What our customer's say!

"A little confusing, but ok", Though it gets off to a very slow start, this Russian mafia tale finishes fairly strongly and you will be entertained. Some scenes are not for the sqeamish, and the blood letting begins very early. If you don't blanch at neck slittings, finger snippings and the sight of someone plunging a knife into someone else's eyeball, then you will get through this. Also, there's a rough scene of Viggo Mortensen in mortal combat while nude. It's funny, sort of. This is really a small movie in the end, and in no way the equal of the far superior "A History of Violence" by the same director. Still, worth watching.

"Feelings", Cronenberg is a masterful director and his two main actors are very good playing Londoners of Russian descent, although you wonder why he couldn't have just gotten some actors who were either Londoners or Russian. The problem here is the script, which is the biggest load of cliches I have run into since the heyday of Constance Bennett and Gilbert Roland in the early 1930s. Okay, it was sad when the 14 year old girl loses her life in the poverty ward hospital and gives birth to baby Christine, and as we find out her diary tells an awful story, but it turns ludicrously camp after just a few entries. I'm sorry, but I got the giggles each time the voice-over started moaning about, "Today he addicted me to heroin. How I wish I had not left my home!"

And this kept coming back again and again, I suppose to underline the viciousness of Vincent Kassel and Armin Mueller-Stahl, both of them allowed far too much freedom to make the broadest possible acting choices. Is it possible that neither knew The Godfather had already been made? Mueller-Stahl in particular is just slimy evil. He asks Naomi Watts to dinner and politely asks, "And you have shown Christine's diary to no one?" What's a girl to do? I would say, I have sent it to the PO Box of three thousand leading world newspapers and to the BBC. But instead she just smiles back and says, "Oh, my uncle who has promised to translate it." "What's his address?" barks Armin Mueller-Stahl. But in spite of everything, Naomi Watts just does not get it.

Vincent Kassel--again, pure evil but with the Fredo twist of being mentally weak and a slave to his own addictions.

Viggo--what can I say? He is in top physical shape and, contrary to the other reviewer, he's got nothing to be ashamed of downstairs. But yes, after awhile, even in the famous fight scene, you start giggling because he's taken more abuse than Marlon Brando, and he survives everything--and what's more, learns something. It's Screenwriting 101, as written by DW Griffith. Lillian Gish MIGHT have been able to make something of that diary voice-over, but don't bet the farm on it.

And at the end of the picture, well, there should have been at least 20 minutes more of the movie, but test audiences must have gotten restless at the 90 minute mark, for the movie ends so abruptly I was still munching on my popcorn and anxiously awaiting a save. Didn't happen. Daylight. Eyes blinking in the light. Ripped off. Was it Fredo or James Caan?

"Brutal and engrossing, and you'll learn how to use snippers to clip off a corpse's frozen fingers", Is it possible to take seriously a movie where the violent highlight is a vicious fight in a public bath? The fight requires, of course, that at least one of the male fighters be nude. In this case, it's the lead actor and there are no flopping bits that we don't see. Another requirement would be that knives must be involved so that we can get plenty of blood, along with wince-inducing moments when blades slice into back and stomach muscles. And for a coup de grace, what could be more ick worthy than a blade driven into an eyeball, with the crunch of the socket bone being shattered?

The bathhouse fight in Eastern Promises may be exploitive, but it's one of the most exciting, stunningly choreographed brawls I've seen on a screen. More to the point, it tells us something about the kind of man Nikolai is. He's the man who survives, and he's a lot tougher, smarter, more resourceful and more violent than we may have thought...and that's saying something, since we've already watched him "process" a corpse for anonymous disposal. It involved removing the teeth and fingers using pliers and a snipper.

Viggo Mortensen plays Nikolai, the driver, as he calls himself, for the head of a powerful and vicious gang of Russian mafia based in London. Semyon (Armin Mueller-Stahl), the old man who owns the Trans-Siberian Restaurant, rules his criminal empire with guile and force. He is an aging man with white hair clipped short. He can be a friendly sort at times. He makes a wonderful pot of borscht. He plays the violin. He has daughters. He encourages his angels, his granddaughters, to learn the violin. "You must practice more," he tells them. "You must make the wood cry." Semyon spends much of his time running drugs and prostitution. He brings in underage girls from Eastern Europe who think they'll be maids and waitresses, then imprisons them, hooks them on heroin, brutalizes and breaks them with rape and beatings, and puts them to work. One 14-year-old girl escapes. She can barely speak English. She's pregnant and hemorrhaging. When she dies in a hospital her baby is saved and her diary is found. Eastern Promises is going to tell us about Anna (Naomi Watts), the nurse who helped deliver the baby and found the diary; about Semyon and the lengths he will go to protect himself, his power and his son; and about the driver, Nikolai, the man Semyon trusts as much as he would trust anyone. We're going to learn more than we want about Kirill (Vincent Cassel), Semyon's son. Kirill is a weakling who likes to beat people, a drunk, a man who breaks in the frightened girls by raping them on his father's orders and beats them when he can't perform. At one moment he embraces Nikolai as a brother, another he forces Nikolai into humiliating acts. Kirill grovels for his father's approval and beats others when he doesn't get it.

