Daniel Craig Movie:

		List Price: $29.99		Label: Paramount Salesrank: 7915 Released: June 2, 2009
		Our Price: $22.70
		Used Price: $14.64
		MPAA Rating: R (Restricted) Media: Blu-ray

Editorial Review:

Genre: Drama
Rating: R
Release Date: 2-JUN-2009
Media Type: Blu-Ray

Description of Defiance [Blu-ray]:
Three ferociously committed actors fill the roles of the Bielski brothers, Jewish partisans who escaped into the forests of Eastern Europe during the Second World War. Daniel Craig (taking a break from 007 duty) is Tuvia, the leader of a group of refugees who eventually number over a thousand; Liev Schreiber is Zus, the antagonistic warrior; and Jamie Bell is Asael, a peacemaker no less devoted to the survival of the community. The three performers give life to director Edward Zwick's account of this little-known chapter of Jewish resistance to the Holocaust, which otherwise plays more like a history lesson than a full-blooded movie. The film's best achievement is its strong location work, in Lithuania--as the community makes its home in the forest, the landscape becomes an important player in the drama at hand, and the changing of the seasons is charted with bone-chilling detail. Schreiber manages to get a little wry humor into this otherwise sober enterprise, and Daniel Craig creates an unusual character: a sort of anti-Bond, a hero whose body is all too fallible and whose decision-making is sometimes hesitant or morally compromised. It's a rare hero in a World War II movie that tends to withdraw from scenes rather than stride into them, but that's what Craig does. More than likely, the movie's main achievement will be sending the curious to read the histories of the Bielski brothers and why they matter in the chronicles of the Holocaust. --Robert Horton

Stills from Defiance (Click for larger image)

Defiance [Blu-ray] Reviews:
Must See
2009-12-30 - This is the story that every free person must see. Even more so, it is a movie every Jew must see, to learn about the other story of Jews--the ones that fought and lived. It is a moving and well made film, telling the story of truly great men. In the face of oppression and unbelievable odds, these men made a difference!

World War
2009-12-29 - This is a tough movie to watch--mainly because of its realism in detail of this very true incident of WW-2. I recommend this work to any who enjoy visualizing of history as I think it does give understanding to DEFIANCE.

Like Schindler's List, this movie should be watched once a year to remind us where the possiblities are for humanity inflicting horror on humanity.

Defiance
2009-12-29 - The too rarely told story of defying Nazis. Liev Schreiber and Daniel Craig are first rate, the action sequences strong, and the plot credible. This is not a "Holocaust" movie about Jews dying at the hands of the Nazis, it is about the heroism of average people who are forced to take up arms to fight against oppression.

Liev Schreiber's acting chops put to good use!
2009-12-21 - What a fantastic story, and one I never even imagined had happened during those awful times. Liev Schreiber blew my socks off in his role. My typical genre is horror, and he is best known to me as Cotton Mather from the Scream trilogy. That was a fun, trite role, but he rocked as Zus, and was believable in the hardness that would take over many of us put into his shoes.

I thank the movie company for showing us a courageous story that shows people at their best, and others at their worst when faced with such adversity. This makes me appreciate what I have even more. It was a pleasure to learn of the Bielski's story.

People of the Forest...
2009-12-20 - It is 1941. Nazi Germany has invaded Soviet Russia, straight through the Soviet Republic of Belorussia. Three Jewish brothers, Tuvia, Zus, and Asael Bielski (Daniel Craig, Liev Schreiber, and Jamie Bell), take refuge in the nearby forests. They are joined, more or less by accident, by other members of their Jewish community. It falls to the three brothers to take charge and defy the odds to save the lives of their fellow refugees.

Such is the premise of 2009's "Defiance", which shines a light on a obscure corner of World War Two's Eastern Front. Trapped behind the German lines, the Bielski group must battle lack of food and shelter, a harsh winter, and the vicious tactics of the German Army. They get little help from the local Soviet partisan group, which regards them with suspicion.

The narrative proceeds on parallel tracks. The otherwise ordinary Bielski brothers must grow, painfully, into leaders, while their fellow refugees struggle to maintain their sense of community under the most difficult of conditions. The interactions between the brothers ring true, thanks to some solid acting. Some of the best moments of the movie are the efforts of the people of the forest to fashion a new, if precarious, life for themselves in the midst of war.

"Defiance" narrates some painful events that may be difficult to watch. The partisan battle may be unknown to the average viewer, who is encouraged to explore the extra features explaining the history behind the movie. "Defiance" is very highly recommended to fans of the World War Two movie genre as something new and special.