Moustroll Good movie but grossly overrated

BelSports This is a coming of age storyline that you've seen in one form or another for decades. It takes a truly unique voice to make yet another one worth watching.

Allison Davies The film never slows down or bores, plunging from one harrowing sequence to the next.

Billy Ollie Through painfully honest and emotional moments, the movie becomes irresistibly relatable

hrvoje-d Well made film with top production, brilliant photography, excellent actors but without ambition to be more than propaganda cliché about glorious time and bravery. Relationship between team member who are also is direct rival are unrealistic idealistic.This film would be suitable for showing in Russian schools with purpose to raise national pride or for people who need only basic information about Yuri Gagarin and this historical event. Just a pity, with this team of filmmakers, it could be a masterpiece.

krocheav Without knowing what to expect from this Russian docudrama, it proved enthralling from beginning to the final return to earth. The viewer is treated to nothing short of class entertainment from an expert team of Russian producers. Superb stylised images from cinematographer Anton Antonov - Polished direction by Payel Parkkhomenko. The Superior script tends to back up statements made by ex Hollywood 'nasty' Steven Berkoff, who said in a TV interview - words to the effect:...'Writers should be made to work harder to find ways of expressing situations without resorting to the lazy gutter style and language, adding that this has a tendency to turn people into mulch'...Interesting thought, considering enacted movies are not 'documentaries' but merely artificial interpretations of 'reality'. So, just how imperative is all today's over the top 'fake' reality...?'Gagarin's' excellent screenplay tends to demonstrate Berkoff's claim, by also telling the gritty story of the persecution of Russian peasants during the German occupation - without resorting to unnecessary sensationalism. Toping it all off is a winning performance delivered by Yaroslav Zhalnin as the amiable Yuri Gagarin, the first man to be launched into space!. In fact all cast performances are excellent throughout.Also impressive is the way this production tells its story within the running time of 108mins (the time it took Gagarin to be hurled around the earth in his primitive tin can). These exemplary Russian movie makers, tell their important true story with a minimum of mocked up CGI effects, delivering a truly spectacular and fully believable experience. The broad music score is curiously supplied by a young composer from Cyprus, George Kallis. Kallis has a love of older classic movie scores and it shows in his melodic sweep. Additional music is supplied by talented British based Michael Eastwood (The Guardians). These men also richly orchestrate their own compositions.The intense study of personal camaraderie shared by the full team of brave contenders - as they diligently train together for this gigantic leap forward is to be admired. Some critics have said this screenplay leans towards a degree of propaganda but how could this story be told without elements of propaganda? after all, they led the world in putting a man into space and getting him back alive!.Economic historians have told us it was this feat that lead the US to push forward with several dubious promotions to launch various American 'products' onto the world stage ('Art' can be looked at as one example). Sadly it also looks as if this movie may have been overlooked in the USA...so few posts for this fine work is surprising.Don't expect an overblown mega million dollar CGI extravaganza but do expect a compelling $9.1/2 million dollar cinematic journey. Discerning viewers will be richly rewarded. In order to keep the film at its perfect 108min running time, the producers don't venture ahead into the difficulties Yury experienced with worldwide hero status, or his tragic death 7 yrs later - during a serious (and highly controversial) test flight disaster that sadly ended his life at just 34 yrs of age. This is an informative entertainment worth being seen by all ages - it would also make great classroom stuff. KenR.

kommy-138-866498 Hands down, this is one of the best movies about space exploration. It is as close to the real events as it can be, no special effects, just a plain story of a country boy, who become an icon of 20th century.Gagarin was a talented pilot, so were many others, but what set him apart was his demeanour towards his friends and colleague in the space training.His life path wasn't easy, born to a family of humble peasants, who were pretty beat up by the life after the decimating WWII, he wasn't nurtured as a dreamer or even given any aspirations in his life.It remains a mystery how Gagarin became such an eternal optimist. His own father refused to believe that it was his son orbiting around the Earth.This disconnect haunted Gagarin most of his life, and therefore made the movie a true drama of human life and a triumph of a daring explorer, as Gagarin by chance found himself.If you are looking for a Hollywood flick- look elsewhere, this is a very exact historic drama of a life of a person, who risked everything to be first of a kind, and it will keep you in suspense to the very end.

Cinema Scholar The film explores the tale of Yuri Gagarin, the legendary first man in space, who won the space race for the Soviet Union. The viewer is presented with a recap of that memorable day when humanity finally reached the final frontier, with a multitude of flashbacks to Yuri's youth and childhood.We see Yuri's humble beginnings and his journey through life and the events that shaped him into the man who would become the greatest space explorer in the history of mankind.The actors do a magnificent job of capturing the raw emotion of that day and present us with a story of all the people responsible for the first flight into space. Particular regard is to be had for Yaroslav Zhalnin who does a stellar job portraying the man himself.For any fan of film or space exploration.10/10