I know that many people consider this movie 'Politically incorrect'. Probably it is in some way. I'm not from the Balkans, but I live very near and I remember very well that war in front of my door and I was against the Serbs. This movie was made by a Serb director and show his point of view. Anyway I think that in this movie you can see what was that war for civilian people, any side they were. I found it a true document about the war, and, in the end, I was not disturbed by the fact that it was a movie from a Serb director. I think that this demonstrates that it's a good movie. After watching this movie, you don't hate the Serbs, the Croatians or the Bosnians, you hate the war for the consequences on civilian people.
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SandroSt20 December 2004
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gogoschka-111 February 2018This is one of the - very - few war films that actually show war for what it really is, and what it means for the civilians caught up in it. There are no impressive explosions and visual effects, adrenaline-driven missions or brotherly scenes of camaraderie. This film shows humanity's dark side without flinching. Hard to stomach but highly recommended. 8 stars out of 10.
In case you're interested in more underrated masterpieces, here's some of my favorites:
imdb.com/list/ls070242495 -
One of the most painful depictions of war I've ever seen, this shows the effect of a civil war on ordinary people in a very powerful way. Stony-faced Dennis Quaid is excellent as ever as the emotionally-shut-off mercenary tiring of the pointless and unresolvable fighting in Bosnia, slowly allowing himself to feel again some years after the horrific death of his family when a woman and child inveigle themselves into his life. Some of the scenes in here are beyond horrific, particularly near the end where a massacre of civilians is made to seem quite dull and everyday to the killers. The pointlessness of such tribal warfare is emphasised by the shadowy depiction of the combatants, the almost total absence of 'good guys' and 'baddies' - I for one could rarely tell which side the soldiers on screen were supposed to represent. Certainly not for the fainthearted, this is war in all its foulness and degredation, fully exposing the evil mankind can inflict on itself. Not pleasant viewing, but a moving, powerful experience.
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hissingsid29 January 2003I suspect that for most Western Europeans and Americans the name 'Bosnia' is now no longer simply the name of a country, but also carries a subliminal implication of atrocity and ethnic viciousness. I doubt, then, that many people would approach this film with any false expectations of what it will contain.
That said, viewers should not come to this film for a political explanation of why and how the war happened - for that, it's probably best to read a few books. This film does attempt to give a human explanation of how and why wars like this one happen and continue to happen, though.
Inevitably, some have accused Savior of bias; though an American film, the director is a Serb, and it was filmed on location in Montenegro; with such emotive subject matter partiality would hardly be surprising. Indeed, the film does not flinch from discussing atrocities committed by Bosnian Muslims. Those who accuse this film of being pro-Serb, however, should consider that one of the most hateful caracters in the whole film, whom we witness carrying out pointlessly vicious acts of cruelty and mysogyny, and who happily admits to being a serial rapist, is himself a Serb.
Viewers should instead look to the human heart of this film. Dennis Quaid gives us a superb performance, rendering a character of some complexity (look at his expression when one character tells him 'You are a good man'). He is ably matched by Natasja Nincovic's complicated, battered portrayal of a Serb woman - and not merely a 'rape victim' stereotype that we know from other films.
There is a religious subtext for those who like looking for such things - plenty of Christ imagery, chiming nicely with the title. There is a special irony in the cross Joshua carries; apparently a Catholic, he has come to Bosnia specifically to kill Muslims in revenge for the loss of his family in a terrorist bombing - yet by joining the Serbs he is also aligned against the Catholic Croats. Perhaps this says something about the self-destructive nature of his revenge, and about his own internal conflict. This is a film about a man divided against himself, in a country divided against itself.
It is particularly effective that the main character in this film is an American. We are tempted to comfortably see him as 'one of us', a decent man in the midst of a barbaric war - but we are not allowed such passive comforts. Eaten by revenge and pain, little seperates Joshua from his barbaric 'sidekick' Goran, whose mindless cruelty he meets with contempt but also inaction. His own conduct is difficult to stomach, but nonetheless presented as the actions of a human, not a monster.
What Antonijevic's film does, then, is look at the line between those who have, and those who have not, become indifferent to the suffering of others - it is in this way that the perpetuation of war is explored. There are no politics, no discussion of religion, or of 'age old ethnic hatreds'. The focus of this strong film is the simple human cost both in lives extinguished and lives mutilated by war. Indeed, for those not very familiar with the details of the war in Bosnia, the practical anonymity of the different soldiers throughout the film will heighten the sense of War as something soldiers do to Civilians.
