Savior

Rating:
Summary: A tough movie to deal with.
Review: A warning to all. This is NOT a "feel-good" movie. For how can it be? It is about terrorists and the war in Bosnia, and in representing the insane brutality, this film doesn't waver and pulls no punches. Much like "Schindler's List", you'll sit horrified as this depressing film tells its shattering tale. Here you have a hero that is a mass murderer and cold-blooded sniper for the Serbs -- a killer of men and even children. That should tell you something right there.

Dennis Quaid gives the performance of his life as Joshua Rose, a U.S. military officer stationed in France. He needed to give such a performance because the subject matter deserves no less. Matter-of-fact, the acting throughout is top-drawer. Oddly, the beautiful Nastassja Kinski gets a top billing, but she really only has a cameo roll. Especially haunting is Natasa Ninkovic in her roll as Vera, a victim of a Muslim rape and carrying an unwanted child. Peter Antonijevic's direction (see Amazon's review) is steadfast in its relentless pursuit to lay before us the absolute cruelty of ethnic hatreds -- a war where there are no winners, only survivors whose twisted sense of honor leaves us shaking our heads in utter disdain and disbelief.

If you are looking for an action drama with a hero to save the day, look somewhere else. What you get here is heartbreaking reality....a glimpse of "Hell on Earth", of wasted lives, of families being torn apart, and man's incomprehensible inhumanity. This film could easily have been insufferable if it weren't for the thread of hope seeded in the birth of a bastard child. As a viewer, I grasped at this small ray of sunshine as I watched Quaid's character slowly become more human. But if you are seeking a happy ending, this isn't your film either. Ultimately, you do have a sense of hope at the end, but it is fleeting at best. And maybe that is as it should be.

"Savior" must have come and gone very quickly, because I never heard about the film before. That truly is a shame. While one has to be in a special mood to view this film, I promise you it will stick with you. Between 1 and 10, "Savior" gets a solid 9. It is truly unforgettable.

Rating:
Summary: Outstanding Movie. Sad Reality.
Review: Now this is one of those movies that'll give you goose bumps, tears, and definetly stay in your heart. Brutal, dramatic, and unfortunately very real, Savior is one of the best "based on an actual event" war movies I've ever seen.
Directed by Peter Antonijevic (former Yugoslavian film director, who had been jailed as a political prisoner during the war) and produced by Oliver Stone, Savior is a true story from the brutal Bosnian War, and the real life of an American hero.
Joshua Rose (Dennis Quaid) an American stationed in France, goes on a murderous rampage to avenge the deaths of his wife and a young son who were killed in a terrorist bombing. He joins the Foreign Legion in order to escape his crimes. Giving up his true identity and past he accepts a new name of Guy and becomes a mercenary for the Serbs.
Possessed by his mission of vengeance, Guy fights a war he doesn't believe in, hoping to find something he does. That is until he meets Vera,(Natasa Ninkovic) a young Serbian woman released by the Muslims in a prisoner exchange who's pregnant by her Muslim rapist. Guy saves her life, helps her with the birth of her child, child she refuses and together they fight for survival in a country destroyed by war.
"He is her only hope for survival. She is his only chance for redemption."
Savior is truly an UNFORGETTABLE STORY.

Rating:
Summary: A lump in the throat
Review: This is the film me and my wife cannot watch anymore (we did it once)..... In the same time this is the film without which we cannot imagine our being.

P.S. Quaid does his best!

Rating:
Summary: Gut-wrenching, honest portrayal of life in the Bosnian War
Review: I'm not sure that it's appropriate to call a movie like this "wonderful" as it delves into such dark themes and events, but it is a truly honest and admirable movie. If you know nothing of the Bosnian War of the early to mid-1990's, you can still watch this movie and learn about the madness and confusion that took place. Of all of the Bosnian War movies--including "Welcome to Sarajevo," "Shot Through the Heart," "Harrison's Flowers," "Behind Enemy Lines," "No Man's Land," "Pretty Village, Pretty Flame"--this story to me is the greatest war story, meaning that it shows what it's like to try to live in the midst of a war.

Dennis Quaid portrays a part that you've never seen him portray before; he's riveting and believable. All of the characters work together to bring out all that is heinous and beautiful about human nature. I'm not easily moved by watching a movie, but several times I found myself pulled into the plot and wrapped up in the events in the lives of the characters. I've never seen another movie that was so capable of causing me to love, hate, and empathize with all of the main characters, with all of those emotions overlapping onto one another. After the movie was over, I found myself deep in reflection, humming the Serbian lullaby that is played throughout the movie. I immediately watched it again.

I can't recommend this movie enough, while at the same time I must caution that it's extremely unsettling and graphic in nature.

