Buy The Way Back Movie. Watch online or Download
Genres: Dr
Starring: Colin Farrell, Ed Harris, Jim Sturgess, Saoirse Ronan, Mark Strong, Dragos Bucur, Zahary Baharov
Director(s): Peter Weir
Available Quality: Hi Def
Country: USA
Year: 2010
Available Quality: DivX, Hi Def, iPod, Hi Def, Hi Def
IMDB Rating: 7.3 out of 10 (30764 votes)
Siberian gulag escapees walk 4000 miles overland to freedom in India.
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The Way Back (iPod) | Resolution: 480x208 px | Total Size: 438 Mb |
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The Way Back (Hi Def) | Resolution: 852x368 px | Total Size: 848 Mb |
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The Way Back (Hi Def) | Resolution: 1920x816 px | Total Size: 10063 Mb |
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The Way Back (Hi Def) | Resolution: 1280x544 px | Total Size: 5590 Mb |
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The Way Back (DivX) | Resolution: 640x272 px | Total Size: 700 Mb |
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The Way Back (DivX) | Resolution: 640x272 px | Total Size: 700 Mb |
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Movie Photos:
We have taken some photos of "The Way Back". They represent actual movie quality.
Visitors Review
Alexander1313 (20 May 2012)
A Con Job
In 'The Way Back' various Soviet prisoners during World War II escapefrom the Siberian Gulag and journey thousands of miles over some of themost difficult terrain in the world and escape to India. The movieattempts to do a lot. First of all there are various personal stories.Some of incidents are of a sort of a domestic character. Secondly,there is the story of man against almost infinite odds succeedingagainst a completely indifferent and immense nature. The first story tosome extent undermines the second story. The movie attempts to be bothdomestic and epic. Thirdly, the immense journey of the prisoners isused as a synecdoche for the travails of the Communist World afterWorld War II. The physical journey of the prisoners is a stand in forthe political journey of Communist nations escaping from the Communistgrip. This story line seems more or less tacked on. Finally there istale of forgiveness for a betrayal that landed one of the prisoners inthe Gulag. The epic journey which is the film's strength grows on oneas the film progresses but there is one huge difficulty with the movieas an epic - the movie is apparently based on a book that is a tissueof lies. So it is in it's strength, the movie as an epic, where themovie fails abysmally. This was a very, very poor project for Weir topick. Hopefully Weir wasn't attempting to make some metapoint about thefakeness of epics. Epics are rare but do occur. Anyway 'The Way Back'is basically a con.
nama chakravorty (20 May 2012)
Peter Weir can do better...
Peter Weir is one of my all-time favorite storytellers. 'The TrumanShow' was a wonderful film. 'Witness' & 'Dead Poets Society' also werememorable fares. 'Fearless' offered some strong performances. 'MasterAnd Commander' also had it's share of pluses.However, Weir latest flick, 'The Way Back', which is a war drama, abouta group of prisoners who escape from a Siberian Gulag camp during WorldWar II, doesn't rank amongst his finest works.'The Way Back' begins with a bang, and has a rock-solid first hour. Theproblem, I thought, began in the latter hour. The writing gets weak,and the pace dips for quite sometime. The writing needed to be sharper,especially in the latter hour.Weir's direction, as always, is note-worthy. Cinematography isstriking. Editng could've been sharper. Performance-Wise: Jim Sturgessrules the show, with a fantastic performance. Sturgess is an actor towatch out for! Ed Harris is good, as ever. Colin Farrell is superb, andgets his Russian accent correct. Saoirse Ronan is fair. Mark Strong,Gustaf Skarsgård & DragoŠBucur are passable.On the whole, A Good film, that had the potential to be a GREAT film,but due to it's loose-ends, it's expected impact seems to be missing.
