In 2157, people lives in peace and progress on Earth, respecting ecology and space travels are very common. The pilot Maksim Kammerer (Vasiliy Stepanov) is hit by an asteroid and he crashes his spacecraft in the unknown planet Saraksh. Maksim gets stranded in the planet and is captured by a local and arrested. Maksim finds a planet in the stage of Earth in the 20th century, with war, social problems and destroyed ecology. He is sent to the capital escorted by Corporal Gai Gaal (Pyotr Fyodorov), but they are attacked and he escapes. Maksim protects the waiter Rada Gaal (Yuliya Snigir) against a stalker and he learns that she is Gai's sister. Then Gai recommends Maksim to his Captain Chachu (Mikhail Evlanov) and the earthling joins the guard. However Maksim discover that this repressed society is ruled by an oligarchy called Unknown Fathers. Further there are anti-ballistic defense towers that the locals believe that are for their protection that are actually broadcast towers that are used to control the minds of those that are susceptible to the broadcast that are called degenerates. Maksim leaves the guard and joins the degenerates to destroy the towers. However, he is captures with Rada and Gai. Now he is plotting with other prisoners how to destroy the central transmission to the towers and leave the people have free will."Obitaemyy Ostrov", a.k.a. "Prisoners of Power", is a complex story with a messy screenplay and absolutely lost in translation. I have just watched this movie on DVD twice, the first time spoken in Russian with Portuguese subtitles; then I saw it again dubbed in Portuguese with Portuguese subtitles. Surprisingly the dialogs in Portuguese and the subtitles in Portuguese are different. Based on this reality, my conclusion is that the Brazilian viewer misses many points in the translation. It is very difficult to follow and understand the society in planet Sarakash for those like me that have never read the sci-fi novel by Arkady and Boris Strugatsky. There is no explanation, for example, for the curse word "Massaraksh". My vote is seven.Title (Brazil): "Prisioneiros do Poder" ("Prisioners of the Power")

Advice to all: read the book first. I found this movie as a good set of illustrations for book but sometimes we can see a little differences. E.g. under the book Maxim learns the native language by oneself and under the movie he puts "worm-gadget" into ear :-) Most of actors are well for his characters but not all IMHO Guy was showed too crazy. Arkadiy and Boris Strugatskiy are not only sci-fi writers. They are good thinkers too. And in each their book we can find a lot of thoughts. So I think that it was better to create a series of movies. And I even think that this movie should be remaked. At least it should be trilogy... A series of movies allows to save their thoughts and it also allows to remove any differences with book. I think film directors can cut something but they shouldn't add false episodes. Finally I think that it is mediocre movie but a good set of illustrations. So (5 + 9) / 2 = 7 :-) My vote is seven.

It doesn't help you much that you might have a great novel at your hands if you can’t render it in comprehensive and clear-cut screenplay. Yesterday I watched Inhibited Island (thereafter Island) and could not find the story. It took me half the way through the movie to catch dizzy glimpses of what was happening there. Though, there are many great films where you keep looking for answers even after final credits. Island is, certainly, not one of them.The plot is weak at all points. The characters are cut-outs, one dimensional, lacking any insight. Their actions and motives are not clear, and this is obviously director’s fault and miscalculation. This movie has no suspense. Neither does it any plot twists nor unanticipated revelations. Acting is ludicrous, to say the least. It is very disheartening to watch many good actors drifting towards the borders of emptiness under a great direction of Fedor Bondarchuk. Andrei Merzlikin, for instance, is capable of portraying much more interesting and vivid character. In Island he had to downsize himself to copy-cat Gary Oldman from The Fifth Element. It’s pathetic.It is a risky business to compete head-on with the Hollywood on their own turf. It came as no surprise as Island fell hard on its face when attempted to depict the whole Universe with the brushes which such artists, as George Lucas (Star Wars) and Luc Besson (The Fifth Element) had used up so successfully. Evidently, it is not enough to download Maya or 3D Max. You need to have something else to pull the magic.Second rated TV companies can justifiably claim to have produced much more elaborate and interesting shows in terms of production design, wardrobe, props, and film vehicles. Island has nothing fresh and original to offer. It is all that boring seen-half-million-times-before stuff we’re fed up with. This time it is cheaper and amateurish than ever. It felt phony everywhere.Action scenes. This is my opinion: If you can’t make them work the way in which their superiority stands for a mile, there is no reason to make them. All action scenes here are clumsy, cinematography is boring, editing followed the pattern. When after fist combat you start thinking, ‘Why the heck didn’t they simply shoot him’, It is a clear indication that something’s wrong.If the budget were about $M 3-5 I'd say it is kinda funny movie to watch and forget. With the budget they've had (estimated $M 36-40), I suppose people are to expect much more interesting, intelligent and entertaining show. I didn't read a book this movie is based on. Hence all my comments relate only to movie.

Does it take a genius to create at least a bearable blockbuster movie when you have a solid budget of 40mln and and a famous book to form and back up the script? Apparently, yes. With no style or substance, Obitaemyy Ostrov manages to put much of its audience to sleep or make them shake their heads in disbelief. I wanted to be as objective as possible, but there's basically nothing I could have praised. From the retarded (and redubbed!) main leads who's primary objective was to look cute to loads of pointless scenes and a permanent sense of deja vu - the movie is a failure in every possible aspect. They say if you read the book before watching the flick, things may get better. I'm not sure whether it explains the painfully bad acting, pathetic CGI and downright ridiculous dialogues. Try not to laugh during the moments which were supposed to be emotional and dramatic. Ugh.