Dark Blue World
Sony Pictures Classics | Release Date: December 28, 2001 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
56
METASCORE
Mixed or average reviews based on 23 Critic Reviews
Positive:
12
Mixed:
10
Negative:
1
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
90
TimeRichard Schickel
One thinks of the great opening line of that great novel The Good Soldier: "This is the saddest story I have ever heard." Like many such tales, this one is worth taking to your aching heart.
80
Washington PostStephen Hunter
The last word you'd expect for it is "sweet," yet it is exactly the right one. That may come as no surprise to some, since the director is Jan Sverak, who brought sweetness to his breakthrough film "Koyla," but it caught me by total surprise. Read full review
80
VarietyDerek Elley
Sverak's sheer technical finesse, and ability to spin on a dime between comedy and tragedy, the personal and the historical, makes Dark Blue World succeed where other similarly themed movies, from "Battle of Britain" to "The Blue Max," seem heavy-handed by comparison. Read full review
75
San Francisco ChronicleBob Graham
A crackerjack combination of live action, special effects and recycled footage. Read full review
75
Miami HeraldMarta Barber
Dark Blue World's warm story and beautiful photography almost hits the mark, and it has a great ending. Read full review
75
Philadelphia InquirerSteven Rea
Dark Blue World is "Pearl Harbor" without the product placements, without the Hollywood bombast, and certainly without the $100-million-plus budget. Read full review
75
Chicago TribuneMichael Wilmington
The film mixes unashamed kitsch, thrilling airfight scenes and dark historical drama. But what gives it a special charge is its portrait of the Czech RAF group: what happened to them before, during and after the war. Read full review
75
Boston GlobeJay Carr
A bittersweet world, and it's frankly one to which we've been before, but seldom do we see it rendered with such exquisite, if pained, craftsmanship.
70
New Times (L.A.)Bill Gallo
Whatever Dark Blue World lacks in pyrotechnics it makes up for with richly drawn characters, high drama and pointed historical ironies. Read full review
70
Chicago ReaderLisa Alspector
This is a sensitive and at times gently humorous love-and-war story; the flight scenes are exciting and exquisitely crafted, the characters lovingly drawn. Read full review
67
Seattle Post-IntelligencerWilliam Arnold
It's a mixed blessing. Read full review
63
New York PostLou Lumenick
Has some terrific aerial sequences and exciting dogfights. But the clichés in the script by Zdenek Sverak (the director's father) keep the film firmly grounded when the action's not aloft. Read full review
60
Film ThreatRich Cline
It's hardly a foreign film; this is our common history, and it's a film well worth looking out for. Read full review
60
Los Angeles TimesKevin Thomas
As it stands, Dark Blue World -- for all the considerable skills of the Sveraks and their colleagues on both sides of the camera -- occupies that treacherous territory between art film and popular epic. Read full review
50
Village VoiceJessica Winter
Dark Blue World and Sverak's previous "Kolya" were each written by the director's father, Zdenek, and both films betray a weakness for the symmetrical and sentimental. Read full review
50
Entertainment WeeklyOwen Gleiberman
The aerial-dogfight scenes, which are beautiful and shot through with jittery panic, are notable for not being staged for videogame kicks. Read full review
50
New York Daily NewsJack Mathews
It's the banal romantic triangle that inspired Sverak ("Kolya"), who obviously didn't see "Pearl Harbor" in time to stop himself. Read full review
50
Washington PostDesson Thomson
The movie's ambitions (to pay tribute to the Czech pilots who fought for their country only to be interned later) are not matched by the actual story. Read full review
50
Chicago Sun-TimesRoger Ebert
"Kolya" was as emotionally authentic and original as Dark Blue World is derivative and not compelling. Read full review
50
TV Guide MagazineKen Fox
The widescreen photography is, however, quite beautiful, and the scenes of aerial combat thrillingly staged. Read full review
40
Austin ChronicleMarrit Ingman
The film is more of an old-school wartime yarn, crackling with the expected camaraderie among the hardscrabble volunteers. Read full review
40
The New York TimesA.O. Scott
This could be called an art house version of "Pearl Harbor," except that sounds vaguely nutritious, like fat- free yogurt or a historical episode of A&E's "Biography." But Dark Blue World is all empty carbs, like malted milk balls. Read full review
30
L.A. WeeklyHazel-Dawn Dumpert
The uneasy meeting of cultures is mirrored all too well in the stiff and clumsy direction. Read full review
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