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Movies / On DVD / Eastern Promises
Eastern Promises

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Eastern Promises (2007)

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88 %
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Reviews Counted: 181

Fresh: 160

Rotten:21

Average Rating: 7.6/10

Consensus: David Cronenberg triumphs again, showcasing the Viggo Mortensen's onscreen prowess in a daring performance. Bearing the trademarks of psychological drama and gritty violence, Eastern Promises is a very compelling crime story.

Runtime: 1 hr 41 mins

Genre: Thriller, Deception, Theatrical Release, Crime, Violence

Theatrical Release:Sep 14, 2007 Limited

Box Office: $17,114,882

Synopsis: The new thriller reteaming acclaimed director David Cronenberg with his A History of Violence leading man Viggo Mortensen, Eastern Promises is written by Steve Knight (Academy Award-nominated... The new thriller reteaming acclaimed director David Cronenberg with his A History of Violence leading man Viggo Mortensen, Eastern Promises is written by Steve Knight (Academy Award-nominated screenwriter of Dirty Pretty Things). As in the earlier film, director and star together explore the psyche, physicality, and fortunes of a man whose true nature may never be wholly revealed. The mysterious and charismatic Russian-born Nikolai Luzhin (Mr. Mortensen) is a driver for one of London’s most notorious organized crime families of Eastern European origin. The family itself is part of the Vory V Zakone criminal brotherhood. Headed by Semyon (Academy Award nominee Armin Mueller-Stahl), whose courtly charm as the welcoming proprietor of the plush Trans-Siberian restaurant impeccably masks a cold and brutal core, the family’s fortunes are tested by Semyon’s volatile son and enforcer, Kirill (Vincent Cassel), who is more tightly bound to Nikolai than to his own father. But Nikolai’s carefully maintained existence is jarred once he crosses paths at Christmastime with Anna Khitrova (Academy Award nominee Naomi Watts), a midwife at a North London hospital. Anna is deeply affected by the desperate situation of a young teenager who dies while giving birth to a baby. Anna resolves to try to trace the baby’s lineage and relatives. The girl’s personal diary also survives her; it is written in Russian, and Anna seeks answers in it. Anna’s mother Helen (Sinéad Cusack) does not discourage her, but Anna’s irascible Russian-born uncle Stepan (Jerzy Skolimowski) urges caution. He is right to do so; by delving into the diary, Anna has accidentally unleashed the full fury of the Vory. With Semyon and Kirill closing ranks and Anna pressing her inquiries, Nikolai unexpectedly finds his loyalties divided. The family tightens its grip on him; who can, or should, he trust? Several lives – including his own – hang in the balance as a harrowing chain of murder, deceit, and retribution reverberates through the darkest corners of both the family and London itself. -- © Focus Features [More]

Starring: Viggo Mortensen, Naomi Watts, Vincent Cassel, Armin Mueller-Stahl

Starring: Viggo Mortensen, Naomi Watts, Vincent Cassel, Armin Mueller-Stahl

Director: David Cronenberg

Director: David Cronenberg
Screenwriter: Steve Knight
Producer: Paul Webster, Robert Lantos
Composer: Howard Shore
Studio: Focus Features

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Release:

Jun 21, 2009

[DVD Details]
 
 

DVD Features:

  • Region 1
  • Snap Case
  • Full Frame - 1.33

Audio:

  • Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround - English, French
  • Subtitles - English (SDH), French, Spanish - Optional

Additional Release Material:

  • Trailers: Includes PUBLIC ENEMIES Sneak Peek

Featurette:

  • 1. SECRETS AND STORIES
  • 2. MARKED FOR LIFE
 
 
 
 

Reviews for Eastern Promises

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1 - 20 (sorted by date)
Text View | 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 >> >|
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David Cronenberg is a director who sets out to bring life (and death) back to violence. In Eastern Promises he does just that. It is a movie that will make audiences squirm and look away.

Full Review Source: Fayetteville Free Weekly | comment Comment
02/02/09
Tony Macklin
Fayetteville Free Weekly
N/R

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: NPR.org | comment Comment
10/18/08
Bob Mondello
NPR.org
N/R

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: Deseret News, Salt Lake City | comment Comment
10/18/08
Deseret News, Salt Lake City
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

Un ejemplo de cine negro contemporáneo realizado y narrado con gran precisión. Excelente elenco donde se destaca la notable labor de Viggo Mortensen.

