9th Company (2005) |
|
9th Company (2005) |
|
|
| BUY IT |
| General | Extras | ||
| Category | War | Trailer-x 6 but none for this film | |
| Rating |
|
||
| Year Of Production | 2005 | ||
| Running Time | 133:32 (Case: 138) | ||
| RSDL / Flipper | RSDL (62:44) | Cast & Crew | |
| Start Up | Ads Then Menu | ||
| Region Coding | 4 | Directed By | Fyodor Bondarchuk |
|
Studio
Distributor |
 Eagle Entertainment |
Starring |
Artur Smolyaninov Aleksey Chadov Konstantin Kryukov Ivan Kokorin Mikhail Evlanov Artyom Mikhalkov Soslan Fidarov Ivan Nikolaev Mikhail Porechenkov Fyodor Bondarchuk Dmitriy Mukhamadeev Irina Rakhmanova |
| Case | Amaray-Transparent | ||
| RPI | $24.95 | Music | Dato Evgenidze |
| Video | Audio | ||
| Pan & Scan/Full Frame | None |
Russian Dolby Digital 5.1 (448Kb/s) English Dolby Digital 5.1 (448Kb/s) |
|
| Widescreen Aspect Ratio | 2.35:1 | ||
| 16x9 Enhancement |
 |
||
| Video Format | 576i (PAL) | ||
| Original Aspect Ratio | 2.35:1 | Miscellaneous | |
| Jacket Pictures | No | ||
| Subtitles | English | Smoking | Yes |
| Annoying Product Placement | No | ||
| Action In or After Credits | No | ||
On this site I recently reviewed Restrepo , a documentary feature about a company of young American soldiers defending a hill top fire base in Kunar Province, eastern Afghanistan. 9th Company, the top grossing Russian film of 2005, although based upon actual events is a fictional account about a company of Russian soldiers defending Height 3234 in Khost Province, eastern Afghanistan, shortly before the Soviet pullout. The similarity between the experience of each group of men, as well at the attitudes of the soldiers, is marked, although perhaps 9th Company’s closest comparison would be to films such as Kubrick’s Full Metal Jacket. In both films, a group of young men are inducted into the military, have their heads shaved and their individuality suppressed by a brutal drill instructor, bond together and finally go into action in a foreign land.
Other than featuring Russian soldiers and being concerned with a conflict that, Rambo 3 aside, has received scant film attention, 9th Company (9 rota) breaks no new ground. The recruits, virtually indistinguishable from each other, in the first half of the film are whipped into shape by Drill Sergeant Dygalo (Mikhail Porechenkov) before being sent to Afghanistan. There some join the 9th Company of the 345th Soviet paratroops under the veteran Sergeant Pogrebnyak, called Khokhol (played by the director Fyodor Bondarchuk). They are tasked with defending Height 3234, a hilltop firebase protecting the convoy road below. On 7/8 January 1989, the base is attacked by an overwhelming force of Afghan Mujahedeen, an attack that will leave only a few of the company alive to tell the story. .
9th Company was the debut feature film of director Fyodor Bondarchuk who, as the son of director Sergei Bondarchuk (War and Peace (1967), Waterloo (1970)), comes with a high pedigree. However his direction, like the plot, is only workmanlike but breaks no new ground. The films sequences are obvious and clichéd; when the recruits finally succeed in their attempt to take the high ground from another squad during their training after many failures, the scene ends with hugs and helmets tossed into the air, all in slow motion, with a swelling score in the background. Training sequences are ticked off a checklist – the early morning wakeups, interaction with wire and obstacles, and the loud, aggressive drill sergeant. With their shaved heads, it is hard to tell the individuals apart with the exception of the hot-head Lyuty (Artur Smolyaninov) and the sensitive artist Vorobey (Aleksey Chadov). Character development is limited, to say the least and the individual “humorous” moments are not particularly interesting although it must be said that the film is never boring either. Perhaps the only really different scene is the squad’s “soldiers” farewell from the delectable Snow White (Irina Rakhmanova). Once arriving in Afghanistan the film improves, with the action scenes loud and chaotic, with quick cutting and hand-held cameras. These sequences work well enough, yet even here, when we should care about the soldiers, the lack of well developed characters means that the feeling of loss as they are killed in the battle is not as great as it should have been.