People who respect and appreciate this film should steer clear of the recent Behind Enemy Lines however - it reuses fragments of the Lake scene in Savior to simplistically anti-Serb effect, completely bastardising the intent of the people who originally created those images.
Nonetheless, despite what has been done to it Savior remains beautifully acted, tragic, mature film-making. -
Wow, this a grim film. Don't look for a lot of laughs in this one! It's not bad if - and that's a big "if" - you can get past the first 45 minutes.
I got past it on the first viewing but not on the second. It was just too much. Seeing youngsters assassinated, families blown up and then a pregnant woman kicked several times in the stomach was too much for me
Dennis Quaid plays an American soldier overseas whose family dies at the hands of a Muslim bomber. He gets revenge by heading to a local mosque and begins shooting everyone inside. Quaid is then sent away to a foreign legion and winds up in the middle of the Bosnia War between Muslims and Serbs, and along the way caring for that pregnant woman who was treated so brutally.
This is a very somber film, very depressing in spots, but worth one look. I don't know if you'd want to see it more than that. -
Boyo-213 August 2001Great movie and easily Dennis Quaid's best work. Very tough to watch at times but in the end extremely rewarding and cathartic.
Its so appreciated that some artists in the world have something to say and do a timely, thoughtful movie to tell the world what they are missing or ignoring. You can either see what they have to say, or see the next assembly line CGI garbage. I suggest that any mature moviegoer give this a look.
There is some unexpected humor, a lot of horror and carnage and heartache, and I do suggest you keep the tissues close by for a some incredibly emotional scenes.
There is not a whole lot of dialogue which is also much appreciated. Most of the time actors are better when they have nothing to say but alot to express. The actors in this movie are all very natural and real. Not the least of which was the baby! One of the best performances by a new born I've ever seen..this child is beautiful.
Thanks to Dennis Quaid who probably made the equivalent of cab fare for this one..you did a great job in an invaluable movie. -
cwstone13 September 2018Savior is not a great movie, but it's certainly not a bad one. It should have been better.
The first act sets up the motivation and event that leads Quaid's to Bosnia as a mercenary for the Serbs. It's hard to put a finger on but there's just something about the flow of this film, how it handles the narrative. It's the feeling that if given the same material a better director could have made it actually click. The beginning especially feels rushed and and not terribly convincing. I think the film should have opened with him already in Bosnia. It would have served multiple purposes. Slowly unraveling the mystery as to why this American with a French name is there in the first place might have worked better . This would free up more run time to properly flesh out a story that already feels rushed. There would be more time to properly cultivate the relationship between Quaid and Vera which is unsatisfactory and doesn't resonate.
The first scenes in Bosnia are incredibly powerful. But they promise much more than the film is able to deliver. There is a scene involving a bus and a river (you'll understand if you watch it) that definitely has the raw material to be powerful, frightening, and emotionally devastating. But it's unfortunately blunted by the fact that I had no real investment in any of these characters. I'd marginally recommend Savior. It's ambitious and there are a few brief glimpses of excellence. But in the end it's a high minded attempt that is mishandled and falls short of its mark, I've noticed a lot of negative "reviews" here that make zero attempt to analyze Savior as A FILM. They criticize the director as if being Serbian automatically disqualifies him as the director of a film that deals with this subject matter. An early scene in a Mosque is slammed as anti Muslim without taking into consideration the context and that the message in the film is revenge and hatred are wrong and that good can overpower the evil inside us.c The notion that Savior is a pro Serbian propaganda piece is laughable. That thought never even crossed my mind until I read some of these reviews. Nobody comes out looking good in Savior, whether they are Serbs, Bosniaks, or Croats. This was a very complicated situation and all parties involved were absurdly violent toward one another.
Review the film and grind your axes elsewhere. If you can't stomach the idea that Muslim Bosniaks also committed terrible crimes during the Bosnian War then you are intellectually bankrupt and in need of a history book. -
sepo23 June 2000I was stumped at the video store - had basically narrowed the DVD search down to 2 - Sphere (yeah, I know..) and Savior, this interesting looking title on the bottom shelf.
