Read Mixed User Reviews for Defiance (2008)

5

J-ShapAug 26, 2011

A remarkable true story is left as a rather pedestrian and uninspired action flick in the hands of director Edward Zwick. We are left with routine drama and routine action, with self-important imagery and dialogue to lift itself above that.

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6

avatar16Jan 23, 2012

Les InsurgÃ©s Ã©tait sur le papier un sujet en or, surtout s'il se trouvait entre les mains d'un rÃ©alisateur comme Edward Zwick. Malheureusement, le film est bien en dessous de ce que j'attendais...Les InsurgÃ©s Ã©tait sur le papier un sujet en or, surtout s'il se trouvait entre les mains d'un rÃ©alisateur comme Edward Zwick. Malheureusement, le film est bien en dessous de ce que j'attendais... Pourquoi? A cause d'un travail technique (mise en scÃ¨ne entre autre) trop acadÃ©mique? Ce n'est pas dÃ©rangeant, au final(il n'y a qu'Ã voir ce que cela a donnÃ© sur l'excellent Le Dernier SamouraÃ¯)... Je dirai plutÃ´t que le film se perd surtout dans sa premiÃ¨re moitiÃ©, qui semble montÃ©e Ã la va-vite et qui fait perdre tout intÃ©rÃªt que l'on puisse porter Ã cette histoire; et que cela manque d'une bonne BO de qualitÃ© (Hans Zimmer sur Le Dernier SamouraÃ¯, encore). Heureusement, Les InsurgÃ©s n'est pas un film Ã jeter, grÃ¢ce Ã sa seconde partie, bien plus prenante et palpitante. De plus, le film est aidÃ© par un casting honorable. Mais quand mÃªme, aprÃ¨s avoir vu Blood Diamond, difficile de ne pas Ãªtre dÃ©Ã§u par ce film quasi "brouillon" et quelque peu acadÃ©mique...… Expand

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5

Tss5078Feb 24, 2013

Defiance is the real life story of the Bielski brothers, who during WWII in Belarus, saved and protected 1200 fellow Jews from the Nazis. The Bielski's never sought recognition for what they did, however the descendents of the people theyDefiance is the real life story of the Bielski brothers, who during WWII in Belarus, saved and protected 1200 fellow Jews from the Nazis. The Bielski's never sought recognition for what they did, however the descendents of the people they saved now number in the tens of thousands. The story is truly inspiring, as for the movie, it moved very slowly and like all war stories, was much too long. You quickly see that the story repeats itself over and over again. The film starts off very strong and than just flat-lines. It's a shame, because it's a great cast and an inspiring, relatively unknown story, but it just doesn't go anywhere.… Expand

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6

A_NorthernerJun 22, 2013

I wouldn't go out of my way to watch it again. Defiance is a fairly run of the mill film that, considering the subject matter, is not as inspiring or emotionally intense as it could have been. The plot just seems to move along without beingI wouldn't go out of my way to watch it again. Defiance is a fairly run of the mill film that, considering the subject matter, is not as inspiring or emotionally intense as it could have been. The plot just seems to move along without being able to grab you and pull you in to the plight of the Bielski group, despite the deaths and suffering of it's members. Also, the plot doesn't really feature any twists, none in fact, so any increase in excitement or suspense is really limited.

The acting scores a plus for the film, if you are prepared to accept some fluctuating Eastern European accents. All three leads turn in good performances but the supporting cast of Alexa Davalos and Allan Corduner are more than worthy of equal mention.

A well made and acted film that surprisingly lacks in genuine drama and emotion.… Expand

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4

juliankennedy23Jul 20, 2014

Defiance: 4 out of 10: I have a soft spot for director Edward Zwick. I have a real soft spot for his Blood Diamond flick despite its pedestrian script and subconscious racism. In addition, The Last Samurai is another film of his that I lovedDefiance: 4 out of 10: I have a soft spot for director Edward Zwick. I have a real soft spot for his Blood Diamond flick despite its pedestrian script and subconscious racism. In addition, The Last Samurai is another film of his that I loved despite its historical inaccuracies and bizarre lead casting. Defiance shares many of the same endemic faults that plagued those two films. I was not able to brush the faults off this time; I found them even more discordant as the film went on.

Problem number one is Daniel Craig. He does not look like an Eastern Polish Jew. He looks like he misplaced his Oberstleutnant uniform at the Wehrmacht’s cleaners. Even if you were able to accept Daniel Craig as some sort of Paul Newman style Jew who parachuted into Eastern Europe, only Helen Keller would buy him as Lev Schreiber’s brother. A mutant dancing Australian is a more believable brother for Schreiber than Craig is.

