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The movie has nothing to do with the historical facts with some small exceptions. Tsar Peter was not the monster type "Roman dictator" but more a naive impotent and scared person. The moment with the chopped heads was disgusting and happened only in the imagination of the director. Not to mention the ridiculous presence of black people at the Royal Court and count Orlov played by an Indian actor. Total parody.

Huge disappointment. Enter the Cold war II!A single 60-years old guy destroys the most severe Russian gang in a local DIY with screws and hammers. The first 10 minutes were OK, but after that it turned into a cheap action without any logical plot. The final was crushing - Denzel goes to Moscow and kills the bad guy in his bathroom, preliminary liquidating his army of bodyguards. The message - Russians, don't mess with us or we shall send you our deadliest weapon - DIY supervisor. We have a new sheriff in town - killing the bad, protecting the poor Latin minority, punishing the corrupted cops... Hollywood best days were over long time ago. RIP! I haven't watched such ridiculous propaganda since Rambo. 2 hours wasted time and bad taste in the mouth.

I liked the movie! It shows ordinary people that became heroes within extraordinary circumstances. The battle scenes are astonishing and professionally shot. I watched many documentaries about Stalingrad defense and even the German veterans admitted that the Russian soldiers crashed them in combats. Kretschmann was perfect in his decadent role also. Movies about Russian heroic resistance could be made only by Russians themselves. As a total I don't think that this movie deserves worse rating than "Saving private Ryan" or "Enemy at the gates". In fact, the movie shows the Russian perception of the war. Some could find it propaganda, but having experienced in documentary literature and movies about Stalingrad siege and defense, for me the movie shows the real status of the war with modern cinema weapons!

Quite disappointing...Unfortunately, great actors (Hurt, Caviezel), awful intrigue and spot. It is obvious that the story is quite a clumsy remake of the Beowulf and Grendel story. I recommend "Beowulf and Grendel" (starring Gerard Butler) if you wish to see the real movie.The crew there comes from Iceland that makes the film looks authentic. "13-th warrior" by John McTiernan was also much better. It reveals quite fascinating theory of the origin of the vendols in the Northern Europe mythology and their connection to the Beowulf legend, expressed in the first anglosaxon written poem "Beowulf" Effects were at a high standard, but apparently they were the only worth in the movie. At least we know from where the dragon legends come from in the Scandinavian sagas.