Thank goodness I chose this one.
What a brilliant, gut-wrenching, agonising movie...
Other comments have said it was a low budget job, but the DVD version I just saw didn't even make you think about the mechanics of the movie - just the characters and events that this film portrayed.
The cinematics - beautiful scenery etc (to show that man really has no sense at all - he can be surrounded by some of the most amazingly beautiful surroundings and still turn the place to hell) and sound (the gunshots / ambient stuff etc were very well done) were all spot on..
For the actual plot, the other comments posted are a lot more lucid than mine, so I won't bother trying to explain the premise of this flick.
I really don't know what else to say - some of the scenes containing brutality were brilliant (in a really horrible way) - none of the usual hollywood (tm) bad guy finally gets it in the end type stuff - cliche - it really just showed how pointless these kinds of conflicts are. cliche
Oh man - this film is going to stick with me for quite some time. And I kind of wish it didn't. I was after a throw away movie (should have rented sphere) and instead got this thing that I just cannot stop thinking about.
Dennis Quaid was amazing in it, and the rest of the cast were excellent, too.
And yes, I cryed like baby Vera..
PS: I actually registered just so I could vote & comment on this movie.. -
Stefanowich15 April 1999This film is a controversial one. Sadly it feels like the producers didn't dare to take it all the way, with ONE exception. The scene by the river will definitely make your conscience feel bad, your gutter twist and you won't be able to speak for minutes! Watch this film just for the atrocities shown in the river scene and remember that this is exactly what has been happening every day in Yugoslavia for the past ten years...
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gavin-9621 May 2004I noticed this had been produced by Oliver Stone when I saw it for sale, thus my reasoning for snapping it up. Usually what Stone touches turns to gold and this is no exception
This film will move you to tears; mark my words. I wasn't ready for it, or at least wasn't expecting it. Realism is the key to its power.
While some viewers may focus on which ethnic groups are committing what crimes, for the wider audience I think it has a commentary on the human race in general and what it is capable of.
Quaid performs his part from top to bottom, which drains the viewer of emotion, making one actually process information that has previously just been news broadcast.
A good mix of local and international filmaking skills also present what I would consider an accurate picture of the racial and religious groups depicted in the movie. I'm sure insiders will disagree, but from my time spent in the region, there was not a scene or individual character where I was skeptical of objectivity - from the bus driver to father.
There is so much to be said about Savior, and it is a must see for any international audience. It may unearth a conflict of opinions among serbs, croats and bosnians, but perhaps they would be reading too much into it... -
7-11-19 as you can tell by the way I designated the date I'm American and came to this movie late. Always a fan of Quaid' and sometimes older movies get better with age...Not so this one. Dennis turns in as always a good solid performance but reading some reviews from the early 00s I expected a tour de force which it is not. Probably due to the fact now in 2019 we all have been thru so much we have become more or less immune to the atrocities of Man. Those who stated it was hard to watch forget the lesson of Vietnam. People of all ethnicity' including Americans during WAR become changed individuals ( after 48 years I still have nightmares of my time in Nam) and have their own dealing with their situations. The Foreign Legion is known for killing 1,000 of Muslims in Africa and not a Mercenary Force to aspire to as is any Mercenary affiliation, as a former Combat Vet of the US Army I do not condone any of their or any private "Security Forces" activities. Enough said about where I'm coming from
As far as this movie goes I found nothing unwatchable it was a rather bland view of this Ethnic Cleansing "War" it was much worse than this depicts. There is some redeeming qualities in Quaid' character when he finally decides he's had enough. He needs to get that kid and himself out of Serbia end of story. In all I In all I enjoyed the movie but found it a somewhat OK but like most Oliver Stone pics a contrivance to push his own personal views. -
Websnacker2 July 2005I watched this movie with skepticism but I have to admit I was wrong. This is a powerful movie and it left me drained out by the time it got over. The last 15 to 20 minutes are sure to move even the cold hearted so,I am surprised and saddened that there are still some folks here at the forum fighting over its anti/pro Muslim/Serbian credentials.
