Thread: Movies in Russia

Hay, I am just cerious, what movies are available to Russians.
Guess you could call this a poll. What Russians here have seen the following, and which of them are available in Russia?


The Lord of the Rings series

Star Wars series

Enemy at the Gates

The Matrix series

Shanghai Noon

Shanghai Knights

The Last Samurai

Saving Private Ryan

Indipendence Day

Russian stores (and TV-channels) are overloaded of foreign (and mostly American) movies so I assume that it is easier to get American movies in Russia than in the USA. All you mentioned is quite well-known stuff. Unfortunately I am not a movie fan, I've seen only Star Wars and Matrix (and Goblin-translated “The Lord of the Rings).”

I also liked “Forest Gump”

The market is riddled with piracy. The Saint-Petersburg Times wrote that 9 out of 10 music CDs are pirated. And don't quote me on this, but I think it said 6 out of 10 DVDs are pirated. Personally I picked up 'Big Fish', 'Last Samurai', and 'LOTOR: ROTK' for 5 dollars each well before they were released here.

smartdude is right.
You will not find 'fringe' American or British movies around here easily, but you probably can if you try. I even found 'Blackadder', an 80s British comedy TV series on DVD here.
However all the blockbusters are very easy to find in DVD or mpeg format. The standard price seems to be 60-80R for an MP4 and 90-120 for a DVD. Sometimes you can get lucky and get a 120R DVD with two films on.
They are invariably illegal. I only know of 1 shop that has a shelf full of 'legal' DVDs at about 8 times the price of the pirated ones. One of the advantages of piracy - no region encoding on the discs.
By the way for the l33t hackers out there it is absolute paradise here, you can find almost any kind of software imaginable, and it's all near-free. On the other hand, you can't get broadband down here, every lining has a cloud.

I watched Matrix 3 and wasn't impressed.
Not so long ago I watched At Home Alone 1 and 3 and got plenty of positive emotions.

Originally Posted by Tu-160

I also liked “Forest Gump”

By interesting coincidence I was watching it yesterday (not for the first time). I like it too.
And I just love "Scent of a Woman" which along with "Forrest Gump" was the first movie in my own possession that I watched in the original.

Originally Posted by smartdude

The market is riddled with piracy. The Saint-Petersburg Times wrote that 9 out of 10 music CDs are pirated. And don't quote me on this, but I think it said 6 out of 10 DVDs are pirated. Personally I picked up 'Big Fish', 'Last Samurai', and 'LOTOR: ROTK' for 5 dollars each well before they were released here.

9 out of 10 music CDs and 10 out of 10 software CDs are pirated. And if you have a friend in a shop selling this stuff, you can get CDs and DVDs even for free...

But unfortunatelly, state has recenty intensified efforts to bring order to the market. Pity. I don't want to pay anything to little Billy Gates

My neighbours trade those pirate DVDs and they have a LOT of them around their appartment. Thanx to them I have even such rare films as "Triumph of the Will" by Lenni Riefenstahl. But the choice is very often very casual, I still haven't seen Matrix-3.

Friendy, that should be 'Scent'
Matrix 3 is utter, utter drivel. Number 2 was bad enough.

Originally Posted by waxwing

Friendy, that should be 'Scent'

Thanks, waxwing, that was a typo, I've edited the post.

Originally Posted by waxwing

smartdude is right.
You will not find 'fringe' American or British movies around here easily, but you probably can if you try. I even found 'Blackadder', an 80s British comedy TV series on DVD here.

Well, I actually watch tons of British 'fringe' movies and shows including but not limited to Blackadder every day - it's on the bloody telly.

On the other hand, you can't get broadband down here,

Oh yes you can. And if you're smart and have connections you can get it for free. Unless you were talking about Stavropol - you probably know better, though I suspect one can get it just as easily down there as one can in St Pete. If they do it in bloody Nahodka or thereabouts, they sure can do it in Stavropol.

Yes, 'down here' means 'in Stavropol'. They have ISDN here. It's awful and very, very expensive. That's it. Nothing else, believe me, I've searched, and asked the people who would know.
I'd be very, very happy for you to prove me wrong though

DANG! I am at home for a change. I personally thought the Matrix got old fast. I think part 1 was fine, but part 2 was a bunch of same ol, same ol.
Never bothered to see part 3.
The only very recent ones I have seen that I really care for are The Passion, The Lord of the Rings: Return of the King and The Last Samurai.
The Last Samurai was the first Tom Cruise movie I ever saw that I liked his performance in and he first Samurai movie I ever cared for.
The Return of the King had an excellent storyline and breathtaking graphics, The Passion really didn't surprises my but made me happy to see the real story told for a change, rather then this silly feminint public image.
The Last Samurai was just all around fascinating.

BTW.
I prefer to pay people the money they earn, when shopping for product.

DANG! I am at home for a change. I personally thought the Matrix got old fast. I think part 1 was fine, but part 2 was a bunch of same ol, same ol.
Never bothered to see part 3.
The only very recent ones I have seen that I really care for are The Passion, The Lord of the Rings: Return of the King and The Last Samurai.
The Last Samurai was the first Tom Cruise movie I ever saw that I liked his performance in and he first Samurai movie I ever cared for.
The Return of the King had an excellent storyline and breathtaking graphics, The Passion really didn't surprises my but made me happy to see the real story told for a change, rather then this silly feminint public image.
The Last Samurai was just all around fascinating.

BTW.
I prefer to pay people the money they earn, when shopping for product.

Oh! I've just seen Matrix-3 and am eager to share my expressions!
This is a real drivel indeed. I got feeling I was smoked up and didn't understand what was the purpose of all this.

Enemy at the Gates - посмотрела с огромным удовольствием и всем советую.
Недооцененный фильм...

Originally Posted by Propp

Oh! I've just seen Matrix-3 and am eager to share my expressions!
This is a real drivel indeed. I got feeling I was smoked up and didn't understand what was the purpose of all this.

It's only natural. Most sequels go down this road. The only two things which should've gone on forever are Red Dwarf and Blackadder.

The way it usually goes is part one is good, part 2 is the worst and part 3 is the best.
I think the guys who made the Matrix, like Rambo and many other movie series, made the mistake of going gung hoe with all of the fancy and "cool" stuff, gutting what once was a good story.