Taming of the Fire (1972)

That was an excellent one.

I like movies that are aware of what they are selling... without [any] greater aspirations than to make people laugh and that's it.

The story-telling is good with flashbacks.The film is both funny and heartbreaking. You smile in a scene and get a soulcrushing revelation in the next.

A terrific literary drama and character piece that shows how the process of creating art can be seen differently by those doing it and those looking at it from the outside.

Ukroshcheniye ognya (1972) is probably among several most important visual documents of the 20th Century Russian\Soviet history. The film was made in dangerous times of the Cold War between the Soviet Union and the USA, when the two superpowers were about to destroy each other with nuclear missiles. Deadly Russian missiles and nuclear explosions, and more interesting stuff is superbly shown in this epic film. It isn't important that the leading character is based on Sergei Korolyov, who was the number one rocket scientist in the Soviet Union. More important about this movie is the rare view through the Iron Curtain, an original insight into the Kremlin politics, some intriguing atmosphere of Soviet secrecy and enigmatic ambiance of Russian military science of that era. Lavrov's acting is superb, as he leads a nice ensemble of top Russian stars, such as Smoktunovsky, Kuznetsova, Gerdt and Popov with other actors. Excellent cinematography with two cameras. Powerful depiction of the first military use of missiles during the Nazi invasion of Russia in WWII. Interesting shots of Russian space centers and rare footages from the original flight of Gagarin - the first man in space. This epic is a desirable collector's item.

This movie is loosely based on biography of one of the fathers of Soviet cosmonautics - S.P.Korolev. Though definitely the heroic deeds of army of Soviet engineers worth all kind of awards, but this movie leaves me disappointed.This film is outdated today and looks more like propaganda movie, especially at the end - Lenin, communist party, revolutionary song in at the party in Kremlin.Name Bashkirtsev is used here not because S.P.Korolev was a top secret engineer, but because some episodes of the movie have nothing to do with S.P.Korolev. Before WWII he was in prison, in GULAG camp, then in sharashka - a secret research center under supervision of NKVD. Anyone interested in real facts of Korolev would read Wikipedia, and would not not watch this movie.Next is the main idea that is driving Bashkirtsev: flying into space to Mars and to Moon. This movie never says that the main goal of Korolev research center was to create an intercontinental ballistic missile. A space program was just a side project that was used later by Soviet government as another propaganda vehicle. Thsi movie shows as if Bashkirtsev is a lunatic driven by a single idea to launch rockets into space, and military usage of rockets has nothing to do with him or the whole Baikonur launch site. This is again a propaganda cliché.

An epic about Russian rocket scientists and the launches of "Sputnik" and Yuri Gagarin - the first man in space. Soviet secrets are unveiled and many facts are uncovered in this powerful film. The filming locations were top secret in the Soviet Union. Filming was made at the Soviet Space Research Centers near Moscow and at numerous launch sites of the Baikonur Cosmodrome in the deserts of Kazakhtan. Actors are playing the top secret characters, who's real names were not mentioned in the film credits and public media. The leading character and other rocket scientists seem like they were well coached by the real space staff.

First man in space was Russian... This movie depicts step by step evolution of Soviet space program from military rocket system "Katjusha" till first space ship "Vostok". Head character is based on real person Serguei Korolyov, the father of Soviet space program. Nice subject, nice music...