Eastern Promises is a fine movie, violent, complex and ugly. We're deep in London's Russian mafia, where violent thugs have tattoos that tell each other the story of their crimes, their murders and their imprisonments. Family is the only thing that counts, and even that becomes a repugnant concept. Moving through this is Nikolai, slab-faced, pale, calm to the point of being unnerving. When he seems drawn to Anna, we're never quite sure whether this will mean a degree of tenderness, or her death, or the death of the baby who has become a lever some would use against Semyon. "I'm just the driver," Nikolai says.

Through it all I was engrossed, partly with the world of these tattooed, dangerous men, partly with the subtle way David Cronenberg fiddled with my reactions and assumptions, and partly with just how good the actors were. Mortensen gave a stunning performance, down to his Russian-accented English, to his physicality and to the way he kept us off-balance with his intentions. Just as good was Armin Mueller-Stahl as Semyon. He has given us any number of wise old men to admire. Here he gives us a monster, opening layer upon layer of cruelty and betrayal. Mueller-Stahl just asking Anna with avuncular concern where she lives is able to raise the dread level with no effort at all.

There is a twist that cannot be described, and which I wish hadn't happened. Even with that, Eastern Promises is a movie worth seeing and owning.

The look of the film is just as tough and dark as the story. The DVD audio and picture are first-rate. The DVD has two extras. One, Marked for Life, tells us about all those Russian thug tattoos. It's short but interesting. And if you're of a certain age, you'll remind yourself to buy Cronenberg's Scanners (for your kids, of course) when you pick up Eastern Promises.

"Ridiculously implausible script", Apart from Viggo Mortensen, this movie is a waste of time. If they had acted it just a bit more over the top, it would have been a fine dark comedy. As it is, it's just dull and unrealistic. The violence is graphic and lurid, but doesn't add much to theme or plot. I felt it was gratuitous. If you want to see a much better movie about Russian mob life, try either "Brat" (Brother), "Brat II", or "Friend of the Deceased" (Ukrainian film). These three films have a lot more to say about life in the criminal trades, and just being human, than "Eastern Promises". Most of the plot line is just totally unrealistic.

"Great mob story set in London", Brutal yet artful, subtle yet gripping, "Eastern Promises" packs dynamite in the story, acting, and directing departments. Director David Cronenberg and his new favorite lead actor Viggo Mortensen (they previously teamed up to make "A History of Violence") return to tell a gripping story of the Russian mob in London, and how fate brings the mob into contact with an ordinary family who suddenly finds itself with the power to bring the mob hierarchy down. Mr. Cronenberg doesn't shy away from the brutality of mob violence, but he doesn't linger on it, either. Still, the movie isn't for squeamish viewers.

Two short but satisfying special features round out the DVD: a seven-or-eight minute piece that features the director and actors talking about the film, and a seven-or-eight minute piece about the history and role of the elaborate criminal tattoos featured in the film. Combined, you get a good fifteen minutes or so of satisfying behind-the-scenes information. For most films, that's actually enough for me when it comes to special features. My widescreen DVD featured crisp, clear picture and sound.

In you enjoy films in the organized crime genre, you'll probably like "Eastern Promises" a lot. It has all the elements one expects to see in this type of film, but also throws you a few curves, too.

Read this reviews before You buy...

"Interesting movie, bad Russian language", I watched this on HBO last night. The plot is a very captivating, edge-of-your seat thriller. Although there is a lot of graphic violence, the characters, including the bad guys, are not entirely unlikeable. "Kirill" and his father possess at least a glimmer of a compassionate side (the way they interact with children), and Viggo Mortensen is spectacular as Nikolai (althought I should add, the extensive footage of his teeny ding-dong during the bath house fight scene left me a little queasy). That said, would it have killed the director to hire some actual Russians to speak Russian more believably? I had the hardest time making out what they were saying. Overall, a very entertaining film. In the end, all the loose ends are tied up nicely, and everyone ends up with the best outcome, including Nikolai, Kirill and the baby. The bad guys are punished, like they usually are in an American crime thriller.

