1812. Ulanskaya ballada (2012)

So terrible, cheap, utterly disappointing, that it's awkward

This is a terrible movie, there is no doubt about that. It is terrible in every respect: bad script, bad acting, bad CGI, bad everything, basically. It is so weak and gimmicky that it's awkward to watch. You know that feeling when you watch somebody completely embarrass themselves in public? Yeah, that's what I felt for those 95 minutes and 47 seconds. The reason behind such an epic fail is probably the fact that the director (Oleg Fesenko) is a novice who hadn't made any serious movies prior to this one.

Otherwise it's a typical pseudo-historical action flick from "Central Partnership". That company made a million WWII themed flicks, some were rather decent, others were bleh... Now I guess they finally decided to pick some other war for a change and let a newbie director go at it. To balance it out they got Sergey Bezrukov (who's the most popular and the highest paid actor now in Russia) - that way the box office was guaranteed, they thought. Well, it didn't work. Everything about the movie screams cheap - every scene, every second of it. I guess Bezrukov (whose performance in this one is also cheap) cost them a bear share of that 5 mil budget. All other actors in the movie are grade B, which kind of goes to show... Too bad that large part of the money was government funding. Oh well!

Long story short, box office was the definition of fail, the reviews in the papers were unfavorable to say the least, Oleg Fesenko didn't get to have a good debut movie, Sergey Bezrukov got a stain on his reputation (but he had probably anticipated that and asked for some astronomical sum of money to do the movie). Should you watch "1812. Ulanskaya ballada."? Absolutely not, unless you are a masochist or fancy cheesy grade B films. If that's the case though - go right ahead, you'll love it.

BTW, the first reviewer (JazzGott), although correct in his evaluation of the movie, is completely incompetent history wise (not to mention the obvious anti-Russian butthurt). Just for the record, about Ulans:

>>1. Uhlans were Polish. Blah, blah, blah...

NOT.

"Ulans" was just a term for cavalry. The original Ulans were Tatars and the word itself is from Turkish language (probably of Mongolian origin). Yeah those Mongols who taught everybody how to ride horses, while conquering half a Europe - those guys. In the 1800's there were Polish and also Russian Ulans. Russia Ulans were established in 1803, almost a decade prior to the war in question. Yes, they did take part in 1812 war against Napoleon, for which there is no shortage (more like an abundance) of proof. It's always a good idea to check your facts.