There is no winner in any war - only despair & death and at times, a faint glimmer of hope. Saviour depicts this with astonishing realism and at times,is difficult to watch but I guess that what war is all about. Dennis Quaid gives an Oscar winning performance and considering, the fact that Oliver Stone produced this, it has a antiwar platoonesque feel to it. -
gonz305 May 1999SAVIOR is a very timely, compassionate film that helps us understand the problems developing in the Balkans since 1991. The fact that it is English, and American English at that, and has the feel of an American movie makes it very recommendable for all North Americans. Better films on the subject have been released, "Vukovar" and "Pretty Village, Pretty Flame" among them, but being subtitled films from the former Yugolavia, they did not reach a wide audience. SAVIOR is a new release on video in North America. Rent or buy it now, and see it with your family and friends, and explore this ongoing conflict afterwards. SAVIOR is a good choice for a personal discussion about one of the world's most important current events.
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wobba26 April 1999This has to be one of the worst movies I've seen lately. The main character is so stereotypic and I have no idea what the moviemakers want us to think about him. First he goes on a shooting rampage on a muslim mosque, then he kills innocent people in Kosovo.
Then when the child comes into the picture he suddenly softens up and everything is ok.
It would have been nice with a better plot and storyline for sure. And calling this a Drama film is beyond my understanding. The cruel scenes may be moving, but it doesn't help in the long run.
If you can avoid seeing this picture, do so. You get a better picture of the Kosovo war on old newsclips. -
bob the moo3 November 20031993, Bosnia. Having seen his wife and son murdered by Muslim terrorists, Guy has become bitter and hard and is fighting as a mercenary for the Serbs. When a prisoner exchange sees his partner take a girl he knows and try to kill her and her unborn mixed child, Guy is forced to kill him to protect them. However he then finds himself in a bitter war with a woman and child that no one wants.
I have seen this movie twice now and can find little to dislike about it, but also realise that it is not for a fun evening in with friends. The film is unrelentingly bleak and depressing as it is a look at the bitter and cruel war fought in Bosnia. The subject matter is framed around Guy, as a man who has been turned hard by the horror he has seen and it works well for this reason. We see it through the eyes of a man who has seen it all and has no more hurt left to feel. The film doesn't simply act out atrocities for us to watch but frames them within this story however we know that nothing is made up or exaggerated in terms of the bigger picture.
The film lacks any sort of traditional American cop-out (it's no spoiler to say that Guys wife and child don't turn out to be alive after all!), only the opening `this is why he's like this' 10 minutes are a little too neat and could have been dispensed with I didn't need it to explain why he was dead inside, only that he had become it due to war which was partly true. However this doesn't really take away from the film, only slightly weaken the character.
The cast are pretty good but the film is 99% Quaid's. He gives a great performance which is subtle and very downbeat. His eyes are where most of the acting occurs and he does it very well his character is very unsympathetic and has only a marginal redemption to look forward to but yet Quaid mixes it very well. Kinski is out of the film before her name has even appeared on screen, while Ninkovic does a good job, again despite a unsympathetic character. The rest of the cast are OK but hard to judge as much of the dialogue is in Serbo-Croatian and their performances are hard to judge. Faces such as Skarsgård add interest, but I did wonder why he had bothered for such a short time on screen.
Overall this is not a fun film to rent on Friday night but a bleak anti-war film that will leave you in no doubt that the conflict in Bosnia (and perhaps everywhere else) is of no value when compared to the enormous cost in terms of human life and suffering. -
WallMec27 June 2001After reading the rave reviews here and else where on the internet I decided to rent and watch this relatively unknown movie. What I saw though didn't seem to be what I had expected.
This pro Serb war movie had some very powerful scenes to say the least but that was just it, just scenes that didn't really in my opinion support the underlying plot which was thin but inspiring to a certain degree.
The first part of the story seemed rushed and I don't think it fully established Dennis Quaid's character and his relationship with his family to justify his murderous rampage. They breezed through the beginning so fast I don't even remember what he did for a living.
The rest of the movie at times brilliant didn't flow smoothly and the ending was abrupt and incomplete.
The acting was ok, one of the better performances I've seen from Quaid but I don't know how they could advertise this as a Nastassja Kinski film in those trailers when she only appeared for 10 minutes maximum.
Overall, not a movie for everyone. Although it wasn't a bad movie, it wasn't a good one either. They could have done more. Watch it if you must, but with a majority of reviews saying it was great and fantastic, you may be one of the few who like me feel that it's not as good as they say. -
Wikkus23 March 2005I first saw this film when it was screened on the small screen by the BBC here in the UK a couple of years ago.
