9th Company

I felt that the 9th Company was a very good film and it portrays a none western view of the Soviet Afghan War. The film follows the service of several Soviet VDV(Airborne)troopers from their enlistment up to the end of the films final battle.The film covers events in 1987-88 which was during the final stages of the Soviet Afghan War. The first half of the movie focus on the at times very brutal training that the VDV troopers go through the instructor Warrant Officer Dygalo often resorts to brutal punishment of the men for making mistakes and the actor portraying Dygalo has an outstanding scene where he goes into a rage at the men when he learns that he will not be allowed to return to Afghanistan.Another very interesting scene is at the end of the basic training a VDV commander asks the men if any of them wish not to serve in Afghanistan that they should step forward and they will be assigned elsewhere this scene is notable as many westerners may not know that serving in Afghanistan was voluntary and every Soviet solider asked to serve there. There are several good scenes when the new troopers arrive in Afghanistan and met the much more experienced men in the unit the 9th company which they have been assigned to.The rest of the movie develops well and you see how the young fresh naive men come to see the chaos of warfare.The battle scenes are very confusing and violent and you rarely see much of the enemy for very long which does a great job keeping you on the edge of your set and feeling out of control of what is happening. The last 20 or so minutes of the film is the climatic final battle which occurs in early January 1988 and lasts almost three days.The film does take some creative license in this part and portrays the unit as having been forgotten about and not receiving any fire support until the last day.In reality the real 9th Company was not forgotten and had full fire support during the battle.Though the battle and situation shown in the film is a bit different than fact I feel that the director did this to portray the general feelings of the men who severed in the war that they where forgotten and whats worse the nation and ideas that these men where fighting for the Soviet Union no longer existed just a few short years after the Soviets left Afghanistan. Overall a very good film and beyond a doubt far better than any western film about the Soviet Afghan War such as Charlie Wilson's War which is highly idealized far more so than the 9th Company is.

There are already so many excellent reviews so I'm keeping mine short. This film, which I bought and have watched 4 times, provides a fairly realistic glimpse into the tragic Soviet occupation of Afghanistan through the eyes of a handful of pretty typical Soviet youth that are conscripted in to service. I think my Amazon profile may mention that I spent several years living in Soviet Occupied East Germany in the 1980's not to mention another 6 or 7 years after the collapse of The German DDR. While there I lived and worked initially in and around The City of Zerbst which was home to the largest Soviet Air Base outside of The USSR. As such I had a LOT of interaction with Russian soldiers, mostly the young conscripts who lived a tough existence on base. Based on my memories of those years I felt that the depiction of the soldiers in this mover were really accurate in general. This alone will be enough to interest many viewers in buying or renting this excellent movie. Other potential viewers may be very interested in seeing the military hardware, uniforms, small arm weaponry, etc. The dvd also offers the English speaking audience to either read the subtitles or select the version dubbed in English. You can't go wrong with this film which is available at incredibly low prices right here on Amazon.com and it's other Sellers. Happy viewing! Erich-Dieter Groebe

This movie was really quite good, the characters well developed, compelling and the weapons utterly realistic. You can tell they had access and backing from Russia and were able to use Mi-24, SU25's and the full compliment of Russian military hardware of the day. These are no replicas, they are the real deal. It added to the realism and you really lose yourself in the movie. A very different military culture than the USA, but also some similarities. A lot of interesting observations on war and background on Muslim culture. I watched it with subtitles as its in Russian but that added to the experience for me. You get the arc of a hopeless war and how these young soldiers start out very naive and end up hardened and scarred. Recommended if you like very realistic war movies.

