worth watching, but not life-altering.

FountainPen What was the director thinking, really? I believe he made so many fundamental errors that it is hard to accept from an apparently seasoned professional. Must say this is more the part that Daniel Craig fits into, than James Bond which requires a smooth, suave man. The rough'n'tumble and craggy old Craig indeed looks the part in this flick, though his acting is lacking, lightweight, unconvincing. The whole movie has a feeling of failure about it. One series of scenes involving violent blood & shooting action was ridiculously handled, almost in a Keystone Kops fashion. I couldn't figure out why the characters were speaking Russian, when the film is set in Poland. Who knows? Does the director? Do the actors? Really, a waste of time, but I have resisted rating lower than 3 out of respect for the events portrayed, even though they were portrayed poorly.

studioAT This is one of those decent films that proves that Daniel Craig can actually be more than just James Bond and will be absolutely fine career wise once he hands up the famous tuxedo.Full of good moments and its fair share of gripping scenes this is a decent film that needed more of a publicity/word of mouth following.I enjoyed this film.

Leonard Kniffel There is no limit to my interest in films about World War II, so I am not sure how an interesting movie like Defiance did not catch my attention until eight years after it was made. The film succeeds on many levels in its effort to dispel the notion that all the murdered Jews of Europe went to their deaths without a fight. By dramatizing the true story of the four Bielski brothers and the formation of their community of partisans, Defiance pays tribute at last to this successful effort that saved 1,236 men, women, and children from the Nazi death camps and sent a significant number of their persecutors to their own deaths. For me, the problem with this movie is its handling of history, namely the complete omission of Poland from the narrative. You can almost hear director Edward Zwick trying to untangle the complicated net of ethnic, linguistic, religious, and political loyalties that ripped Poland to shreds as Germany and Russia plotted to divide the nation and exterminate any people who did not fit into their plan for world domination. Zwick's solution? Leave Poland out of the film entirely. The problem with this simplified rendition of history is that it is simply wrong. The Bielski family were Polish Jews. The community the real brothers built in the forests was in the vicinity of Nowogródek in a portion of German-occupied Poland that was annexed by the Soviet Union and made part of Belarus after the war.Of course, this is not a documentary film, any more than Shakespeare's history plays are documentaries. Defiance is based on a true story, but it is a fictionalized account, featuring outstanding performances by Daniel Craig and Liev Schreiber. Not a word of Polish is spoken by anyone in the film, which features dialogue in English, Russian, and German.For historical accounts, better to read two recent English-language books about the Bielski partisans: Defiance (1993) by Nechama Tec and The Bielski Brothers (2004) by Peter Duffy. A book (2009) in Polish by two reporters from Gazeta Wyborcza, Odwet: Prawdziwa historia braci Bielskich (Revenge: The True Story of the Bielski Brothers) focuses on the political and historical context in which the partisans operated, specifically the fighting between Polish and Soviet resistance groups in the Kresy (former Eastern Poland) region.