When I saw it in the company of my then girlfriend, I wasn't aware of Oliver Stone's involvement and, frankly, I think that's for the good as I could quite easily have flipped channels having pre-judged it as YAHWF ("Yet Another Hollywood War Film").
Fortunately, I stuck with it and it opened my eyes to a war that was, by and large, merely seen as an inconvenience to many would-be holidaymakers here in Britain.
Whilst reported ad-infinitum by the mass media here, making the phrase "ethnic-cleansing" into an everyday term, it wasn't until I saw this film that I fully appreciated what this meant.
It's a hard film that brought me a sense of remoteness, helplessness, futility and anger.
There have been few other films I've seen that made caused me to weep (big, macho guy that I am ;-)), particularly those that are often mis-labelled as "war movies" -- "The Killing Fields" being another of this ilk -- when, in fact, they're really (if we're labelling things) human interest films that come about because of a war or conflict.
Dennis Quaid is, to me, one of those actors who isn't hugely prolific in the projects he gets involved in and I actually found it difficult to think of other titles of his that I'd seen. A quick skim through IMDb and a couple of them stand out for me, films I've thoroughly enjoyed and would happily see again; "The Right Stuff" and "Enemy Mine". This is, without doubt, the best I've seen him in. -
Peter Elefant27 April 2001"Savior" is one of those movies that shows pointlessness of war, triumph of the human spirit and so on and so on. However it doesn't get me. Look. I cried in the end of "Shindler's List". I cried because of a flying bag in "American Beauty". I even shed a tear, when the captain of "Galaxy Quest" told that morron alien he wasn't a real captain. This film, however, does absolutely nothing for me. I can't feel with the main characters. It's not that there's not enough pain to go around. It's just excess. There's too much pain to take it serious. You leave the film with a numbness. Therefor it can be rated nothing more than a flat 7.
Ps. Watch out for another annoying character, played by Natassja Kinski. -
IMDB80817 June 2002"Savior" came to me as a movie half-seen on HBO. What I saw was enough to intrigue me to search for the DVD. The DVD is currently out-of-print. Luckily I was able to find one on an online auction site and I am pleased to say that I am quite happy with my purchase. This movie takes a serious look at war and it's effects on a soldier who has joined the foreign legion, a woman he meets, and an infant who enters their life. The setting is Bosnia and war is brutal. The hero finds himself surrounded by death and destruction. He chose his life as a soldier in the Foreign legion as an act of revenge to purge his anger from losing his family. Soon, war and anger overcomes and all that is left is the "Savior". Who is the savior? I'll leave that up to you the viewer to discover for yourself. Excellent film overall. This is my favorite performance by Dennis Quaid.
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ladygreenlife9 October 2009Yes this is a good movie but not as developed as it could be. I think it fell short for the part of audience who have been through such a tragic unbearable events and the part that have not been through such things ( hope they are more than the first category) are not able to actually touch the depth of the situation and have to rely on what they have hared and their environment. I think the writer, who has a noble sense of humanity tried to protect himself from the hurt and despair these kind of subject will cause to heart and at the same time that he was trying to develop the story. The meson scene is not as best as it could be. Some times it feels like the cast have not grasped the depth of the characters they represent. It's a very good movie but it could be better, this subject needs realistic art to be expressed thoroughly. There's a Canadian movie named shake hand with the devil which is about peace makers in Rwanda and it has expressed the subject way better than this one. If you like this movie I suggest you watch "Shake Hands with the Devil ".
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anhp00727 December 2005Savior is one of the most intriguing movies that I have ever seen.The story deals with a man's journey in a foreign land where he meets a woman and plays a bigger role in her life than he'd expected. He joins the foreign legion to overcome the grief caused by the loss of his family.Under special circumstances he meets Vera, a victim of the war who is pregnant at the time.He saves her and her baby from the hands of a cruel mercenary.The main character is surrounded by death and the atrocities of the war. He seeks hope in the eyes of Vera's child.The seemingly hard-hearted guy shares a unique bond with the child.