"Eastern Promises - Blu-ray Info", Version: U.S.A / Region Free
Aspect ratio: 1.85:1
VC-1 BD-25 / Advanced Profile 3
Running time: 1:40:33
Movie size: 20,59 GB
Disc size: 23,73 GB
Average video bit rate: 20.46 Mbps

DTS-HD Master Audio English 3667 kbps 5.1 / 48kHz / 24-bit / 3667kbps (DTS Core: 5.1 / 48kHz / 24-bit / 1536kbps)
DTS Audio French 768 kbps 5.1 / 48kHz / 24-bit / 768kbps
DTS Audio Spanish 768 kbps 5.1 / 48kHz / 24-bit / 768kbps

Subtitles: English SDH / French / Spanish

Number of chapters: 20

#Secrets and Stories (HD - 11 minutes)
#Marked for Life (HD - 7 minutes)

"Dark drama that requires your attention", Eastern Promises delivers on acting, plot and drama and for that you will certainly want to see it... but be forewarned.

This movie received an R rating for a reason and I would not show it to any kids younger than high school age. The violence in it is graphic for a reason - realism. The subject matter is shocking at times, because you are dealing with very disturbing topics, so be prepared.

The story is that of the Russian mob in London, which primarily follows the actions of one family, and specifically the duties of a driver within that mobster family. The movie does a good job of explaining the Russian mob and how it operates throughout the film. To accomplish this it uses the sub plot of a maternity nurse who discovers a diary that belonged to a young pregnant Russian immigrant. The pregnant girl dies while giving birth in the nurse's hospital. The diary, and uncovering the facts and secrets within are what leads the nurse to encounter the mob firsthand.

Throughout the movie, the plot and twists are done exceptionally well and will keep you trying to figure everything out. If you don't like movies where you need to focus on everything said, or don't like ones you have to think too hard about them, then Eastern Promises might not be your cup of tea. If you like movies that keep you on the edge of your seat and trying to figure it all out - you'll enjoy this one. The revelation discovered about the driver/mobster is well worth it the price of the DVD!

The movie moves along at a good pace and never leaves you bored with any of the scenes. The final thirty minutes of the movie mixes enough action and twists to satisfy even the harshest of critics. Enjoy it and be prepared to cringe now and again!

"Mobster with a heart?", wow...I liked it on the big screen and this is almost as good. Viggo Mortensen is certainly versatile, and adding this to his wide body of work is cool. Sometimes it was difficult to know where the story is located, but I suppose that's a realistic pitcure of how groups can change city locales. The story moves well and the end is very satisfying.

"Makes The Godfather seem like a nursery story", This 2007 British import is one of the bloodiest and violent films I have ever seen. It's about the Russian mafia in London and there are scenes in this film that makes The Godfather seem like a nursery story. Perhaps it's because there is less censorship nowadays but whatever it is, the film feels real, the plot fast and easy to follow and the acting superb.

Set in London, Naomi Watts is cast as a nurse in a maternity war who has problems of her own. She's English born but she lives with her mother and Uncle, both of whom are Russian émigrés. When a teenage girl in her care gives birth and then dies, she has deep feelings for the baby. She therefore sets out to uncover the mystery of the teenager who has left a diary in the Russian language, which she, herself, cannot read. She asks her uncle to translate it and when he refuses she goes to an older Russian man who owns an upscale Russian restaurant and who seems to be grandfatherly to everyone around them.

While this is going on, the audience sees some vile murders, and one grizzly scene where Viggo Mortenson, cast as a Russian chauffeur, has to dispose of a body. He works for the older Russian man and his wild and crazy son played by Vincent Cassel. Violence is everywhere. Young girls are brought from Russia and forced into brothels. There is greed, deception and horrific murders.

Naomi Watts starts to uncover the truth, and Viggo Mortenson, who was nominated for an Academy Award for this role, starts to befriend her. There is a stoic cold blooded calmness about him that is quite unnerving. Then, he is central to one scene in a Russian bathhouse which is the most violent I have ever seen.

How this all plays makes for really good drama. I was at the edge of my seat the whole time. Then, by the end of the film, all the loose ends are tied up in satisfactory way that makes sense. Good filmmaking.

Recommended, especially for those who are not afraid of nonstop action and violence.