Critic Reviews
-
Robert Abele, Los Angeles Times
If Pusher III is the trilogy's least effective, that may be because the soured-deal plot line is by now a given, and its theme is the simplest.
-
Nathan Lee, New York Times
Life and death on the mean streets of Copenhagen they evidently exist are rendered with pungent detail and excellent discipline in this tough trio of underworld thrillers.
-
Tim Brayton, Antagony & Ecstasy
Pushes the admittedly tiny "life and times of bedraggled men in the drug industry" subgenre to a place that it had never before gone and will likely not return.
-
Nick Schager, Lessons of Darkness
Expands [the trilogy's] overarching vision of underworld nastiness, the universal yearning for escape, and the cruel hand of fate.
-
Dennis Schwartz, Ozus' World Movie Reviews
It's a nasty film.
-
Louis Proyect, rec.arts.movies.reviews
Final installment in a trilogy about Copenhagen drug dealers. Sardonic comedy in the "Goodfellas" vein.
-
Jules Brenner, Cinema Signals
A pushy piece of work worth the withdrawal when it's over.
-
Laura Clifford, Reeling Reviews
Refn saves the best for last...
-
Noel Murray, AV Club
Gut-churningly nasty
-
Harvey S. Karten, Compuserve
More an engrossing psychological study of a drug lord heading for a breakdown than a violent tale of criminality.
Read all 10 critic reviews
Featured Audience Ratings
-
Director, Nicolas Winding Refn saves the best one in the series for last. I Am The Angel of Death is the finest film in the trilogy, its dark, edgy, stylish and surprisingly effective piece of work that goes from the gritty and dirty underworld to the yearning for escape and recovery.… More
Director, Nicolas Winding Refn saves the best one in the series for last. I Am The Angel of Death is the finest film in the trilogy, its dark, edgy, stylish and surprisingly effective piece of work that goes from the gritty and dirty underworld to the yearning for escape and recovery. A film that makes you take a hard gut-punch that's cruel and nasty. A tough, hard-boiled and very addictive thriller. Zlatko Burik gives a brilliant and truly absorbing performance, his villain Milo is more grounded and compelling in this film, you have sympathy for him and really hope he makes it through. A powerful and engrossing classic. This series is some to the finest and darkest work about the crime underworld ever,
-
Nikolas Winding Refn leaves the trilogy on a commendable and suitably dark note. The ending says it all really. I liked the way he brought back Milos as the lead in this installment, unexpected but very welcome. Again, the glamour of being a successful gang boss isn't what… More
Nikolas Winding Refn leaves the trilogy on a commendable and suitably dark note. The ending says it all really. I liked the way he brought back Milos as the lead in this installment, unexpected but very welcome. Again, the glamour of being a successful gang boss isn't what it's cracked up to be, the underworld of crime looking as dark and miserable as ever. I loved the conclusion and the return of Slavko Labovic as Radovan was a real treat and another welcome surprise. A brilliant trilogy.
-
Authentic if grimey end to the trilogy with less engaging characters and unnecessarily gorey moments.
-
Who in their right minds would have ever centered a film around the character of Milo. Who cares about his back story and what makes him tick? Refn does and does it extraordinarily well.
-
The third and final part of the Pusher trilogy concentrates on local mid level drug distributor Milo from both the previous films who once again has a deal go sour and finds himself indebted to some Albanian gangsters. Pusher III has all the same strengths and weaknesses of the… More
The third and final part of the Pusher trilogy concentrates on local mid level drug distributor Milo from both the previous films who once again has a deal go sour and finds himself indebted to some Albanian gangsters. Pusher III has all the same strengths and weaknesses of the previous films; it has a stomach churning realism (especially during the disposal of a couple of bodies that's so gruesomely realistic it makes the one from Donnie Brasco look like the "how to" section of Blue Peter), attention to detail and naturalistic performances. But it is also full of unsympathetic characters, zero humour and exactly the same kind of unsatisfying conclusion that the first one had; in fact the entire trilogy felt a bit like watching random, unconnected episodes of the Sopranos in Danish. At its best, it's intense, disturbing and brutally believable but it's definitely a slow burner which made me think the sensationalist subheadings of the sequels and twin pistol toting artwork of the DVD cover seemed a bit like false advertising as there is little in the way of action throughout the whole trilogy. A good, solid set of gritty crime dramas, but anyone expecting high octane action will be disappointed.