It is one movie that you should not miss. The horrible face of war is vividly displayed. This movie will leave you thinking about the lives of those living in the war-torn areas. -
Dogzilla2 June 1999I watched this movie hoping to expect a great masterpiece but alas, it was not even half as good as I expected. First of all, all the people saying this movie is a great war movie are blind human beings because the plot didn't make much sense. A soldier suddenly turns away his American citizenship after the loss of his family. He does some nasty killings and then all of a sudden turns into a better Samaritan than that of the Bible.The movie was okay in showing us what the refugees went through during the Serb war but on the other hand, it looks very ordinary. Most TV war movies made made for TV are far better than this..
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doug_park20014 February 2013"Disturbing" and "gut-wrenching" are frequent adjectives used to describe SAVIOR. I agree without hesitation, but it's important to remember that, particularly in its conclusion, SAVIOR is also both heart-warming and gratifying. I have seen very few films that juxtapose these various qualities so well.
This is one of Quaid's finest performances as Joshua "Guy" Rose, a former U.S. Army officer who joins the Bosnian Serb Army for the simple reason that they are fighting against Moslems, a religion that, for reasons the film reveals, he's come to hate. He soon finds himself the unwitting "savior" of Vera, a Serbian woman played with utter conviction by Natasa Ninkovic, and her child conceived through rape by former Bosnian captors. The symbolism of the half-Serb, half-Bosnian child shines through very well. Settings are also worthy of note: The Bosnian sequences were filmed right next door in Montenegro, and the whole sense-of-place adds as much immediate realism to this film as the superb acting.
There are some rather heated debates on IMDb's Discussion Board regarding what SAVIOR supposedly says about the war in Bosnia and how it portrays Serbs, Croats, and Moslems. Obviously, way too much has been read into the fact that the director is Serbian-born. Certain events and portrayals will inevitably upset citizens of the former Yugoslav republics who were victimized during the wars in the 1990s. However, the basic focus of this film is as nonpartisan as it can possibly be. If anything, SAVIOR overdoes the point that Bosnian Serbs, Croats, and Moslems all committed acts of both horrific cruelty and extreme compassion. In the words of one character, "I am Croat, my wife, Serb. Before the war, no difference. Now, stupid!" -
The film opens in Paris. Joshua (Dennis Quaid), a U.S. Military official, is eating with his family. He decides to leave and as he walks away he witnesses his wife and young son killed in a brutal suicide bombing.
In a fit of rage, after their funeral Joshua goes to the nearest Muslim temple and shoots about five or six Muslims in the head at point blank range.
He then flees to the Foreign Legion, fighting in the Yugoslav war as a mercenary; doing fighting with the Serbians against the Muslims (hmm, I wonder why?).
Eventually Joshua finds himself transporting a nursing woman named Maria (Natassja Kinski) to safety...and finds himself questioning his own motives.
Considering that the film was directed by a Serbian it's not hard to imagine he had some sort of ulterior motive. Predrag Antonijevic was born in Nis, Serbia, Yugoslavia. Could there be a reason he chose this particular subject as a film choice? Surprisingly I expected an anti-Muslim piece but it's actually more of a "don't judge people by their religion" piece. Oliver Stone's involvement as producer perhaps solidifies this. But I still felt like the message was a bit wishy-washy - at one point all Muslims are evil, then suddenly they're helpless victims.
I'm not necessarily saying that "Savior" is a worthless propaganda piece with lack of focus...but I am saying that - judged solely as a film - it isn't particularly interesting or original. I thought it could have been much better. I was rather disappointed. It's just not very well fleshed out and I didn't understand what, exactly, it was trying to say - other than that you can't take your frustration out on those with differing religions...but that seems like a rather redundant moral. -
grunsel11 October 2003At first on hearing Dennis Quaid I thought this would be usual "Hollywood Hero saves the world" offering from the Hollywood Studios. How wrong I was,Dennis Quaid gives a stunning performance of a good man struggling to understand a world of brutality and inhumanity. Against all odds he does what he thinks his right and realizes the baby represents the only hope he and the human race have? There will probably be critics from those who were involved the conflict who will say this is an inaccurate "Hollywood Version" of events.This may or may not be true, but what Quaid has done here is made a bridge from the world depicted here and the rest of the world not involved in the conflict, enabling us to understand it more.
This film is not mainstream enough to have become a blockbuster,with lots of honours, but I would like to think Quaid and Kinski will remain justifiably proud of their involvement in this film for all time.