9th Company may not say anything new but it is not a bad film and it does manage to hold your interest for most of the two hour plus running time, especially in the Afghanistan section when the action sequences are intense, loud and chaotic, and the landscapes of arid hills and valleys nicely shot by cinematographer Maksim Osadchiy. The real interest is in seeing a Russian take on their experience in Afghanistan, and how closely this resembles the experiences of the allied forces currently in action on the same ground. As one character observes, “the Afghans have never been conquered”, a lesson still being learned.
9th Company is presented in an aspect ratio of 2.35:1, the original theatrical ratio, and is 16x9 enhanced.
The print is sharp and detailed. Colours are accented, especially the reds of the desert landscape and the explosions, but they are otherwise clean and good, with natural skin tones. Brightness and contrast are consistent, blacks solid and shadow detail exceptional, allowing us to see what is happening in the night scenes. There was some grain, but I saw no obvious film or film to video artefacts. Overall, this is a good clean, detailed print; indeed it is good enough that the occasional poor CGI effect, such as the transport plane crash, can be clearly seen for what it is.
English subtitles for the Russian dialogue are in a smallish white font. The subtitles translate a lot of the dialogue so that sometimes two lines occur at once and go by so quickly they cannot be read fully. I noticed a couple of minor grammatical errors, but nothing serious.
| Sharpness |  |
| Shadow Detail |  |
| Colour | |
| Grain/Pixelization | |
| Film-To-Video Artefacts | |
| Film Artefacts | |
| Overall | |
Audio is a choice between Russian Dolby Digital 5.1 at 448 Kbps and English Dolby Digital 5.1, also at 448 Kbps.
This is an aggressive, enveloping audio track. Dialogue is clear and centred and the surrounds used constantly for weather, battle sounds and other effects, including panning effects as the helicopters and aircraft pass overhead, and music. The subwoofer supported the explosions, tank engines and music well without being overdone. The score by Dato Evgenidze supports the film well, without being anything memorable. It is well represented in the surround mix.
The English language dub used the same effects, but the English voice acting was very poor and should be avoided.
In the Russian language track lip synchronisation was occasionally out. In the English dub it was almost always way out, another reason for avoiding the dubbed audio.
The layer change at 62:44 resulted in a slight pause.
| Dialogue | |
| Audio Sync | |
| Clicks/Pops/Dropouts | |
| Surround Channel Use | |
| Subwoofer | |
| Overall | |
This is another DVD that commences with trailers that need to be skipped individually. This is annoying and totally pointless, as the trailers can be selected from the menu anyway. Worse, no trailer for 9th Company is included.
Trailers for other films from Eagle: Blood Out (2:11), Airlift (3:51), The Bridge (1:07), Pathfinders (2:18), The Terrorist (2:32), and Essential Killing (1:38).
NOTE: To view non-R4 releases, your equipment needs to be multi-zone compatible and usually also NTSC compatible.
The Region 2 UK two disc release is the one to get with Russian DTS 5.1 and Dolby Digital 5.1 (and no annoying English dub). The second disc has:
A Region 2 UK single disc edition is also available.
The Region 1 US release and US Region free Blu-ray include similar extras (except the trailers) but have the original Russian audio in only Dolby Digital 2.0 at 256 Kbps while the (awful) English dub gets Dolby Digital 5.1 at 448 Kbps. Go figure. At least Region 4 gets the 5.1 Russian, but clearly the Region 2 is superior based on audio choices and extras.
9th Company may not say anything new but it is not a bad film and it does manage to hold your interest with decent action sequences and nice images of arid hills and valleys.
The DVD has excellent video and audio but none of the extras available in the other regions.
| Video | |
| Audio | |
| Extras |  |
| Plot | |
| Overall | |
| Review Equipment | |
| DVD | Sony BDP-S350, using HDMI output |
| Display | LG 42inch Hi-Def LCD. This display device has not been calibrated. This display device is 16x9 capable. This display device has a maximum native resolution of 1080p. |
| Audio Decoder | NAD T737. This audio decoder/receiver has not been calibrated. |
| Amplification | NAD T737 |
| Speakers | Studio Acoustics 5.1 |