Archangel [DVD]: Amazon.co.uk: Daniel Craig, Yekaterina Rednikova, Gabriel Macht, Lev Prygunov, Alexey Diakov, Jon Jones: DVD

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Synopsis
Fluke Kelso, an academic and Soviet historian, is preparing to leave Russia when he receives some information which may expose one of Russia's most guarded secrets...

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Customer Reviews

7 Reviews

5 star:		(0)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(1)
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Average Customer Review

3.3 out of 5 stars (7 customer reviews)

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35 of 47 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Robert Harris's bestseller gets the life sucked out of it., 14 Jun 2005

By	James Luckard (Los Angeles, CA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Everything about this production is disappointing. The direction is uninspired and ploddingly paced, the script is leaden and dull, and the leads are totally miscast. I have no problem with characters being changed significantly from a book, but the problem here is that we get the same characters as in the novel, but with actors totally unsuited to them.

Daniel Craig is a fine actor, but whoever thought of him as a world-weary, alcoholic American university professor who went to college in Moscow during the Soviet days is insane. He's far too young, too energetic and too physically fit for the role. And why on earth didn't they change his character's nationality at least?

Then there's the female lead. She may be a great actress in Russian, for all I know, but her English is incomprehensible most of the time, and she seems to have one all-purpose facial expression - annoyed. The chemistry between her and Craig seems to reach negative levels, as if they aren't even in the same film. She actually comes across as far more engaging when interviewed in the short featurette on the DVD.

The rest of the Russian actors also suffer from a total inability to convincingly speak English. The only exceptions are the handful of Latvian actors playing Russians. Their English is fine, but with their sing-songy Scandinavian accents they sound more like The Swedish Chef from The Muppets than Russians. They are hardly menacing, as they're meant to be.

The flashback portions of the film end up playing as some bizarre story of "Stalin In Love," and verge on the ridiculous, as the dictator is charmed by the innocence of a country girl he sees in a parade. Meanwhile, the plot holes are numerous, the biggest being the inexplicable fact that Craig's character speaks fluent Russian, but then, every now and then, seems to forget this fact, and depend on others to translate for him. Huh?

I expect big things from Mr. Craig; he's a major talent. One day this will deservedly be but a footnote on his bio.

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12 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Surely the novel can't be this ridiculously simplistic?, 25 Sep 2006

By	Trevor Willsmer (London, England) - See all my reviews (TOP 50 REVIEWER)

Robert Harris writes surprisingly good popular upmarket airport bestsellers aimed at Sunday Times and Guardian readers that once upon a time would have been made into self-important overproduced movie potboilers but now (Enigma aside) get made in to misfiring TV series instead (Fatherland, Selling Hitler). Latest failure is Archangel, a historical/political conspiracy thriller set in modern-day Russia where the Maguffin is (initially at least) a hunt for Stalin's notebook before turning into something infinitely sillier. Unfortunately the end result is so flat in almost every single way that you're left with little to do but notice the many plot holes and increasing absurdities in the pared down script that hits plot points but never makes you buy into the story or the clich�d characters in any way and seemingly goes out of its way to avoid dealing with any interesting issue that might threaten to crop up en route.

The trick to plots this absurd on the printed page is to surround them with big themes (the ongoing malign influence of Stalin and Russia's communist past, the commercial and political exploitation of history) and a lot of recycled historical research and local color to make people think you know what you're talking about. The trick to this kind of nonsense onscreen, however, is to keep it moving and put enough of a spin on the stock situations so that the audience doesn't stop to think, but screenwriters Dick Clement and Ian La Fresnais come up empty every time: when you see Beria having a soldier bury secret documents IN HIS OWN BACK GARDEN in a hole no more than 18 inches deep, you know that no-one's even making an effort here. Professionally made and watchable if you've nothing better to do, but it has that tired and uninspired factory feel to it. And who on Earth thought that Daniel Craig was perfect casting for a middle-aged American history professor? He's a fine actor, but he can't bring anything to the table against those kind of odds - not even an American accent. But even he isn't faced with the kind of ridiculous casting that Konstantin Lavronenko fails to conquer as a character who is supposed to be at least 52 years old but looks no older than 30 (although he's actually 45), rendering the final twist even more unbelievable on the screen than it is on the page.

The widescreen transfer is of the 3-part version that is some 12 minutes longer than the two-part version broadcast in the UK by the BBC, but the additional footage is mostly padding.

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9 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Watchable, 22 Mar 2007

By	Prospero77 "Prosp77" (Warwickshire) - See all my reviews

The other reviews on Archangel highlight the fact that this dramatization appears a little 'flat'. But then Russia in Winter and the subject matter of Stalin isn't exactly Springtime in Paris! TV three & two parters can seem a little unrewarding watched back to back. I agree that you will probably not return to Archangel once you've watched it but I found it enjoyable nonetheless having studied Stalin in my honours year. The script has that 'they've just skim read a Robert Service book' sound to it but I did stay with it. It may gain currency if Daniel Craig's Bond career takes off but you have to be honest and say there is certainly something missing. Whether its a climax, plot point or a John Frankenheimer car chase, in order to satisfy the Odessa File genre that it sought to emulate it surely needed something else. Watchable but a bit like your favorite cafe latte without sugar!

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Most Recent Customer Reviews

4.0 out of 5 stars The Begining
Normally I would not bother with this but the other reviews forced me.
This film is significant it was part of a 3 films Daniel Craig had done which got him chosen as the... Read more

Published 8 days ago by Camel

4.0 out of 5 stars Convincing, realistic political thriller
Archangel is more than just an entertaining political thriller. With its realistic portrayal of a modern Russia we come face to face with the Russian psyke and political... Read more

Published 4 months ago by Inge Lise Bjorn Nielsen

4.0 out of 5 stars A fine made-for-TV British thriller starring Daniel Craig, based on the even finer novel by Thomas Harris

If movie thrillers can be thoughtful, literate and exciting -- and with no computer-created mega-explosions -- this fine British TV adaptation of the Robert... Read more

Published on 3 Jul 2007 by C. O. DeRiemer

4.0 out of 5 stars It's actually pretty good.
I read the novel and I loved it. But I was reluctant to buy the DVD because I didn't think it would be nearly as good. Read more

Published on 29 Jan 2006

› See all 7 customer reviews...

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	47% buy the item featured on this page: Archangel [DVD] 3.3 out of 5 stars (7) �13.98
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Archangel [DVD]

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