I enjoyed it and have watched it 3 times since I bought it about a month ago. I learned a great deal from it regarding the Russian (maybe Soviet) point of view. The treatment of the recruits and soldiers is in line with what I have heard throughout my own military career. In a word, it's harsh and it is normal for NCOs and sometimes Officers to physically "correct" the lower ranks (conscripts) with beatings. If you are a fan of Russian weaponry, this is your movie. It's filled with AK-47s, AK-74s, RPKs, PKMs, the list goes on. There is plenty of military action involving an attack by "The Muj" as they are called in the movie. There are other violent military encounters as well that are pretty well acted and realistically portrayed. Some scenes are quite realistic while others seem an attempt to make an excuse for the Soviet loss by showing the Mujahadin as "ghosts" who can disappear into the landscape while standig 20 yards from the Russians. Having been deployed to Afghanistan, I found the locations portrayed interesting also. The locations used in filming are convincing as Afghanistan. You need to be warned about something here though...this is not a movie you can watch with a child!!! There is a scene with and much discussion about a character named "Snow White" who is an attractive 20-something young woman known by the soldiers for "servicing" recruits that come through this boot camp. They gather with her and take turns being "serviced". The actress is nude and even the parts of the scene that don't show her completely nude are too suggestive for young eyes. During the end of this scene, she is shown completely nude and the soldiers are bowing to her in their own sort of mock worship. Frankly, I found the bits involving her and discussion of her to be degrading and they made me uncomfortable. But, honestly, that emotion was an American one. It was interesting to me to wonder what the Russian mind would be thinking at that point in the movie. All things considered, this is a movie well worth the money. I value it for entertainment and education. I recommend watching this movie in Russian with subtitles.

Best war movie I've seen in quite a while. I really loved seeing all the Russian equipment, from AK74's to MI-24 choppers. The combat scenes were very realistic, as was the basic training. The movie was based on true events, which made it even better. 1st half covers new paratrooper recruits going through basic training. Does not cover paratrooper training. Then off on a plane to Afganistan, where the crap hits the fan right away, I really did not want to see another basic training movie, but the Russians really made it interesting. The combat scenes were very well done and made you feel like you were there. Be sure to click to English language as there is too much talking to try and read the subtitles, in my opinion. The dubbing was very good. A great war movie about a war we know little about. Made in Russia by Russians, with no Hollywood politically correct slant. Five stars.

A very well made movie about Russia’s struggle with their war in Afghanistan. The movie does take far too long to get a group of recruits into Afghanistan though. It follows a group of young men through their training and finally into combat. This movie sort of reminded me of “Full Metal Jacket”. They finally get into combat in Afghanistan and the Russians had it really hard over there with heavy casualties. This is a first rate movie and very well made. I love the Russian helicopter scenes.

Purchased as a gift.

This is an outstanding movie! In the Western world, not many know about the Soviet-Afghan war, so this was a refreshing take on the current conflict. The scenes are incredibly realistic, with sudden death, woundings, and explosions occurring seemingly at random. The translations are also well done, which for me makes this product stand out. The subtitles are timed to the speaker, and remain on screen until they are done talking, compared with some movies I have seen. My only gripe would be the historical accuracy of the Battle of Hill 3234 portrayed, but artistic liberties have to be taken, even with the most historically accurate of films. Altogether, I would say that this has to be in the library of every military history buff and military member!

Una storia di amicizia, nel terribile incubo della guerra in Afghanistan. Un film ben diretto e ben recitato, girato in un ambiente molto verosimile. Forse un pò troppo insistente e celebrativo sull'eroico coraggio di quei ragazzi, mandati a morire, senza un apparente motivo, in un paese tanto diverso dal loro. Comunque un film da vedere, anche se, a causa della mancanza di una versione, perlomeno sottotitolata in italiano, si perdono i dialoghi, molto importanti per una completa comprensione del film.

je commente le blu ray. Super image et son à la hauteur, supplément de prix justifié. Un super film russe peu connu en France qui raconte l'histoire vraie de jeunes appelés envoyés en pleine guerre d'Afghanistan. Ils apprendront à devenir des soldats puis affronteront la sale guerre dans toute son horreur.

