I had Google Bard write this review based on my own notes, which are featured below. The first two drafts made unacceptable references to "harmful stereotypes."
[Wikipedia] "Balkan Line" throws you headfirst into a whirlwind of action and intrigue, set against the backdrop of the Kosovo conflict in 1999. From a brutal opening mission gone wrong to a high-stakes airfield siege, the film delivers a relentless dose of adrenaline-pumping shootouts and explosions.
The story follows a disgraced Russian Special Forces team, ostracized for their past actions but forced back into action by the escalating conflict. Their unlikely allies? A Serbian police squad and a mysterious nurse with a hidden past. What unfolds is a tense dance between loyalty, revenge and survival, as they navigate the treacherous landscape of war and personal demons.
The film's strength lies in its action sequences. The choreography is sharp, the special effects are impressive, and the sheer scale of the final battle is truly awe-inspiring. Director Andrey Volgin pulls no punches, painting a gritty and often brutal picture of war's toll on both soldiers and civilians.
However, "Balkan Line" is not without its flaws. The film's portrayal of the conflict is heavily skewed towards the Russian perspective, often painting Kosovars in a negative light. While the film touches on the complexities of the conflict, it ultimately falls into the trap of simplistic good vs. evil narratives.
Furthermore, some character motivations feel underdeveloped, and the film's nationalistic undertones may not sit well with all viewers. Despite these shortcomings, "Balkan Line" remains an entertaining action film with enough twists and turns to keep you engaged until the explosive finale.
Here are some additional points to consider:
The film's visual effects are impressive, especially considering its budget.
The action sequences are well-choreographed and exciting.
The film's portrayal of the Kosovo conflict is skewed towards the Russian perspective.
Some character motivations feel underdeveloped.
The film's nationalistic undertones may not sit well with all viewers.
Overall, "Balkan Line" is a high-octane action film with a strong visual style and a compelling central story. However, its one-sided portrayal of the conflict and nationalistic leanings may limit its appeal to some viewers. If you're looking for an adrenaline rush and can overlook the film's political agenda, then "Balkan Line" is definitely worth checking out
. My notes. But, seriously, this is a good film. It is available on Tubi under the title Covert Games.
The Balkan line is a 2019 Russian war film set in Kosovo in 1999, where four years before before, a five man Russian Special Forces team was sent to capture a known terrorist Bad Guy. A gunfight ensues and the Bad Guy is captured, but not before the Bad Guy kills a young team member.
On the return leg, traveling by helicopter, the team leader, Andre Shatalov, is told by his commander, Lt. Colonel Aslan-Bek "Bek" Evkhoev, the mission to capture the Bad Guy should have been scrubbed. Also riding aboard the helicopter was a NATO liaison man, of an unidentified nationality, who insisted the mission as performed continue. An argument ensues, and Andre ask Evkhoev who is in charge of the mission: NATO or Evkhoev. Andre then grabs the Bad Guy and tosses him overboard.
His action disgraces the whole team, all of whom are now barred from re-entering Russia, and who have been stripped of rank, awards, and pay. Evkhoev also is punished.
Fast forward to 1999. The team is scattered. One team member chases young Serbian women, while another drinks in a bar, and bums cigarettes. A third member works with Serbian police as an ordinance disposal expert, cleaning up after NATO bombings. Andre works with Serbian police as an advisor while the last member, a female sniper, works security at a brothel.
Traveling by bus, Andre meets a pretty young Serbian girl who happens also to be a nurse. Their bus is stopped by Kosovo militia, headed by the evil Smuk, a black bedecked Moslem commander. Andre is knocked out by one of Smuk's minions, and when he comes to, he does operator shit, seizes a rifle and shoots all the bad guys, save three. Holding the Bad Guy with a rifle, he forces the Bad Guy to tell his people to stand down. The bus with the passengers and the Pretty Girl escapes.
The film doesn't hold anything back with regard to Kosovar behavior. The film continually makes references to drug running, pogroms, and criminal activity such as human organ harvesting, done by compliant Kosovar authorities.
The main feature of the film is the feat of arms performed by the Russian Special Forces team at the airfield, seven operators, including a pair of Serbia police, defend against 100 attacking Moslem Bad Guys. The special effects are quite good, but of course some of the characters in the film are larger than life, and maybe that's the director's point.
In the end, three of the five operators survive, the other two having died while heroically saving the day. Andre presumably winds up with the Pretty Girl.
