Savior

Rating:
Summary: Savior is not for the faint of heart
Review: This may be one of the most violent movies of all time. The horrors of ethnic cleansing are seen up close and personal. I found myself often wishing to look away from the screen. Dennis Quaid plays the part of a moral monster and war criminal who is provided a fateful chance for limited redemption. He is an American French Foreign Legionnaire who comes across a young Bosnian Serbian woman (Natasa Ninkovic) about to give birth to her Muslim rapist's daughter. She is not perceived as a victim by her family, but a disgusting whore who should have preferred suicide. The story primarily revolves around Quaid's attempt to save their lives.

Director Peter Antonijevic pulls no punches in depicting a high number of these Bosnian inhabitants as reactionary and cruel to each other. The values of pluralism, mercy, and forgiveness are seemingly alien concepts. I totally agree with Antonijevic's decision to avoid the alleged political reasons for this insanity. There are no rational or moral justifications for these crimes against humanity. To focus on the political underpinnings of the Balkan conflicts is to do an injustice to the victims. The perpetrators simply used them as petty rationalizations.

This is not a great film. It needed to be a edited down by around ten minutes to provide it with a quicker pace. My guess is that the finances didn't permit Director Antonijevic sufficient time and resources to fine tune his creation. The acting, though, is superb and many of the scenes dramatically riveting, and
unforgettable. Both Quaid and Ninkovic would have certainly garnered major acting ward nominations had Savior been a huge financial success. I strongly encourage anyone who is at least a teenager to view this movie at least once in their life. If nothing else, it should encourage you to actively seek ways of preventing future instances of genocide.

Rating:
Summary: Shamelessly Anti-Muslim & Narrow-Minded
Review: There are far better films out there that aren't as biased as this film. I recommend "Vukovar" or "Pretty Village Pretty Flame" which focus on the effects of war on ethnic harmony between Croats, Serbs and Muslims. "Savior" simply shows how one man can take his anger out on Muslims in one country because of actions taken by different Muslims in another country. The film's message? Apparently that all Muslims are bad Muslims.

Rating:
Summary: Sad, but powerful movie.
Review: A very good movie! Probably one of the best I've seen in a long time, and I don't watch TV much. Dennis Quad was great! A powerful tribute to what was going on in the Balkans. A must see! But, I only gave it four stars, because when Nastassja Kinski was killed I thought that kind of ruined the movie to some degree. That was a sad part. I would have given it five stars though.

Rating:
Summary: Interesting Fiction
Review: The SERBIAN director accidentally forgot to mention the Srebrenica massacre in which the Serbs killed 8000 civilians in one day on July 11 1995, the worst documented massacre since World War II. He did however include a scene in which ruthless and powerful Bosnians were rounding up and preparing to kill a large number of Serbs after they hung a Serbian priest. To try to seem fair the Serbian director created an evil but charming Serbian character named Goran who wasnt very popular around other Serbs because other Serbs were nice and he wasn't. Even though all the media documented rapes were commited by Serbs the Serbian director thought the movie would be better if a Serbian women got raped. The ending of the movie contained a ridiculous scene in which both Serbs and Muslims were traveling together on a bus. This is ridiculous considering that they were at war with each other and each held their own territory. I must admit the movie is an exciting work of fiction. Now i know what Schindlers List would have looked like if it was written by a German nationalist. The Jews and Nazis would have shared equal blame for the Holocaust. Anyone who considers this Serbian film to be anything else but interesting fiction is not an intellectual giant.

Rating:
Summary: Stunningly Realistic
Review: Savior is perhaps one of the most stunningly realistic films depicting the less glorious and horrific side of war. It is a well etched portrayal of classic tragedy with a twist of redemption, centered around a character who draws the viewer in to the plot as we watch his hate morph into various confused emotions, all spawned by some interaction with an environment that he created for himself through that same tragic quality. I believe that I can say with some confidence that Savior is one of the most eye-opening films I have ever viewed and has most definitely altered my ideas concerning the Serbian-Bosnian conflict.

Rating:
Summary: Excessive and poorly executed
Review: I am not the squeamish sort, but I thought this film was excessively violent, and at times poorly acted. Yeah sure it is a movie about war and ethnic cleansing. Still, there are better ways to make a point than by using the level of violence used in this movie. The worst performance by far is by Stellan Skarsgard, who even does the whole cliched reaching out the hand and screaming "Nooo!". That was.....laughable. The best performances were by the native Serbian actors, not by Dennis Quaid, who I usually like. Politically motivated movies are fine, but they can be done more artistically, with better results. If you feel there are better ways of depicting war atrocity than by watching pregnant women get kicked in the stomach, and watching latex hands lose digits, watch something else. I will be I assure you.