Afghanistan wie es wirklich war und heute noch ist !!!!! Kampfszenen die jeden US-amerikanischen Streifen erblassen lassen , gleichzusetzen mit "Full Metall J..." irre eben . Tolle Regieführung und auch die Gebirgslandschaft sagt alles über das Land aus in dem der Film spielt . Ein muss für jeden der Kriegsfilme so real wie möglich erleben möchte .

まずはなんと言ってもロシア系映画という点が興味を惹きます。 普段ロシア系映画というと、あんまり見る機会は有りません。 私も他にはキンザザ位しか知りません。 そしてテーマとしているのはアフガン紛争。 同じテーマのランボー3とは好対照な映画と言えます。 ランボー3がアメリカ視点なのに対して、こちら（アフガン）はソ連視点で描かれた作品です。 そして前者に登場する兵器は一部を除いて作り物ですが、こちらは正真正銘の本物！ 特に、ある意味で主役とも言えるハインドが本物なのは見逃せません。 ランボーやレッドスコルピオン等で登場するニセハインドも、これはこれである意味で味が有ります。 が、やはり本物の迫力は違います。 余裕のリアルさだ。臨場感が違いますよ。 冒頭から中盤、そしてクライマックスなど各シーンで登場し、圧倒的火力を披露してくれます。 飛行しているだけでここまで威圧感が有るって凄いですな・・・ ハインド以外にも、T-72、BRDM-2、BTR-70（？）、BMP-1/2、An-12、Su-25、Mi-8と言った陸空のロシア製兵器が勢揃い！ T-72を筆頭にコンボイを組んで進撃してくるシーンは鳥肌物です。 もちろん上空には援護のハインドも飛翔。 また、BM-21の一斉射撃シーンは、その圧倒的な投射量に身震い数ほどの大迫力。 多連装ロケットは恐ろしい・・・ 伝統ある（？）ソ連製ロケットランチャーの凄さを垣間見た気がします。 等々、兵器面にスポットを当ててみましたが、ストーリーも見所有りです。 ランボー3は一人の無敵のヒーローが主人公ですが、こちらは民間人上がりのごく普通の兵士達が主人公。 当然無敵では無く、心も体も非常に脆い。 死ぬ時はアッサリと死んでしまう。 そしてそこが作品に深みを与えているのでしょう。 他の方が言及されている様に「フルメタルジャケット」に似た展開ですね。 鬼教官や狙撃兵の素質を持った兵士の登場など、あちらを彷彿とさせるシーンがいくつか有ります。 でも、似ているようで似ていないこの作品、なんというか、作り手や舞台など、色々異なるからでしょうか。 BD版が無く、日本語音声も無くて字幕のみですが、それらは気にならないほど内容に熱中できました。 隠れた名作としてオススメできます。 是非！

I'm surprised how few russian movies make it to a release in northamerica. There are so many just as good as Hollywood Productions, if not better. The ninth company, is just one of those. Great acting, incredible CGI enhanced Battlescenes, moving scenes of humanity, in a world of madness. Young canadian Veterans, back from Afghanistan, how have seen this film, where surprised about it's authentissity. Specially the scenes, that dealt with meeting the civilians, or the terror into stumbling into the usually "unseen" combatant enemies. Like our protagonist Aleksy Shadov who runs unexpectedly into a Mujaheddin (todays Taliban),when he tries to replenish his water-bottle at a mountain spring, finding one young enemy, at the same activity...... The viewer will also be witness, of how the CIA (Charly Wilsons War) imported Stinger Missiles take their toll on russian Aircraft. There is one really spectacular scene at the Kandahar Airport. What I liked most about this film, was it's humanity, and how simular those russian soldiers, resembled our own brave canadian Soldiers. Also this film used elements of the earlier Full Metal Jacket Vietnam flick, portraing young russian recruits, undergoing a harsh and gritty combat training, leaving their loved ones at home to enter Hell.