Den of Lions (2003) Reviews

• Brutality in the East

  stefant2003-10-28

  I had such a joy, watching this movie, because there is possible to make great movies, without big budgets, Stephen Dorff plays well and Bob Hoskins has a really great role as the Russian godfather,the movie is very authentic and deals with matters such as trafficing of refugees, who is to be prostitutes against their will, of course. There are moments of very strong violence, think what you can accomplish with a pool cue. The scenery and photography is used very well. This one earns to be remembered. I gave it 9/10 IMDB rating system

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• ..just another dull, unremarkable action film..

  Christos_Stamos2006-03-14

  This is one of those films that seem to have been written by a committee. The script consists of nothing more than an amalgamation of the clichés of thousands (upon thousands) of second-grade action flicks. The undercover FBI agent who casually infiltrates the Russian mafia and falls for the monstrous capo's daughter, your run-of-the-mill car chases, the millionth appearance of the ever-present sale of a nuclear device to terrorists (whenever there's the Russian mafia in a film, you just *know* it's going to involve a nuclear weapon sale to terrorists sooner or later)... you get the point. Amusingly, apparently because the film is set in Hungary, the director decided that it would be an "authentic" (!) touch to have the actors speak in a vaguely British-sounding accent ; that's indicative of the film's quality as a whole. If you enjoy the typical action movie fare (say, Chuck Norris, Van Damme and Seagal films), you might find this worth the TV-viewing (not a rental by any stretch of the imagination). If their by-the-numbers, unimaginative approach to film-making is not your particular cup of tea, you will find it tiresome and trite, as did I.

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• I don't think this had the production values to classify it as a film

  therealswil2004-05-28

  Here's my theory. An accountant with connections managed to score directing a film, a dream he's had ever since he was so influenced by seeing Fate of the Dolphin III as a teenager. He then proceeded to stumble his way through the production and managed to put something together that, and I don't say this lightly, was a movie. Well, only just. Honestly. I've seen better production values on films shot with no budget whatsoever. I'm sure it had a low budget but it's no excuse for what they turned out. Absolutely no idea how to tell a story through the medium of film. Go back to filming birthday parties. Anyway, it gave me a good laugh. 0 out of 10.

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• You have blood on your face

  sol-kay2005-12-23

  ***SPOILERS*** Sending a group of FBI agents to Budapest in order to crack the dreaded Solntsevskaya, Russian Mafia, grip on that city leads to the discovery that the Russian mobsters were into a lot more then just trafficking in drugs and white slavery, they were into illegal arms smuggling that included nuclear weapons. Going undercover in the Budapest Solntsevskaya is FBI agent Mike Varga, Stephen Dorff, a Hungarian/American with family members living in the city. Getting close to the head of the Russian hoods Darius Paskevk, Bob Hoskins, as a leading drug pusher in his organization puts Mike in the perfect position to get the goods on him and his connections in the Budapest police department. Falling in love with Darius' daughter Katya, Laura Fraser, who's her father financial adviser in his criminal activities has Mike in an awkward position since he's in fact working to put her father as well as Katya behind bars. Finding out that one of Darius' mobsters back in Russia Yakov,Robert Willox, and a gang of renegade soldiers had obtained a nuclear detonator from the Russian Army and are about to sell it to arms dealer Hazni Hussein, Nabil Massad. Hussein is going to give it, for a nice hunk of change, to a notorious Middle-Eastern terrorist group. With now the lives of millions at stake the local Hungarian police and the FBI are working around the clock to keep the detonator from getting into terrorist hands and prevent another, but far worse, 9/11. A bit slow at times "Den of Lions" lacks the edge of your seat tension and excitement that would keep you glued to the screen taking in every second of the movie. We also have a confusing sub-plot involving Rita, Tania Emery, who was kidnapped early in the movie by Darius' thugs and thrown into a life of prostitution. Not to make light of Rita's terrible situation it, the story focusing on Rita, made the danger of a possible nuclear holocaust almost second fiddle in comparison with Mike and his boss FBI man Rob Shepard, Ian Hart, as well as Katya risking their lives to save Rita and almost forgetting the real reason for their concern: a nuclear armed Al-Qeada-type terrorist group. Mike playing it close to the vest knows that it's only a matter of time before he's found out by Darius and his right head man Freko, David O'Hara, and sets up a fake assassination of Rob to throw the mobsters off his tail. Rob is later found to be alive by Budapest police informer Laszlo (Lozsef Gyaronka), who was working for Darius,and that leads to Ferko trying to kill Mike and then, at the conclusion of the movie, the shootout between Darius's gangsters with the Budapest police. Despite it's flaws "Den of Lions" does have it's moments. The relationship between both Mike and Darious with the independent minded Katya provides an interesting psychological insight between the three. The acting of Bob Hoskins was a lot like that of an American Mafia chieftain then that of a Russian one with him looking like an overweight version of the first Communist Russian leader Vladimir Lenin.

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• I must be missing something

  itprocess2006-11-03

  Few movies offer the senseless violence and absence of artistic skill that is evident in this movie. Why anyone would want to spend the necessary hours/minutes viewing something so devoid of entertainment value as this presentation is beyond my sense of comprehension. Don't waste your positive energy and desire for entertainment on this one. Unless, of course, you are seeking misery, frustration and are bent on despondent expression of hopelessness. The sorrow that this film evoked was simply not worth the time it took to watch it. I, myself, will seek a film with plot, substance and creativity that is worth my time and expense of life energy.

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