Hollywood often resorts to national stereotypes when it shows villains in the movies. So in 2014, the dream factory forgot about a tolerant attitude towards Russia and returned to the idea of bad Russian guys. This can be seen in the criminal drama "Common", filmed according to the script by Dennis Liheyn. The film has brutal Chechens, sometimes called Russians.
Introducing you American films about Russia, a list of ten iconic Hollywood films that show a change in the image of Russians in the 21st century. The list was compiled based on a sample of Forbes magazine.
10. The 25th hour, 2002
The film is about a young drug dealer, for whom there is the last day of freedom before going to jail for 7 years. The Russians in the film are shown as mafiosi, and the main one is Levan Uchaneishvili. He was a companion of Boris Berezovsky in the movie "Oligarch".
9. The vice for export, 2007
The events of the film take place in London among Russian emigrants and thieves in law. The vice for export demonstrates the image of not only a cruel, but also an attractive enemy, played by Viggo Mortensen.
8. “Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull”, 2008
Aged and still energetic, Dr. Jones encounters no less energetic KGB agents led by Colonel Irina Spalko. Fortunately, in this film, the Russians do not flaunt in boots and sing in a chorus of "Black Eyes," although there is a hammer and sickle, and evening dances squatting around the fire. The film is interesting because it predicted changes in relations between Russia and the West, a hint of which during the filming was not yet.
7. "Iron Man 2", 2010
Shabby with life, but still charismatic, Mickey Rourke plays the main villain, the Russian physicist. This is not a template villain who constantly drinks vodka and relies solely on muscle strength, but a brilliant inventor, an extraordinary personality, albeit in tattoos from head to toe.
6. Salt, 2010
The incredible adventures of a Russian spy in the United States, with Angelina Jolie in the title role. In the 90s, Hollywood showed stupid and evil Russians, not noticing the changes taking place in our country. In 2010, albeit several years late, he began to show a strong Russia and admitted that there are not only bad, but also good Russians. With all this, “Salt” shows well that Russians are still afraid and considered the main threat to America.
5. “Mission Impossible: Phantom Protocol,” 2011
In fifth place in the list of American films about Russians, as in the case of Salt, Russia appears to be a strong country, only Russian special agents (represented by Vladimir Mashkov) are not brilliant. Unlike Tom Cruise, of course. But in the end, Russia is shown as an assistant and a friend.
4. Die Hard: A Good Day to Die, 2013
In this expensive film about the misadventures of John McClain, Sr. and Jr. in Moscow, you cannot find good Russians. And the fact that an American in a stolen truck carries half of the Russian capital is not worth the little things. This part of Die Hard is Hollywood’s first film from the second half of the 1990s, in which there are references to the specific political realities of the USSR and Russia.
3. "Jack Ryan: Theory of Chaos", 2014
Russia is again called America’s main enemy, as it was in the 90s. At the same time, the film was shot in 2013, when Crimea had not yet moved to Russia. But if the dream factory again makes a monster from Russia, it means that the American public demands it, for which the movie is shot.
2. “Search”, 2014
The picture of the director Michel Hazanavicius about the war in the North Caucasus shows the disgusting Russian soldiers, sadists and murderers, and wonderful Chechens. There is no third.
1. "The Man of November", 2014
Completing the top 10 iconic Hollywood films about the attitude of Russia to a spy thriller, in which Pierce Brosnan plays a retired CIA officer performing his last mission in Moscow. The film is full of cranberries: the main villain is the Russian general Arkady Fedorov, who raped the girls during the conflict in Chechnya. He intends to become the head of Russia. Having won the presidential election, Fedorov wants to lead Russia into the NATO bloc. He is assisted by the CIA, which is interested in deposits of Chechen oil. And since Russia is now opposing itself to the West, Hollywood, apparently, will not leave alone the “ugly Russians” yet.