Defiance DVD: Review By Buckshot

Every once in a while Hollywood gets smart and delves into a story that means so much to so few people in the past which ends up impacting the lives of several thousand in the future. That's exactly what Defiance does.

This story is centered around the Bielski brothers Tuvia, played by Daniel Craig, Zus, played by Liev Schreiber, Asael, played by Jamie Bell and Aron, played by George MacKay and there escape from the local police under German occupation in 1941 prior to the U.S. involvement.The brothers eventually realize they are not the only locals and non-locals in hiding. Given the burden of caring for themselves as well as the escalading forest population with food, shelter and protection, Zus and Tuvia butt heads on how their forest community needs to be run. Zus wants to take the offensive against the Germans while Tuvia wants to evade the Germans and let time dictate their future. This dosen't sit well with Zus and he and a handful of the community decide to break camp and join a small local Russian resistance.

Not giving away the outcome of the community this movie is more of a character drama based on the lives of the brothers and their small forest community. There are multiple brief engagements with the Germans leading up to a larger engagement at the end.The battle scene at the end with the Jewish resistance was unrealistic and ruined by Hollywood.They made the German attack on the entrenched position seem to be made by unskilled SS troops. You don't hear the tank until it's descending the slope when in reality you can hear the tank a mile away before it appears.For an R rated movie the fight scenes were more a light PG-13.I was expecting more of "Saving Private Ryan" or "Letter from Iwo Jima" realism.