Rating:
Summary: OUTSTANDING
Review: What a landmark movie, great story (it could be true) great actors!, whAt a shame it didn't get the push it really needed to go mainstream, but as a body of work for the cast it will stand out in their resumes.

Rating:
Summary: grim story of Hatred
Review: "Savior" is not an uplifting film, but it is a timely and unforgettable one. Dennis Quaid is excellent in his role of Joshua Rose, an American mercenary involved in the Bosnian War. After losing his family to Islamist terrorism, he goes on a murderous rampage at a nearby mosque. He escapes justice by joining the French Foreign Legion, and continues his personal vendetta against Moslems in war-divided Yugoslavia. When "Guy" takes on the protection of a Serb girl, pregnant by her Muslim captors, he begins to realize there are no clearcut villains or victims in this conflict; only enduring ethnic hatreds which run bone-deep. The girl and her baby are equally abused by bigoted Serbs as by vengeful Muslims. The young mother is callously ambivalent about her mixed-blood child of rape, and for one heart-stopping moment, comes close to murdering it herself. In his mission to save the innocent infant, the mercenary overcomes some of his own hatred. I recommend this film for its brutal honesty about the ugly ethnic animosities of all the participants of the Balkan Conflict.

Rating:
Summary: In A Word: Wow!
Review: The only reason I watched this film was because I noticed Oliver Stone produced it and I associate him with outstanding war films. I had not seen Dennis Quaid do any really good acting in years, except for Stone in "Any Given Sunday" but it was just a supporting role. This is certainly the best work Quaid has done as a leading man since "The Big Easy" but it could not be a more different role for him. Essentially, Quaid plays a man who has been shaped into being a war machine. He is pretty much dead in every other sense and the loss of his family in a bombing and his own violent response to that loss have shaped him into who he is now. The opportunity to leave that deadened state arrives when Quaid delivers a baby and then tries to get the baby and its mother to the Red Cross. This is all set against the Serbian-Bosnian war, which is about as pointless a war to an outsider as any war could be. The land itself is filled with lovely vistas, breathtaking views and has to be the most horrible place in the world to live. If you were to send a postcard, it would read, "Absolutely gorgeous, absolutely horrible." Quaid gives the performance of his life here with an excellent screenplay, director, cinematographer and supporting actors behind him every step of the way. I can't believe he has spent all these years playing these wolfish bachelor types when he had this kind of talent. There is one misleading aspect to this film though. Nastassja Kinski is only onscreen for the first five minutes of the movie. Therefore, she is not starring in this film as one would expect by her top billing.

Rating:
Summary: Harsh reality of war and its fuel: HATE!!
Review: This is a gritty movie, not for the faint of heart. I usually do not find myself praising such violent films. Dennis Quiad stars opposite Nastassja Kinski. A Serbian directed this movie, very well I might add. I'll offer a cursory introduction to the movie less a spoiler... I think it paints a background for the climax without giving away too much. Quiad plays Joshua Rose, an American military man attached to the U.S. embassy in Paris. Anyway, Rose is a busybody, no time for church or family. Suddenly his family his killed in a bombing by fanatical Muslims. Taken aback, Joshua attends the funeral only to leave for the mosque down the street where he executes all the Muslims there including those responsible. It seems to unravel all to quickly. Afterwards, Joshua flees with a friend- going underground... enlisting in the French Foreign Legion for a 5-6 year tour-of-duty. Albeit, he wants a "war where he really can hate the enemy." After his tour with the FFL ends- he and his buddy find their way to Serbia, enlisting as mercenaries in the Balkan conflict on the side of the Serbian army. He acts as a sniper in an urban wasteland. Rose remains Stoic, unremorseful- unmoved by the death that surrounds him. However, he starts to see the futility of war when a baby is bombed by helicopter that nearly kills him. Eventually he meets a raped and pregnant Serbian girl after a prisoner exchange. There he undergoes epiphany- transformed by her trauma- her dilemma and obligated to ensure the safety of her baby... He works to become its savior- against all obstacles. This movie is riveting and has a nice soundtrack. What I find particularly interesting is how the nature of the Balkan conflict is presented. Serbians have a human face- though demonized in the West. Where the media was concerned, Serbia became the bad guys: the Muslims became the victims. However, war crimes committed by all parties are made readily apparent in this film.