In fact, Craig and Schreiber seem to be in two different films and Schreiber is in the much better one. Schreiber seems to be in the here and now with a strong subtle performance that is the best thing in the film. Daniel Craig’s performance is as shaky as his accent. He, of course, is forced to do things like give Braveheart speeches from the back of a white horse, so the fault is hardly his alone. And saying platitudes such as “Our vengeance is to live" and "Every day of freedom is like an act of faith" while gazing at the camera with those, just give me an Oscar and I will go back to entertaining you, baby blues doesn't help his cause either.

Problem number Two is best summarized by one of my favorite ladies I don't think we really need another film about the Holocaust, do we? It is like, how many have there been, you know. We get it. It was grim. Move on. No, I am doing it because I have noticed that if you do a film about the Holocaust you are guaranteed an Oscar ... That is why I am doing it. Schindler's bloody List. The Pianist. Oscars coming out of their arse.

— Kate Winslet (Winner of the 2008 Best Actress Oscar for Holocaust drama The Reader) in Extras, 2005

Defiance is clearly Oscar bait. In one scene Daniel “Moses” Craig leads his people through the reeds and swamps and away from the forest (and inexplicably away from decent cover and fortifications) until a Rabbi collapses, sputters out "I almost lost my faith but you were sent by God to save us” and then promptly dies... oy vey. It really is not that easy to make a mainstream Holocaust film, release it in December, and get no nominations* for Golden Globes or Oscars. Defiance is clearly trying too hard.

The third problem is that a third rate cast of Fiddler on the Roof somehow showed up lost in the woods. Somebody call the Jewish stereotype prison, cause there has been a mass escape. Everyone is here. The nebbish intellectual who cannot hammer a nail, the passive Jews who are unwilling to fight, the greedy Jew more interested in money than his fellow man. Good lord, it is as if Leni Reisenthal’s travelling troop of stereotypes showed up. Thank goodness, Daniel Craig is here to straighten them all out and lead them to the Promised Land. Yup blond blue eyed Daniel Craig…. Yeah the movie has issues.

*No nominations except, inexplicably, for its score; which at two hours of crying violins will test any ones nerves.… Expand

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6

MovieMasterEddyApr 4, 2016

A Society in the Forest, Banding Together to Escape Persecution.

Around the midpoint of “Defiance,” Tuvia Bielski (Daniel Craig) sits astride his horse, welcoming new arrivals to his encampment in the Belarussian forest. It is late inA Society in the Forest, Banding Together to Escape Persecution.

Around the midpoint of “Defiance,” Tuvia Bielski (Daniel Craig) sits astride his horse, welcoming new arrivals to his encampment in the Belarussian forest. It is late in 1941, and the newcomers, like the other people in this makeshift settlement, are Jews from surrounding towns and villages who have fled the savagery of the German Army and its local collaborators. Tuvia addresses these terrified survivors in a calm, authoritative voice, assuring them that here, under his protection, they will be free and safe. A little boy looks up in amazement at this heroic figure and asks his mother, “Is he a Jew?”

“Jews don’t fight,” a Russian officer remarks when he meets Tuvia and his younger, angrier brother Zus (Liev Schreiber). “These Jews do” is the response, and also the gist of Edward Zwick’s stiff, musclebound new movie. Based on a book by Nechama Tec, “Defiance” tells the true and astonishing story of the Bielski partisans, who fought the Nazis and rescued hundreds of Jews through the darkest years of war and genocide.

Tuvia and Zus — along with two other brothers, Asael (Jamie Bell) and Aron (George MacKay), who is still a child — meet up in the forest after their parents have been murdered by local authorities working in league with the German invaders. The Bielski boys are rough characters — a history of smuggling and petty criminality is hinted at — who can hold their vodka and know how to shoot, how to steal and how to navigate the dense and trackless forests.

In contrast, many of the people they rescue are what Zus calls malbushim, the Hebrew word for clothes, which he uses to describe people he thinks are worthless. And this film’s characters more or less are what they wear. Tuvia cuts a dashing figure in his brown leather jacket. An older schoolteacher (Allan Corduner) with a fedora, a fine scarf and a nicely trimmed beard arrives coughing and quoting Talmud.