I cannot recommend this film enough for its visual effects and storyline. Yes, it is a Russian patriotic film, and when you get past the that, you'll find a film well worth watching.
[Hot Air] Several stories have been published about people getting arrested for publicly praying in the UK.
Actually, that’s not quite right because some forms of prayer are more equal than others. If you are a Muslim, you are perfectly fine praying, or for that matter, calling for the murder of Jews and the elimination of Israel as a state.
So, more appropriately, I should say that praying as a Christian is becoming illegal in Great Britain. Praying for the spread of Sharia law is just fine and dandy.
[ET via Zero] The abject narcissism of the insular Left is startling. They apparently believe the American public is amnesiac enough to forget what leftists once did, now that they’re doing the utter opposite.
And they assume we are to discount their hypocrisy and self-absorption simply because they self-identify as erudite and moral and assume their opponents are irredeemable and deplorable.
The Left is saturating the airwaves with outrage over the current House Republicans’ impeachment inquiry. They allege that formally investigating Joe Biden’s role in the family grifting operation is somehow a poor constitutional precedent, if not out-of-bounds entirely.
So we hear further arguments that it will be unwise to impeach a first-term president when he loses his House majority, that there is no reason to "waste" congressional time and effort when Biden will be automatically acquitted in the Democratically controlled Senate, and that the impeachment is cynically timed to synchronize with president’s reelection efforts.
#2
Pubs created this mess with their attempt to impeach Billy Jeff Clinton. Impeachment as anything other than a very extraordinary last resort is on their shoulders.
Posted by: M. Murcek ||
12/19/2023 9:44 Comments ||
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#3
..that must be Mr.Clinton who signed into law punishments for people who sexual exploit subordinate personnel.
Posted by: Frank G ||
12/19/2023 9:13 Comments ||
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#3
^ Mr. "wide stance."
Posted by: M. Murcek ||
12/19/2023 9:47 Comments ||
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#4
A video showing what government has been doing to us for years.
Posted by: Deacon Blues ||
12/19/2023 12:19 Comments ||
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#5
Wiki cite:
"Pizzagate" is a conspiracy theory that went viral during the 2016 United States presidential election cycle, falsely claiming that the New York City Police Department (NYPD) had discovered a pedophilia ring linked to members of the Democratic Party while searching through Anthony Weiner's emails.[1][2][3] ..."
#6
I wonder when that Senate Hearing room story was first released how many Senators like Lindsey Graham thought they were caught with their pants down
#7
The interesting question is who arranged for the security cameras to be switched off at a convenient time and whether such drawdown of security services are for sale.
Unfriendly international players would appreciate the opportunity to install and remove listening devices in sensitive locations of the Capitol.
Also there's the potential for blackmail.
This release might be a proof of capability intended to intimidate.
I'd be on the look for surprising shifts in political positions.
Posted by: Abu Uluque ||
12/19/2023 13:03 Comments ||
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#2
Where did the Houthi's get the resources for the attacks? How many times has ValJar, Champ and the Puppet Show sent Iran billions in the past three years? How f'ing stupid does the MSM et al have to be to not get a clue that this might be circular and intentional?
[Forgotten Side of Medicine] When you read history textbooks, you will frequently notice events of the past (and the society going along with them) being cast in a negative light. Yet in many cases, when the exact same processes occurs in the modern era, it is not cast in the same negative light—even when many prominent dissidents are actively explaining why what we are doing is completely insane.
In turn, the hope I and many others share is that in the not-too-distant future, the way our society handled COVID-19 (e.g., locking down the country, suppressing off-patent treatments, mandating a clearly flawed vaccine and aggressively censoring anyone who spoke out against this) will be acknowledged as a profound mistake by the history books. Remarkably, despite the propaganda apparatus doing everything it could to prop the COVID vaccine up, both due to its immense danger and a dedicated group of online activists who exposed that danger, public opinion has soured on the vaccines and we are now beginning to see official proceedings looking into them.
Likewise, the hope I and many others hold is that the public becoming aware of the immense dangers of the COVID-19 vaccines will make them open to recognizing how many other unsafe and ineffective pharmaceuticals have been pushed onto the market despite an overwhelming degree of evidence arguing against their safety and efficacy.
A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.
Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing
the drug and gang related violence in Mexico.
Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence
over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has
dominated Mexico for six years.
Rantburg was assembled from recycled algorithms in the United States of America. No
trees were destroyed in the production of this weblog. We did hurt some, though. Sorry.
