Customer Reviews

Operation "Y" & Other Shurik's Adventures

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

 

 

Just want to add to the previous review that the technical qualities of this DVD are quite good, especially given the age of the movie (made in the 60's). Images are well restored. Colors and sharpness are good. Dolby 5.1 sound is great. This is a very good news because the music score is a nice part of the movie.

This dvd is worth the money given the excellent rewatch value. Much better quality then a cheap/boutleg VHS tape you might have bought on Brighton beach in the past. Well designed animated menu and interesting bonus materials: interviews, a short movie about Nikulin (clown and comedy actor, very well known in Russia), filmographies.

This is a classic Russian comedy I saw for the first time when I was in Moscow almost 10 years ago. The DVD doesn't have a lot of special features, but it is in the original Russian and offers both Russian and English subtitles, so anyone can view it. This is just as funny now as it was the first time I saw it and includes a classic scene where Shurik's roomate is trying to cheat on a test. Unlike most Russian humor, you don't need to be from Moscow to enjoy it.

This is a hilarious movie - and will have you clutching your sides with laughter. Three short vignettes about "Shurik" - the hero from Kavskaja Plenitsa. My personal favourite is the one where he prepares for the exam. Very funny indeed!

And of course Nikulin has the funniest face yet seen in moviedom.

I have this movie on VHS in Russian only - so no comments on the quality of the DVD. Do you need to buy this movie? "Nada Fedya, Nada"!

My parents have an old, shady version of this movie, and I've watched it many times. It's funny and enjoyable. My favorite sketch is the middle one, about the exam. It's just too cute and silly!! :)

While "Operation Y" is funny, what makes this DVD invaluable is the skit portraying Shurik as a geeky engineering student studying for a big final exam. The scene immediately following the exam, in which he is introduced to a lovely girl in another section, is quite possibly one of the most hysterical ever put on film.

Its not so easy to capture in words - what has made Shurik's comedies utterly funny to the Russian viewers. Let me give it a shot by describing one skit. So if you STILL don't know what this movie is about - pls don't read!

A notorius bully drunk refuses to let a pregnant lady a seat on the overcrowded bus. When our hero Shurik - a witty geeky student notices that, he right away camouflages into a blind man who harrasses a drunk by poking at him, which forces a ruffian to stand up - once that is done Shurik reveals himself and lets the lady sit. An enraged ruffian starts a fight - police is being called and the drunk is arrested.

As a punishment for this misdemeanor he is assigned some remedial jobs from the extremely polite and benevolent militia (soviet police) who allow him to make his own choice to which he replies by uttering "Is there spot in the liquor store?" to which the militia politely appologizes for the lack of such spot. Finally he gets assigned to a newly developing construction sight, but...he gets a supervisor - SHURIK! While the ruffian is happy that he is going to be able to take his vengeance on the student - the Shurik, naive and timid, creates odius situations for a bully, who eventually succombs and becomes something akin to a honest and SOBER labourer! You have to see this development!

Besides an unusual plot - the movie is full of slap-stick situations that give credit to the director, but to me the major humor is in intelligence and wit with which that era was depicted - both funny and optimistic, hopeful and kind of nostalgic. The soundtrack is awesome rock'n'roll (by the talented Zatzepin, courtesy V. Alo) that keeps you dancing for the duration of the skit as well as the rest of the movie. i really hope that if you are a first time non-russian viewer you will enjoy this.