Hey Everyone since Mariya has been here we have seen at least 6 movies at the mvie theater and in all of them Russians always seem to be the bad guys! does anyone else notice this?

Nah... As many times as there are BAD Russians in a movie, there are GOOD Russians in a movie. Well, it may not be 50/50, but I bet if you studied it, it would not be as disproportianal as it seems.

Also... Think about it... in most American movies, AMERICANS are the bad guys. Criminals yes, but still American. You just need to change your perspective.

Perhaps the cold war had something to do with that?

I have to agree with Corey. The appearance of a Russian in an American film (,television series and even video game) is usually the antagonist of the story. I also have seen Russian ladies on television shows, often, playing the MOB or brought over for sex slavery.

agree!!!!

In the new Indiana Jones movie, Russians were just your typical henchmen. It was a Ukrainian that was the real biaaatch.

But yeah, you're right. It's not too often you see a Russian as the "good guy" in the movies. (Except maybe Armageddon, that guy saved the world more than a few times. But, then again, he was kind of an @$$hole in Running Scared.)

Vigo was a "good" Russian in Eastern Promises. Well, sort of.

And how about Enemy at the Gates? All those nice Britons playing Russians were good guys. It was an American playing a German that was the bad guy in that one!

Yeah. My wife (who is Ukranian) had a few things to say about Indiana Jones! lol

It was kind of cool though that she would tell me what they were saying when they spoke Russian..."Hold his hands behind his back..." etc.

Hollywood is ignorant and stupid. I think that is self-evident.

However, I really think you guys are forgetting alot of movies that were not "anti-Russian". I don't think anything made during the cold-war counts too much, however, the movie Nicholas and Alexandra (I believe is the name) made in the early 70's is a VERY unbiased look at the life of Nicolas the second, his reign, his mistakes, and his marriage. It also gives insight to the rise of the Bolshevic party and the eventual revolution. And it was made in the middle of the cold-war. Everyone forgets these movies, especially Russian people.

There were many movies made in the last 20 years with good Russian people. Not every movie is a stupid as Indiana Jones and the Aliens from Jupiter, or whatever that last one was about. But sure... lots are.

Have you guys seen many Russian films. They make Americans look real good, huh? (rolls eyes)

A few American movies with some "good" Russian characters:

Reds
Dr. Zhivago
Red Heat (Arnold as Russian cop)
Hunt for Red October (Sean Connery as Russian hero)
Anna Karenina

Also, famous ballet dancer Mikhail Baryshnikov has been on Sex in the City and some other TV and movies. Alexander Godunov, another famous ballet dancer who, like Baryshnikov, defected to the west was featured in Witness and other films before his death from alcoholism and hepatitis. Both actors played "good" Russians.

Interesting links:
http://badrussians.com/
http://video.aol.com/video-detail/wendys-c...heme/2583647379

I forgot to mention a very good movie with "good" Russian characters..."Gorky Park."

One of my favorite movies is an HBO movie called Citizen X. It was the story about the Soviet Police and Military officers that were involved in capturing one of the worst serial killers in history. It starred Donald Sutherland and Steven Rea.

ha ha that is because we are!!! LOL

Is it a surprise that Hollywood makes movies where Russians are bad guys? We (I am Russian, naturalized USC though) have been the boogey-man for the last 50 years during Cold War.
The movies in this list, though...Red Heat is just a Hollywood representation of what they think a Russian cop is...the reality is much much more corrupt. The Hunt for Red October...yeah, Sean Connery as an American hero.
Hollywood can't make good movies about Russia since it would be impossible to describe to general public why "this Russian is good", you guys don't quite understand us. When you're with your Russian wives, watch "Brother 2" or "Брат 2" and see if you can tell if this movie is about a good Russian or a bad Russian...after all, the main hero breaks a bunch of US laws and kills quite a few people in Russia AND in USA. We have very flexible morality

Kind of off topic for this thread, but an American movie, nonetheless...

I watched Idiocracy last night and laughed my @$$ off. Mike Judge (dude that does King of the Hill, Office Space, etc.) made this movie about what the future was going to be like and he nailed it! The opening 15 minutes made me both die of laughter and then really start thinking about just WTF? is going on with our country today.

Anyone else seen this movie? If you haven't, it's worth watching. Very funny and thought-provoking as well.

You know I have seen it 2 times, both times Elena says"How can you watch such a stupid movie?"

I laughed a lot too but it is a thought provoker.

I saw it, and had the same reaction.

If you have HBO, look for the movie PU-239. Don't be put off by the odd title!

It's about a Russian husband and father who works in a Russian nuke plant during the 90s. Things are falling apart and he's warned management that the conditions are unsafe. The unthinkable happens and he's exposed to a lethal dose of radiation. Instead of helping him the plant managers fire him. He knows he's a dead man walking and steals a portion of weapons grade plutonium in hopes of selling it in Moscow to provide for his family when he's gone.

It's tremendously sad and brutal, and funny in parts. I can't believe I was actually rooting for him to sell the stuff before the end of the movie

I saw a preview for PU-239. Looked like a good one. I'm also highly anticipating HBO's Generation Kill that comes out next month. I loved the FX original show Over There but for some reason it was only on for one season. Hopefully Generation Kill will take over where it left off.

Did you guys ever watch the TV series Jericho? That was a good one that was just dropped for no reason. I caught it kind of late but watched a marathon on USA or something and was hooked. Then... it was gone. I heard it may come back but I don't know.

It seems like all the "thought provoking" shows get taken off the air for some strange reason. It's a wonder the Daily Show, Colbert Report, etc. haven't been censored into cancellation. I guess they can be dismissed as comedy. The drama shows seem to get cancelled after a season or two. Hmmmm.

Germans too. And the fake accents suck a$$.

I saw a screening of the first episode of Gen Kill, it's awesome. It's going to be a 7-part series; movies and series about Iraq have been a huge bust for most studios, but HBO isn't beholden to advertisers or ratings as much as other networks.

July 13.....

Nope never saw idocracy! We have satelite tv and the only show mariya likes to watch is family guy

Family Guy is good. If you like that sort of show, you'll like Idiocracy.

It's also a good look at certain aspects of American culture. Could be a little intro to some of the folks she hasn't ran into yet.

My Alla's American favourites...

CSI
CSI Miami
Knight Rider (She thinks KITT is cool)
A Team

You'll have to show her the old Knight Rider shows with the 'Hoff. And if she likes those, she'll love Airwolf too. Probably Magnum P.I. as well.

I was talking about the real Knight Rider. She's never seen the lame update. Her big kick is KITT. She likes the way he is "so clever" and protects Michael. I am very confident she would like Airwolf. I'm less confident about Magnum. The Ferrari can't talk. She might find Higgins interesting though.

I think you can still buy the sweeping red lights to install in the grill of her car. "Whoosh-whooosh, whooosh-whooooosh" and you could probably find some kind of gadget to make it talk as well. I know Tom-Tom and all those GPS things talk now, so it shouldn't be too difficult to find something that sounds like KITT.

I had KITT wallpaper on her desktop when the computer was in Kazan'.

And what do you expect? Russia .... a supposedly "civillised" country which shuts their cities hot water off for a few weeks every summer?.......Hmmmm? Hmmmmm...??

While this is true and irritating, it ain't that hard to buy your own water heater.

As "civillised" as America is, I can't remember a time when we've ever had hot water provided by the govt.