Mini Film Review – Sputnik

Yesterday I watched Sputnik; and it was pretty interesting! Directed by Egor Abramenko, and starring Oksana Akinshina, Fedor Bondarchuk, and Pyotr Fyodorov; Sputnik is a Russian science fiction-horror film; about an astronaut who returns to earth, with an additional passenger! The film has an interesting setup, with a synopsis similar to a Michael Crichton novel. The special effects are top notch, and the setting and plot are interesting, but as the film reaches it’s breakthrough moment, it goes down a cliched and already done plot; but it still finds ways to mix things up and create surprises as the film reaches it’s climax. The film makes some interesting points, as it tries to break down walls between emotional drama and science fiction; but also paints a portrayal of a flawed Soviet Union based philosophy, regarding national heroes; portrayed behind a wall of politics and propaganda. The only glaring issue I found with the film was it’s out of sync subtitles. I figure there is about 20-30% of lost dialogue in this film thanks to it’s bad subtitling. Sometimes people would speak, and there would be no subtitling at all. On several occasions, they would be delayed at flashing up on screen, leaving only a slight glimpse of the dialogue, before then disappearing altogether. I wish I had watched a dubbed version, as then I would have stood a better chance of receiving more information. Despite this glaring issue however; Sputnik is a very cool and interesting movie, with plenty of horrific moments to make you reel back in your seats!