FYI, a technical point, the movie does NOT--as others have said--show the Bosnian war's struggle between the Orthodox Serbs and the Catholic Croats (although that is also part of the movie. It more closely settles on the conflict between the Orthodox Serbs and the Bosnian Muslims (or "Bosniaks"). A little knowledge of history is helpful in watching this movie as green was a color formerly reserved for Muslims in the Balkans during Ottoman times, so the Bosniaks are usually shown in the movie wearing green bandanas and armbands, which was often consistent with what really happened.

One other point worth mentioning is this: although most who were there at that time agree that there really were no "good guys" and "bad guys" in the Bosnian War, this film is the most sympathetic toward the Serbs of all the Bosnian War films available in English (with the exception of the Serbian made "Pretty Village, Pretty Flame").

Rating:
Summary: A tough movie to deal with.
Review: A warning to all. This is NOT a "feel-good" movie. For how can it be? It is about terrorists and the war in Bosnia, and in representing the insane brutality, this film doesn't waver and pulls no punches. Much like "Schindler's List", you'll sit horrified as this depressing film tells its shattering tale. Here you have a hero that is a mass murderer and cold-blooded sniper for the Serbs -- a killer of men and even children. That should tell you something right there.

Dennis Quaid gives the performance of his life as Joshua Rose, a U.S. military officer stationed in France. He needed to give such a performance because the subject matter deserves no less. Matter-of-fact, the acting throughout is top-drawer. Oddly, the beautiful Nastassja Kinski gets a top billing, but she really only has a cameo roll. Especially haunting is Natasa Ninkovic in her roll as Vera, a victim of a Muslim rape and carrying an unwanted child. Peter Antonijevic's direction (see Amazon's review) is steadfast in its relentless pursuit to lay before us the absolute cruelty of ethnic hatreds -- a war where there are no winners, only survivors whose twisted sense of honor leaves us shaking our heads in utter disdain and disbelief.

If you are looking for an action drama with a hero to save the day, look somewhere else. What you get here is heartbreaking reality....a glimpse of "Hell on Earth", of wasted lives, of families being torn apart, and man's incomprehensible inhumanity. This film could easily have been insufferable if it weren't for the thread of hope seeded in the birth of a bastard child. As a viewer, I grasped at this small ray of sunshine as I watched Quaid's character slowly become more human. But if you are seeking a happy ending, this isn't your film either. Ultimately, you do have a sense of hope at the end, but it is fleeting at best. And maybe that is as it should be.

"Savior" must have come and gone very quickly, because I never heard about the film before. That truly is a shame. While one has to be in a special mood to view this film, I promise you it will stick with you. Between 1 and 10, "Savior" gets a solid 9. It is truly unforgettable.

Rating:
Summary: The Clash of Humanity and War
Review: This movie brings to life the horror of what war is really about. Civilization becomming zombies to ethnic cleansing...it continues to happen right before our eyes.

Dennis Quaid does an EXCELLENT job as an American soldier who witnesses the murder of his wife and son, while in Paris, by terrorists. He reacts the way most people react, with anger and revenge on his mind. This lands him in the Foreign Legion where he continues to kill in anger as a mercenary for the Serbs. He plays the part of a heartless killer, backed by an army, with great conviction.

Natasa Ninkovic plays a Serbian woman who is pregnant by a Muslim rapist. She suffers the fate of many women during war, persecution for something that is not her fault. She is beaten because she carries a Muslim child, disowned and stalked by her family for dishonor and walking through life unsure if she even wants to live. Who would? After giving birth because of the beating she becomes distant and withdrawn only surviving by the protection of Dennis Quaid who comes to her aid and wakes up from his own death trance. The scenes with the baby will rip your heart to pieces, especially when you imagine the reality behind it all. Children are born into this hateful nonsense everyday.

This movie is an excellent saga that brings the truth behind hatred to a head. War kills and creates killers out of people who once were only men. It changes societies into cleansing grounds and forgets the individual heart. This war of the Muslims against the Serbs was mostly ignored in America but it was yet another genocide that needs to be remembered and addressed. The director Peter Antonijevic pulls no punches in dealing with the atrocity head on. Bravo to this film....but shame on acts of war!

Rating:
Summary: Gut-wrenching, honest portrayal of life in the Bosnian War
Review: I'm not sure that it's appropriate to call a movie like this "wonderful" as it delves into such dark themes and events, but it is a truly honest and admirable movie. If you know nothing of the Bosnian War of the early to mid-1990's, you can still watch this movie and learn about the madness and confusion that took place. Of all of the Bosnian War movies--including "Welcome to Sarajevo," "Shot Through the Heart," "Harrison's Flowers," "Behind Enemy Lines," "No Man's Land," "Pretty Village, Pretty Flame"--this story to me is the greatest war story, meaning that it shows what it's like to try to live in the midst of a war.