Another malbesh, Isaac (Mark Feuerstein), with round glasses and a nebbishy vest, can barely use a hammer. “What is it you do?” Zus asks. “I suppose you could say I was — I am — an intellectual,” Isaac stammers. Zus cannot hide his amusement, or his contempt: “This is a job?”

Well, not really, but it’s always useful, at least in a movie like this one, to have someone around to say things like “At least Descartes recognized the subjective nature of existence” or “If my friends at The Socialist Review could see me now!” And in the society that Tuvia builds in the forest (after Zus, more a fighter than an organizer, joins up with a Red Army brigade), intellectuals do have a role.

In addition to comic relief, Isaac and the schoolteacher provide a measure of ethical guidance and political counsel. Or at least they seem to. “You have ideas about community?” Tuvia asks Isaac, and later, when Tuvia, on horseback, utters the word “community,” Isaac smiles.

Mr. Zwick, whose other movies include “Glory,” “The Siege” and “Blood Diamond,” is many things, but subtle is not one of them. (Remember that horse in the first paragraph? Did I mention that it was white?) He wields his camera with a heavy hand, punctuating nearly every scene with emphatic nods, smiles or grimaces as the occasion requires. His pen is, if anything, blunter still, with dialogue that crashes down on the big themes like a blacksmith’s hammer.

And the performances he wrings from his cast would not be out of place in an old Second Avenue Yiddish melodrama or a modern Egyptian soap opera. Just as the intellectuals are on hand to argue and fret, so are the women called upon to gaze at the Bielskis with wide, melting eyes. Three of them (Alexa Davalos, Iben Hjejle and Mia Wasikowska) will be chosen as “forest wives” by Tuvia, Zus and Asael. “You saved my life,” says Lilka (Ms. Davalos) to Tuvia as they lie together, wrapped in furs and illuminated by golden sunlight. “No. You saved mine,” he says.

But while Mr. Zwick is frequently clumsy, he is not dumb. You might even say that he is an intellectual, since “Defiance” is animated as much by an idea as by rousing, emphatic emotions. It is most interesting, and most persuasive, not as a chronicle of heroic action but rather as a series of arguments — mainly between the patient Tuvia and the hot-headed Zus — about justice, righteousness and how a decent society should function. Zus is a man of action, Tuvia a man of principle, but in good dialectical fashion each one cedes some ground to the other — Tuvia by condoning and committing necessary acts of violence, Zus by saying something nice every once in a while.

Their story is surely worth dramatizing — and may indeed be well served by this director’s square-jawed narrative style — but Mr. Zwick is not simply adding a chapter to the cinematic annals of the Holocaust. It’s not exactly false, but it’s more than a little inauthentic.… Expand

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4

ClareG.Jan 20, 2009

Some good moments and a great story on which to base a movie, but filled with terrible dialogue and cliches.

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4

jacksfilmblog.blogspotJan 21, 2009

Zwick is a director with honourable intentions with an interest in telling stories about the struggles that different cultures have had to face. However, he seems to be genuinely unaware that his films always use the plights of minorities Zwick is a director with honourable intentions with an interest in telling stories about the struggles that different cultures have had to face. However, he seems to be genuinely unaware that his films always use the plights of minorities simply as a device to redeem his white heroes, and in the end there is no escaping the slightly uncomfortable image of the decidedly un-Semitic looking Daniel Craig nobly leading the helpless Jews to safety.… Expand

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5

HyperSJan 16, 2009

I was struggling to remain focused. 2 hours in the woods with merely 10 minutes of credible action [Yes, there was slightly more, but it was just standard tiny German patrols (snore)]. I just don't think the dialogue or the community is I was struggling to remain focused. 2 hours in the woods with merely 10 minutes of credible action [Yes, there was slightly more, but it was just standard tiny German patrols (snore)]. I just don't think the dialogue or the community is entertaining enough to fill the void. Plus, sometimes you're left wondering why this community of Jews was allowed to remain in the woods for years despite having been discovered by patrols, etc. Or the fact that hundreds fled a Ghetto seemingly easily into the woods, but no Germans bothered to pursue? Maybe they were busy fighting the war I suppose. The movie would have been better served venturing out of the woods once and a while to give the viewer a broader view of where this scenario was playing out and how much of a German presence was around the woods or even how big the woods were. Instead all we get is a few farms and one German radar station. 2 hours of monotonous wood scenery and some Jews walking from one spot to the other is just too much. I really can't recommend the movie as I spent the latter half hoping it would end so I could go home, but the fact that it was based on a true story makes it somewhat more intriguing to watch.… Expand

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6

LOmarGAug 13, 2011

Not great, but a good portrayal of an amazing true story. Get's better as the movie progresses. Beautiful snow scenes contrast the horror. Captivating, but not enough.