-
the third film follows milo, the serbian crime lord, in dealing with his business and his family. the frightening character from the previous films is revealed to have problems of his own. he struggles with sobriety while things slowly spin out of control, culminating in a… More
the third film follows milo, the serbian crime lord, in dealing with his business and his family. the frightening character from the previous films is revealed to have problems of his own. he struggles with sobriety while things slowly spin out of control, culminating in a horrifically bloody scene that would never make it into an american film. all three highly recommended to fans of gangster and crime drama
-
Finally able to finish the gritty crime trilogy, Pusher III doesn't have the nice and tidy ending but rather the kind that leaves you knowing this lifestyle will continue as long as there's money to be made from drug-trafficking. Here, we have the story of Milo, the crime… More
Finally able to finish the gritty crime trilogy, Pusher III doesn't have the nice and tidy ending but rather the kind that leaves you knowing this lifestyle will continue as long as there's money to be made from drug-trafficking. Here, we have the story of Milo, the crime kingpin prominent in part one and featured briefly in the second film. Starting off with Milo in rehab, the third film involves a drug deal gone awkward that soon turns into a downward spiral of bad situations. All this takes place within that wonderful concept; the 24-hour storyline .
Another thing that's worthy of note is the film's attempt to present the story as a kind of cinema verite experience. There's an almost complete absence of a music score, except at absolutely pivotal moments of the film and even then is used sparingly along with hand held camera technique and natural lighting which give an "all too real" feeling that can make Martin Scorsese's Mean Streets seem like a nice place to raise children. The pace never lags, and the dynamics between the characters are all detailed. Zlatko Buric's performance as Milo is so natural, much like Paul Sorvino in Goodfellas, that it might be difficult to separate this role from other films I may see him in later. The third act in the film involving retribution may be difficult for some to sit through.
<a href="http://s273.photobucket.com/albums/jj203/goji9000/?action=view¤t=pusher3.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i273.photobucket.com/albums/jj203/goji9000/pusher3.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket"></a>
-
The third (and probably final) part of Refn's Pusher trilogy focusses it's attentions on Milo, the drug lord from the first two instalments. Now at a ripe old age, and more or less a joke in the local crime community, Milo finds himself the day from hell in recieving a… More
The third (and probably final) part of Refn's Pusher trilogy focusses it's attentions on Milo, the drug lord from the first two instalments. Now at a ripe old age, and more or less a joke in the local crime community, Milo finds himself the day from hell in recieving a promised shipment of heroin as a massive batch of ecstasy, making food for his daughter's birthday party, preventing any mishaps with his short-tempered thugs, and his own addiction problems.
Refn is once again in the visual zone, adding to Milo's frustration with some impressively long takes and marvellous colourisation. The violent acts of retribution are of course present, our protagonist's actions justified by the dog-eat-dog nature of his arse-end of Copenhagen. Though hardly as vital or striking as his debut, Pusher III is certainly worth watching, and the third act (concerning the effective imprisonment of a girl as sexual fodder for two vicious types) is excellent, dealing with the various moral shades of a grey in a violent world.
-
<i>Pusher III</i> is strong stuff indeed, and a great deal more successful than <i>Pusher II</i>, whilst still not nearly as effective as the first film. Concentrating on drug lord Milo, who was a secondary character in the first films, his is a gripping story… More
<i>Pusher III</i> is strong stuff indeed, and a great deal more successful than <i>Pusher II</i>, whilst still not nearly as effective as the first film. Concentrating on drug lord Milo, who was a secondary character in the first films, his is a gripping story that takes place over the course of one day. Now aged and seemingly out of touch with the world, he's becoming a laughing stock with his 'pushers' and battling with his own addiction, whilst trying to ensure his (extremely spoilt) daughter's 25th birthday party is a big success. When a deal goes pear-shaped, Milo has to simultaneously 'help out' two would-be sex-slave traders and keep his daughter happy. <p>I can't decide if this is a good film or not - it's certainly gripping, very well filmed and features an excellent lead performance from Zlatko Buric as the deluded Milo; it feels like he's gradually decaying with each passing minute. The shocking, genuinely sickening final act of violence is jolting and seems to reinforce the point that a criminal underworld rewards in the loss of soul, the loss of self. Not for the faint-hearted.
-
Solid acting, familiar territory.
-
On the final take of Refn's crime trilogy, this time we follow the breakdown of Milo, the druglord who can't compete with the yonger generation of criminals.
More of a character study rather than a crime thriller, it's not as affecting as the second Pusher flick… More
On the final take of Refn's crime trilogy, this time we follow the breakdown of Milo, the druglord who can't compete with the yonger generation of criminals.
More of a character study rather than a crime thriller, it's not as affecting as the second Pusher flick because... well, things get really nasty, grim and way too detailed for it's own sake.
But it's still a very solid take much like the previous movies, worthy of checking out.
Read all 11 featured audience ratings
Currently unavailable on Flixster
Also available on
Other Retailers
Subscription Services