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The Way Back is the critically acclaimed new release from renowned director Peter Weir (Master and Commander, The Truman Show), starring Colin Farrell, Jim Sturgess, Ed Harris, Mark Strong and Saoirse Ronan. Inspired by an incredible true story, this epic film of survival against-the-odds tells the story of a group of seven prisoners who escaped from a Soviet gulag in Stalin-era Russia and walked over 4,000 miles across some of the most unforgiving terrain in the world, crossing the Siberian Arctic, the Gobi desert and the Himalayas before finally arriving in British-ruled India.
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26 of 27 people found the following review helpful
By Mr. D. Rowland
TOP 1000 REVIEWER
Format:DVD|Amazon Verified Purchase
Many years ago I travelled by train along a stretch of the Trans-Siberian Railway from Novosibirsk to Irkutsk on the southern shore of Lake Baykal not long after reading Slavomir Rawicz's book "The Long Walk" and I vividly remember that Siberia was a region of endless space, where there were no signs of human habitation for hours on end and vast dense pine forests stretched from horizon to horizon for hundreds of miles. I tried to picture what it must have been like for a small party of people with hardly any food or suitable clothing walking across this region for months on end in the middle of winter in temperatures up to minus 20 degrees below zero and then walking through the scorching heat of the Gobi Desert and climbing over the huge mountains of the Himalayas. It is scarcely comprehensible that a few men did manage to escape like this from the Russian Gulag's and reach freedom.
Peter Weir's magnificent, enthralling and moving film tells the story of a group of prisoners from a Russian concentration camp north of Lake Baykal who escaped and walked south for 4,000 miles across Siberia, Mongolia, China and Tibet and the survivors of the journey eventually reached India. Rawicz's account of his escape has been questioned but there is no doubt that a few Poles and others did manage to escape and reach freedom in this way and some Poles joined up with free Polish forces and fought against the German's who ironically were fighting the Russians who had invaded Poland shortly after Hitler in September 1939. It was these same Russians who had condemned thousands of Poles and others to long stretches in the Gulag's on trumped up charges and when the Germans invaded Russia in June 1941, it suited the Russians to release many Poles from the camps to fight the Nazis.... Read more ›
Peter Weir's magnificent, enthralling and moving film tells the story of a group of prisoners from a Russian concentration camp north of Lake Baykal who escaped and walked south for 4,000 miles across Siberia, Mongolia, China and Tibet and the survivors of the journey eventually reached India. Rawicz's account of his escape has been questioned but there is no doubt that a few Poles and others did manage to escape and reach freedom in this way and some Poles joined up with free Polish forces and fought against the German's who ironically were fighting the Russians who had invaded Poland shortly after Hitler in September 1939. It was these same Russians who had condemned thousands of Poles and others to long stretches in the Gulag's on trumped up charges and when the Germans invaded Russia in June 1941, it suited the Russians to release many Poles from the camps to fight the Nazis.... Read more ›
5 of 5 people found the following review helpful
By R. S. Palmer
Format:DVD
I enjoyed the film but not a patch on the book which I couldn't put down and left me near to tears at the end. Will watch it again now that I have read the book but I feel a lot of the original story was not covered.
12 of 13 people found the following review helpful
Format:DVD
This is a film about endurance in pretty dismal circumstances so if you are seeking laughs, thrills or excitement then you are going to be sorely disappointed. Escaping from a Soviet Gulag the heroes of this piece have to march through taiga, desert, mountain and just about everything in between; and they do so not by ingenious device or cunning plan but by putting one foot in front of the other for 4000 miles. I found it a stirring tale but then I liked moor-running at School so am probably deranged.
There has been some excitement about whether the story is true (it is based on Slavomir Rawicz's book): it didn't seem necessary to me that it was or was not true, but be warned if this does matter to you you may want to consider before watching. There is also some concern (sometimes by the same critics) that the central role is not more charismatic. This is however a film about walking which is of its very nature a slow and steady form of movement. It does not require a John Rambo or James Bond.
There has been some excitement about whether the story is true (it is based on Slavomir Rawicz's book): it didn't seem necessary to me that it was or was not true, but be warned if this does matter to you you may want to consider before watching. There is also some concern (sometimes by the same critics) that the central role is not more charismatic. This is however a film about walking which is of its very nature a slow and steady form of movement. It does not require a John Rambo or James Bond.
36 of 45 people found the following review helpful
By R. J. Harvey
Format:DVD
Weir makes no claims to this story - about escapees from a Siberian gulag, and their 4,000-mile trek over the Himalayas - being true as he tells it. So it's fitting that the chameleonic craftsman has created something almost entirely unambiguous: none of Master and Commander's moral tug-of-war; none of the fable-like metaphor of The Truman Show; none of the ghostly near-surrealism of Picnic at Hanging Rock.
The performances are very fine across the board. Farrell (as violent gang-leader Valka) and Harris (as the grizzled American Mr Smith) stand out particularly. Like Robert Duvall or Michael Caine, Harris has developed a face marked with history, etched by happiness and hardship. Like all the players, they enjoy a solid, unfussy script, and hurl themselves into native tongue with admirable vigour.