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5

beingryanjudeSep 20, 2014

Defiance proves that not any Holocaust retelling makes for quality film. This one is extremely underwhelming, despite actual promise. There are moments of intense, genuine drama; however, it's hidden beneath several awkward performances.

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5

SpangleSep 18, 2016

Defiance is a solid action film about a few unsung heroes of the Holocaust that helped to save thousands of Jews through their courageous acts. Starring Daniel Craig, Liev Schreiber, and Jamie Bell, as brothers who help to save the lives ofDefiance is a solid action film about a few unsung heroes of the Holocaust that helped to save thousands of Jews through their courageous acts. Starring Daniel Craig, Liev Schreiber, and Jamie Bell, as brothers who help to save the lives of their fellow Jews by forming a forest community and then vigorously protecting that community, the film is packed with action, motivational one-liners, and yet devoid of heart.

After Edward Zwick's terrific handling of other action films (Glory, The Last Samurai, Blood Diamond), I had high hopes for Defiance, in spite of the mixed reviews. As it stands, it is nothing but middling. The action is well shot and incredibly tense. Showcasing the isolation and desperation of their situation, the forest always proves to be a terrific staging area cinematically for the battle sequences. It adds a lair of confusion and disorientation that Zwick captures very well in these battles as they struggle to try and locate the enemy and the enemy struggles to locate them. Above all, the action sequences pack the biggest emotional punch of the film with the bravery and courageness on display and the sheer gravity of the situation in which they find themselves.

That said, beyond the action, there is not much here for me to chew on. The acting is hit-and-miss at best. I love Mia Wasikowska, but her supporting turn was painful. Hearing her cry gave me an ulcer. Liev Schreiber felt deeply insincere with every word he spoke. The only ones with any sort of passion were Daniel Craig and Jamie Bell. Alexa Davalos was solid, but certainly not anything special.

The writing, similarly, is hit-and-miss. I do feel as though the actors struggled with this writing that seemed to lack any punch whatsoever. For such an emotional story that is captured in the battles, the writing is simply sub-par. Every line just feels over-written and too much. The only lines with any real power come from Jamie Bell towards the end with the classic action movie motivational speech, except it actually works and truly gave me chills. Otherwise, however, the writing just felt and truly uninspired.

Finally, the atrocities committed by the Russians and even the Bielskis felt completely glossed over. Their killing was justified simply because they had been wronged and were on the path of vengeance. Despite their faults, the film hoists them up on its shoulders and elevates them to the status of Moses and other Jewish heroes in the Bible. For me, this feels a little much. They did certainly save lives and commit acts of bravery, but this does not make them perfect. It felt as if Zwick was simply uncomfortable criticizing his protagonists, which is really a shame since the film would have benefited from the more balanced coverage.

As a whole, Defiance is a solid action flick, but it lacks heart and emotion, which is inexcusable for a film with this premise. The acting and writing are both incredibly slack and the characterization is bordering on deification. That said, it certainly does entertain and provide some very well shot action sequences that capture the fear and tension of the situation.… Expand

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5

MeritCobaMay 3, 2016

Perhaps it is unfair to review a film I did not finish, but I found Defiance boring and therefore decided to watch something else(it was Snatch). I don't mean that there wasn't enough action. A movie can have no action at all and still bePerhaps it is unfair to review a film I did not finish, but I found Defiance boring and therefore decided to watch something else(it was Snatch). I don't mean that there wasn't enough action. A movie can have no action at all and still be entertaining. This movie felt like the actors from Fiddler on the Roof decided to take up arms against the jerman zwine*. Throw in some stereotypical Jews that need to be kept safe into the mix and there you have your group of survivors hiding out in the woods. I just couldn't really care for them as the characters I found hard to connect with.
And then their weird accents.
My observation is this: you don't need to give foreigners weird English accents when the movie is about them and they all speak the same language and the scene is set in their country. So don't do any accents when everyone you see is French speaking among their French fellows in a movie set in France. You can just have them speak proper English.

I give it a five because I didn't see the whole movie. From what I did see I would give it a 2 if the part of the movie that I missed is as dull as the part that I saw.

*Afterthought: that would actually be interesting when I think of it.… Expand

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