Obitaemyy ostrov (The Inhabited Island) (2008)

Featured Audience Ratings

• Justin Y

  
  Stemming from the Strugatsky brothers' novel by the same name, Fyodor Bondarchuk's <i>Inhabited Island</i> falls short of expectations.<p>Set in the year 2157, the plot for this science fiction picture is really difficult to put together. There aren't… More
  Stemming from the Strugatsky brothers' novel by the same name, Fyodor Bondarchuk's <i>Inhabited Island</i> falls short of expectations.<p>Set in the year 2157, the plot for this science fiction picture is really difficult to put together. There aren't enough explanations or descriptions for a number of things, although the pieces do slowly fall into place as the 1 hour 50 minute film progresses. Still, it is a task to connect the dots. It's almost as if reading the novel is a requirement.</p><p>There is a moderate amount of action and the choreography for the hand to hand combat isn't too bad. The are a lot of slow motion-speed up shots during these scenes as well. The rest of the explosive action is also decent enough to entertain.</p><p>The futuristic setting is the highlight of the film. The combination of CG effects and live action designs work well to create the technologically advanced city for the story to unravel.</p><p>The characters are a tad uninteresting and this relates to the poor storytelling. Vasily Stepanov seems out of place, even though his character is possibly meant to be this way.</p><p><i>Inhabited Island</i> does have the story concept and visuals to be a great science fiction adventure. It also has the ending to set up the sequel. It is just too bad that some of the other things drag it down.</p>