My main issue with the film is probably lying on the cutting room floor. The work of Terrence Malick, John Hillcoat, Andrew Dominik et al shows that there are fine visionary, worldly, painterly directors out there producing work that is both crowd-pleasing and patient. The quality and relevance of the scenes in The Way Back are not in question - so why do so many of them feel truncated, and so hurried? For the escape itself to burst out of nothing makes sense as this could be argued to mirror the sudden confusion of the escapees and the guards. But too many sequences thereafter feel cursory, silencing their own reverberations. Too many shots of the vastness of this chilly hemisphere are all too brief, stealing away that vital sense of dismal isolation.
Perhaps this was intentional. Perhaps Weir wanted to focus on the brutal close-up, rather than the romantic long shot.... Read more ›
The performances are very fine across the board. Farrell (as violent gang-leader Valka) and Harris (as the grizzled American Mr Smith) stand out particularly. Like Robert Duvall or Michael Caine, Harris has developed a face marked with history, etched by happiness and hardship. Like all the players, they enjoy a solid, unfussy script, and hurl themselves into native tongue with admirable vigour.
My main issue with the film is probably lying on the cutting room floor. The work of Terrence Malick, John Hillcoat, Andrew Dominik et al shows that there are fine visionary, worldly, painterly directors out there producing work that is both crowd-pleasing and patient. The quality and relevance of the scenes in The Way Back are not in question - so why do so many of them feel truncated, and so hurried? For the escape itself to burst out of nothing makes sense as this could be argued to mirror the sudden confusion of the escapees and the guards. But too many sequences thereafter feel cursory, silencing their own reverberations. Too many shots of the vastness of this chilly hemisphere are all too brief, stealing away that vital sense of dismal isolation.
Perhaps this was intentional. Perhaps Weir wanted to focus on the brutal close-up, rather than the romantic long shot.... Read more ›
12 of 15 people found the following review helpful
By Cuban Heel
VINE™ VOICE
Format:DVD
I wanted to see this film for a while as I caught a trailer for it and thought it looked great. I finally got to watch it the other day and I enjoyed it, it was pretty good. It was well acted and had an authentic feel to it. Was it as good as I expected? Well, not quite.
I agree with some of the other comments that the story lacked a little bit of a personal element which stopped me being as gripped as I might have been. The beginning was a little bit choppy and if you let your attention wander slightly you might have missed some of the details that made more sense later. It felt like a few scenes were edited to bring the length of the movie down and it didn't flow quite as well as you'd expect. And I wasn't that keen on the ending. Not the actual ending itself, but the montage bit which suggests the main character keeps on walking (metaphorically) until the end of the cold war.
Overall it was a decent film. Good enough, but falling just short of being really good.
I agree with some of the other comments that the story lacked a little bit of a personal element which stopped me being as gripped as I might have been. The beginning was a little bit choppy and if you let your attention wander slightly you might have missed some of the details that made more sense later. It felt like a few scenes were edited to bring the length of the movie down and it didn't flow quite as well as you'd expect. And I wasn't that keen on the ending. Not the actual ending itself, but the montage bit which suggests the main character keeps on walking (metaphorically) until the end of the cold war.
Overall it was a decent film. Good enough, but falling just short of being really good.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
5.0 out of 5 stars
The Way Back
An absolutely fantastic film about a subject about which very little has shown; what happened to people in Europe under the "other" (our Allied) side. Read more
Published 12 days ago by Old Soldier
5.0 out of 5 stars
Excellent
An excellent film, held my attention all the way through. Do not be put off by the beginning, it gets better and better.
Published 1 month ago by David W. Preston
5.0 out of 5 stars
Not what we expected.
I am not sure what I ecpected but it was not this. Having said that this was a cracking film. A Film about, i think, human endeavor and brothership.
Published 1 month ago by Martin Nicholls
5.0 out of 5 stars
the way back
hi read the book .THE LONG WALK thought was very good but thought the film was better .THE WAY BACK very good film .
Published 1 month ago by helly
5.0 out of 5 stars
My favorite film
Seen it before on DVD, even better on blu ray can't recommend it enough. Great story as well as visuals and environment.
Published 2 months ago by Mr. George Brooks
3.0 out of 5 stars
BERYL
NO WAY AS GOOD AS THE BOOK, A LOT WAS LEFT OUT, COULD,NT PUT THE BOOK DOWN OTHERWISE FILM OK
Published 2 months ago by BERYL BYRNE
3.0 out of 5 stars
The Way Back (DVD)
I enjoyed the book more. The DVD was okay and the second DVD included with interviews with the actors etc.was interesting.
Published 3 months ago by kiwi
5.0 out of 5 stars
Great film
This is a well directed and acted film. Not an easy film to make!
It is a long film, but it needs to be to give justice to the storyline. Read more
It is a long film, but it needs to be to give justice to the storyline. Read more
Published 3 months ago by R. J. Chippendale
5.0 out of 5 stars
great movie
great movie missed it at the cinema was pleased to be able to buy it at such a reasonable price
Published 3 months ago by terry punchard
3.0 out of 5 stars
The Way Back
Big mistake to read the book then watch the film. Seldom live up to expectations. Have leant it to someone who hasn't read the book so will be interested to hear what they think.
Published 3 months ago by Mrs. Lorna C. Wright
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