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Dennis Quaid, Nastassia Kinski, Nastassja Kinski, Natasa Ninkovic, Stellan Skarsgård

Filmed in Montenegro and based on true accounts of the early '90s ethnic clashes between Serbia and neighboring states, Savior is a harrowing triumph for Serbian director Pedrag Peter Antonijevic and ...( read more  read more... )actor Dennis Quaid. For Antonijevic, who shaped Robert Orr's script through his own knowledge of the Serb-Bosnian struggle, the story provides the daunting challenge of putting a human face on a monstrous chapter in modern Europe's geopolitical evolution, and of transcending nationalism by capturing an even-handed but hardly unemotional portrait of the "war psychosis" that only partly explains the deep, divisive hatreds at work. For Quaid, Savior rescues his artistic reputation after too many formulaic studio outings that attempted merely to cash in on his wolfish charms.

Quaid is Joshua Rose, an American in Paris traumatized by the death of his wife and child in an Islamic terrorist bombing, wreaking immediate and fateful vengeance on innocent Muslim worshippers, then escaping into a new life as a mercenary supporting Bosnian Serbs. Under the nom du guerre Guy, Rose is a remorseless, nearly comatose presence until he intervenes in a brutal attack on a Serbian woman (Natasa Ninkovic) pregnant from a Muslim rape. Guy's gradual immersion in his charge's destiny brings him face to face with the centuries-old political, religious, and cultural feuds that haunt the region, and Quaid's own salvation comes through a remarkably subdued, sober performance. That restraint, and Quaid's haggard, close-cropped features are all but unrecognizable to those more familiar with his cocky, grinning turns as a more conventional hero.

Antonijevic makes the journey absorbing and, ultimately, elegiac, punctuated by a few brief but convincingly gruesome action sequences including a civilian massacre that would have been the climax of a more conventional war film. Instead, it's Quaid's own epiphanies that distinguish this probing, heartbreaking drama. The DVD edition retains the original widescreen aspect ratio and includes an audio commentary from the director. --Sam Sutherland

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78% liked it

3,735 ratings

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7 critics

R, 104 min.

Directed by: Peter Antonijevic, Predrag Antonijevic

Release Date: November 20, 1998

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DVD Release Date: April 20, 1999

Stats: 158 reviews

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Flixster Reviews (158)

  • kiriyamakazou
    October 6, 2009
    kiriyamakazou
    Savior is a film that forces you to confront the harsh realities of the world. It doesn't play scenes for excitement or entertainment, nor does it offer an easy escape for the audience. Dennis Quaid goes through hell in this film. He loses everything he loves, and then turns into...( read more) a monster. The film is about his redemption. It could be argued as to whether he is the savior, or if that label goes to the baby he is protecting. Slowly, Quaid regains his humanity, but it isn't some schmaltzy love-fest. It shows Quaid's frustration and anger as part of what makes him human. The film is very grim and hard to watch. This is mainly due to the relaxed style Predrag Antonijevic adopts. Scenes you can imagine containing slow-motion, quick cuts and powerful music, are simply shot and edited as they would happen. It's shocking to see such huge moments played out with such subtlety, but it is also the film's major strength. If you don't mind powerful yet difficult cinema, check out Savior.
  • TheMachinist
    January 2, 2009
    TheMachinist
    "You are a good man"

    Set in 1993 Bosnia, Dennis Quaid plays the character of Joshua, a man who's family was killed by Muslims. Now a mercenary for the Serbs army, he is a hard and bitter man who has nothing to lose.

    The film is all about Quaid. He gives a very subtle performanc...( read more)e, in my opinion one of his best. The director, who is a Serb himself, didn't make this film too political. In the film Serbs, Muslims, Croats are equal. There is no discussion about politics or religion. This is more a film about the cruelty of war and its effects on the civilians. This is done in an outermost effective way.

    "Savior" is a very tough film to watch. Some scenes are very disturbing, heartbreaking and at times depressing. But there is hope in the movie and "Savior" deserves a look. Will have an effect on the viewers...
  • JDFortuneFan
    April 7, 2007
    JDFortuneFan
    Slow moving film, but it has a wonderful plot. The slowness keeps the film from being enjoyable. Dennis Quaid fans will see a different side of thier icon.
  • boriserjavec
    September 2, 2009
    boriserjavec
    Showinig the cruelty of the bosnian war.
  • Sebdinovitch
    July 17, 2009
    Sebdinovitch
    Want to see it again... I don't remember...
  • HorrorMovieCinema
    June 24, 2009
    HorrorMovieCinema
    "Hope is worth fighting for."


    Joshua is a former U.S. military official who fled to the Foreign Legion when his wife Maria was killed
    by Muslim fundamentalists in Paris, and now he's a mercenary
    , fighting in the Yugoslav war on the Serbian side against Muslims.
    ...( read more)


    : Guy: Sorry about your family.
    : Vera: : It's war.
    : Guy: : Don't any of the tits in this country work?
    : Guy: : Oh, you're a billy goat. I need a Biljana.
  • lizethlara78
    May 28, 2009
    lizethlara78
    REALMENTE MUY BUENA!
  • thuva87
    March 3, 2009
    thuva87
    see how strangers change our life........
  • azdw
    July 11, 2008
    azdw
    Review will be written when/if re-watched (Probability: Low).

    First viewing: 12.09.1999
  • ProfessorAsshole
    January 5, 2008
    ProfessorAsshole
    A visceral account of the Balkans genocide and conflict.

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Savior Trivia

  • In which movie is Keanu Reeves is the Savior of man kind by fighting demons?  Answer »
  • What movie does this quote come from? “You wrote that the world doesn’t need a savior, but every day I hear people crying for one.”  Answer »
  • Complete the line from the smash-hit film "Lawnmower Man 2: Beyond Cyberspace": Jobe: "In here, I am the _______."  Answer »
  • In which movie Did the Savior of the World die for you and me and pay for all of our sins, and give us eternal life- " I am the way the truth and the life no man commeth to the Father except through me . (joh 14:6)  Answer »
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