Full Review Source: Uruguay Total | comment Comment
05/03/08
Enrique Buchichio
Uruguay Total

Eastern Promises has a lot going for it, which makes it all the more disappointing when the story takes a fatal turn towards the end.

Full Review Source: MSNBC | comment Comment
05/01/08
Alonso Duralde
MSNBC

This is my favorite David Cronenberg film to date.

Full Review Source: The Scorecard Review | comment 6 Comments
03/03/08
Jeff Bayer
The Scorecard Review

...a Godfather for a new culture and era.

Full Review Source: Colorado Springs Gazette | comment Comment
02/28/08
Brandon Fibbs
Colorado Springs Gazette

Poderia perfeitamente ter se revelado um thriller absolutamente convencional caso não tivesse, a seu favor, dois elementos importantíssimos: a direção segura e intrigante de David Cronenberg e, claro, a performance hipnótica de Viggo Mortensen.

Full Review Source: Cinema em Cena | comment Comment
02/22/08
Pablo Villaca
Cinema em Cena

Despite Viggo's total gorgeousness, a nude fight-for-his-life in a steam room has all the titillation of a butcher throwing down a slab of meat.

Full Review Source: I.E. Weekly | comment Comment
02/22/08
Amy Nicholson
I.E. Weekly

David Cronenberg proves he doesn't have to use violence to tell a good story.

Full Review Source: Oscar Guy | comment Comment
02/02/08
Wesley Lovell
Oscar Guy

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: JoBlo's Movie Emporium | comment Comment
02/01/08
JoBlo
JoBlo's Movie Emporium

Surprising and rather suspenseful crime drama and the perfect follow-up from the director who composes a pleasing violent moral duality tale...

Full Review Source: Cinema Crazed | comment Comment
01/04/08
Felix Vasquez Jr.
Cinema Crazed

There seems to be no point to it all other than to craft an unsettling motion picture with some grisly close ups of throats being slit.

Full Review Source: Bangitout.com | comment Comment
12/06/07
Jordan Hiller
Bangitout.com

Though not as subtle, complex, or personal as History of Violence, Cronenberg's new film is a grim, taut, well-crafted crimer about the Russian mafia in London, as close to a genre picture as helmer has ever done.

Full Review Source: EmanuelLevy.Com | comment Comment
11/16/07
Emanuel Levy
EmanuelLevy.Com

Barbershop throat slitting, nude macho wrestling and eye gouging in a bathhouse, and far too willing underage Ukrainian sex slaves. A double vodka, please.

Full Review Source: NewsBlaze | comment 1 Comment
11/13/07
Prairie Miller
NewsBlaze

Its subtext, which is about sex and violence and the way one often dovetails with the other, and the skill of its making, render it gripping enough.

Full Review Source: This is London | comment Comment
10/26/07
Derek Malcolm
This is London

An orgy of slit throats, lopped digits and a naked fight scene that will tattoo itself on to your brain.

Full Review Source: thelondonpaper | comment Comment
10/26/07
Stuart McGurk
thelondonpaper

Cronenberg is his own master, still ready to throw in the sort of scene few other directors could dare.

Full Review Source: Independent | comment Comment
10/26/07
Anthony Quinn
Independent

Although relentlessly gripping, the film is more interesting than it is satisfying, let down by the script.

Full Review Source: Financial Times | comment Comment
10/26/07
Karl French
Financial Times

Despite the star presence of Viggo Mortensen, David Cronenberg's violent film about the Russian Mafia in London is a disappointment.

Full Review Source: Daily Telegraph | comment Comment
10/26/07
Sukhdev Sandhu
Daily Telegraph
 
 
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Latest News for Eastern Promises

April 03, 2009: Weekly Ketchup: Sony announces Men in Black III
Right smack in the middle of this week was April Fool's Day, so some stories this week had to be always be viewed with a grain of salt, but there was indeed real movie news. ... More...

March 30, 2009: Cronenberg Making More Eastern Promises Opens in new window
Surprise! David Cronenberg is planning a sequel to "Eastern Promises." (Warning: if you haven't seen "Eastern Promises," and plan to one day, skip the finale-spoiling first... More...

November 05, 2008: MovieReign.com: Barbershop throat slitting, nude macho wrestling and eye gouging in a bathhouse, and far too willing underage Ukrainian sex slaves. A double vodka, please. Opens in new window
More...

February 17, 2008: SONY Tropfest
SONY TROPFEST, the world's largest film festival, once again pulled crowds of over 150,000 as it screened the 16 finalists films for 2008. More...

See More Topics...

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