Customer Reviews

Ivan Vasilievich - Back to the Future

5 star:		(11)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

It is one of the best Russian comedies of the Soviet period. This film is about a scholar who invents a time machine and by accident sends his neighbour and a burglar who happens to be in his neighbour's flat to the time of Ivan the terrible. It is absolutely hysterical. Great cast. Great acting. I have seen this film many times and every time I laugh my head off. I would recommend all the films by Leonid Gaiday.

God everytime i think about this movie I cave in, because it hurts me to think that none of my friends will ever see it and if they do, they won't get it. It is at times like these I wish we were all one nation. I am myself from Russia and I remember watching this film over and over again and then coming to America and renting it here over and over again. And I just feel angry and sad that no one I know will be able to enjoy this masterpiece...and also all those other masterpieces like: Operation Y, Gentlemen of Fortune, The Adventures of Shrulik and etc. All those films are just plain genius.

This movie is hilarious. A "modern" Soviet scientist builds a time machine and mistakenly ends up in Ivan the Terrible's palace... and he is transported to the USSR! The premise itself is enough to make you laugh... but the hilarity that follows is indescribable!

The first time you view it you may not get it well if you do not understand Russian, and it may seem a little goofy, because it is in Russian with English subtitles, but after you have seen it a few times, you develop a real appreciation for it. It is one of the funniest comedies I have seen, and it is amazing that it came out as it did considering the era in which it was made. All of the actors are fantastic, and after you have really got it, you'll probably want to watch it a few more times, or every now and then, it is a classic.

Some russian movies are great and this is one of them. It is a simple, no "harm-making" comedy. Just the way it should be.

I've described this movie to my friends as "Monty Python meets Wizard of Oz in Soviet Moscow". It's funny, quirky, and THE BEST 2 hours you'll spend laughing your rear end off! If you can find a copy, and if you can deal with subtitles, WATCH THIS MOVIE. Don't just have it on the background while you're doing something else, you'll miss a LOT of the humor. Sit down, have a drink, put this movie on and enjoy it. It really is so great on so many levels.

It has been for years the favorit movie of all my family already the third generation just LOVE it!
Thank you to Amazon!!!

I have seen this movie over 100 times through the years and it never seems to amaze me. I have not yet found a time where this movie was not something I really wanted to watch. Not to describe or ruin anything for the viewer, I will not reveal any details of this plot. The movie has incredible cast, amazing humor and even some musical numbers, which are also comic and fun to watch. Overall if you enjoy a light or histeral comedy with the plot attached to it, you have to see it. I have not watched this movie with subtitles, so I can not guarantee it will do it justice, but if you understand Russian, watch it in it's native tongue. You will not be sorry.

I got this movie because I was learning Russian. It was funny even without subtitles; though it does have subtitles. It is a very good movie about time travel.

This is one of those films that's like "Russian Vodka" brand and "kolbasa" has been infused into the late Soviet citizen's mind as an example of humor and satire.

The movie is funny, but the humor is rather sophisticated at times and goes beyond the more simple "slap-stick" comedy of which some elements are present.

This one requires a little knowledge of Russian history as well as (like probably many other Russian/Soviet films) a bit of knowledge of Zastoi mind set, when one couldn't or hardly could get some product with from the country other than the Soviet Union, and many times even from the Motherland, what came to be called the "deficit" in the coloquial. Consequently, many characters are particular types that have aquired pseudo-European and therefore fashionable lingo - like the director, and the scientist's girlfriend who often inject from "over-the-border" words into their dialogues and thus are mimicking those stylish few who were trying to get an experience of the forbidden fruit of the West.

The scientist himseld is a typical dupe, similar to the Russian architypical Ivanushka-durachok (Ivan the Fool). While the thief/wise guy played by Kuravlev is a cunning "first minister" also with pseudo-European habits. The tzar Ivan the Terrible, is awesomly played by Borisov, who also plays tzar's less perfect double.