Dennis Quaid portrays a part that you've never seen him portray before; he's riveting and believable. All of the characters work together to bring out all that is heinous and beautiful about human nature. I'm not easily moved by watching a movie, but several times I found myself pulled into the plot and wrapped up in the events in the lives of the characters. I've never seen another movie that was so capable of causing me to love, hate, and empathize with all of the main characters, with all of those emotions overlapping onto one another. After the movie was over, I found myself deep in reflection, humming the Serbian lullaby that is played throughout the movie. I immediately watched it again.

I can't recommend this movie enough, while at the same time I must caution that it's extremely unsettling and graphic in nature.

FYI, a technical point, the movie does NOT--as others have said--show the Bosnian war's struggle between the Orthodox Serbs and the Catholic Croats (although that is also part of the movie. It more closely settles on the conflict between the Orthodox Serbs and the Bosnian Muslims (or "Bosniaks"). A little knowledge of history is helpful in watching this movie as green was a color formerly reserved for Muslims in the Balkans during Ottoman times, so the Bosniaks are usually shown in the movie wearing green bandanas and armbands, which was often consistent with what really happened.

One other point worth mentioning is this: although most who were there at that time agree that there really were no "good guys" and "bad guys" in the Bosnian War, this film is the most sympathetic toward the Serbs of all the Bosnian War films available in English (with the exception of the Serbian made "Pretty Village, Pretty Flame").

Rating:
Summary: Little corrections.
Review: Great movie, but that's not the point. I had to post this reply to make sure one thing is clear: Middle East is not Eastern Europe.And another thing: Bosnian Muslim fighters and Muhajadeen
fighters are the same thing. Actually, if you look really close in the scene by the river you will see those are croatian soldiers(most likely members of the Ustash militia). All the muslim fighters are calling themselves Muhajadeen, and that means(if I remember well) warrior in the name of Allah.

Rating:
Summary: A lump in the throat
Review: This is the film me and my wife cannot watch anymore (we did it once)..... At the same time this is the film without which we cannot imagine our being.

P.S. Quaid does his best!

Rating:
Summary: Sobering
Review: While it's certainly nothing new for movies to deal with violent cultural and ethnic clashes, "Savior" is still worth seeing because it examines such strife on a more personal level than most. In a radical departure from his norm, Dennis Quaid plays a hardened, morally grey character in a challenging and unsettling film. The movie lets you know right away what you're in for: Quaid's Joshua Rose, an American living in Paris in 1987, loses his family in a bombing by Muslim fundamentalists, and quicky strolls to the nearest Mosque and coolly guns down a bunch of unsuspecting worshippers. This scene raises a difficult question: it's easy to sympathize with Joshua's grief, but is he really any better the people who killed his family? After all, he's just killed unsuspecting civilians himself. The movie's opening sets the stage for an examination of an all-too-common theme of modern conflict: each side uses the atrocities of the other side to justify their own. Unfortunately, the innocent have been fair game in such conflicts for years, a fact this movie vividly brings home.

From there, things only get worse as Joshua becomes a mercenary fighting with Serbs and is plunged into the hellish moral vacuum that used to be called Yugoslavia. Anyone who's familiar with this area's history knows that ethnic hatred there runs so deep it makes America's racial problems look like a junior-high shouting match, and the movie depicts the fruits of this hatred with unflinching vividness. Joshua guns down a boy looking for his goat, his comrade Goran cuts off an old woman's finger and steals the ring from it, and the Bosnian Muslim fighters (and their Muhajadeen allies) do plenty of underhanded stuff themselves.
The viewer gets to see firsthand the physical and emotional desolation left by war, where noncombatants have their lives touched whether they want them to be or not.

Eventually Joshua tires of the relentless brutality and decides to take charge of a young Serb woman named Vera and her baby (the product of Vera's rape by a Muslim). The start of the movie sees Joshua transforming from a loving family man to a heartless killer, but as he develops an attachment to Vera and her baby we see his soul steadily coming back by degrees as he tries to recover what he lost years ago.

Along the way there are some more depictions of war-related horror, none more brutal than one late-movie scene that I won't get into the specifics of. Suffice to say, you have to see it for yourself to believe the depths to which people can sink in the name of tribal hatred. The movie does provide some uplift amid all the depression and violence, but much like "Platoon," it will still leave some nagging questions in its wake. Perhaps most disturbing are the implications for our own country. As immigration increases and American society become less uniform and more segmented, are we heading down the same path as Yugoslavia? Let's hope not.