chaos-rampant (15 May 2012)
Pedestrian redemption, gruelling desert
At some point in this, our starved gulag escapees run off a pack ofwolves from their prey only to assume their place. This is The Way Backin a nutshell for me, a stark film of easy contrasts, with the power toemotionally affect but not to really challenge. It goes down easy,maybe too easy.This came and went without much fuss it seems like, which is surprisingbecause it's a sentimental tale of redemption done in a sweepingcanvas. This should be crowdpleasing in a number of ways. Criticisms ofthe movie write themselves I think, how the characters are set up toface predicable dilemmas, how the story told here is slight and thefilmmaking often pedestrian. The part that takes place in the gulag isa particular offender in those regards, a choppy segment where detailsare hacked left and right to quickly establish a narrative.The movie will pause all this for the characters to relate us withstories of how they were traumatized by the Soviet regime, they allhave something to walk away from or towards and be redeemed for it andmost of them do by the end. But out in the Mongolian desert the filmbecomes gruelling and silent. This is what I had anticipated, smallfigures of men smitten hard in vast, cruel landscapes.In his book The Mystical Gaze, Richard Leonard explains about PeterWeir's films that they employ devices "that enable the spectator to ask fundamental questions about meaning, purpose, identity, existence andthe relationship of this world to worlds beyond", which is all perhapstrue in theory of this film, but I experience these in very obviousways as opposed to Weir's great films from the 70's that rewardedimmersion by the introspection they required. His visual imaginationnow has petered out, whereas once it was flourishing with the uncannyand the mystical.The finale is the most intriguing part of this for me. Tricly almostbut it resonates with the sadness of these broken humans, how the womanhas stood in place punishing herself for a lifetime for her betrayal,the man having to wait a lifetime to absolve her.
markymark70 (15 May 2012)
A long walk would be better for you than watching this...
I watched this with only a basic understanding of what the backgroundwas to the story. Also - I did not know previously that it was PeterWeir's first film for 7 years. He should have stayed where he was.The premise of the story is an extraordinary one - a group of prisonersescape from a Siberian Gulag during the second world war and manage towalk all the way to India. Amazing stuff - especially as it is supposedto be true. However, the articulation of this story left medisappointed.The opening credits tell you the entire story from start to finishthrough the use of a couple of sentences. Because of this - the wholedynamic of 'what will happen next?' is taken from the viewer, as wealready know the end. Anyway - that disappointment aside - the story starts off well enoughand a strong early performance from Mark Strong augers well. Then what?The escape happens - off screen - and no more Strong. Things then seemto take the repetitive, undramatic route as we embark on our looooooongjourney. Essentially the weak story goes like this: - escape Gulag -start walking through Siberia - encounter hardships - somebody dies -start walking through Mongolia - encounter hardships - somebody dies -start walking through China, Tibet....etc etc. you get the pictureuntil we end up in India. And that's it !!! I ask myself - "So what?"The characters are one dimensional at best. I got to the stage where Icouldn't tell one from the other. And as for the Polish / Russianaccents. They may be authentic - I don't know - but the fact that I seetwo Irish actors (Farrell and Ronan) with strange accents didn't helpmatters.Acting: Farrell is good here to be honest. He carries that menace andunpredictability around with him with great aplomb. His accent thoughsullies it for me. Harris and Ronan are okay too. However, Burgessdidn't do it for me. His presence, or lack of it, let the film down Ifear. But he is new enough to this game so it might get better for him- if he gets another chance.Photography: As you would expect - the landscape dominates the storyand is captured beautifully.Overall - watching the film was just as much of an endurance test asthe walk itself. And the rushed ending twee to the extreme.Poor - 5/10.
(13 May 2012)
The Way Back
This review is from: The Way Back (DVD) This movie is a true story based on the book written by Slavomir Rawicz, called "The Long Walk". Having read this amazing account of the author and 6 fellow prisoners who escaped from a Soviet labor camp in Siberia in 1941, I felt somewhat disappointed with the movie. I must admit that the producers did follow the book fairly closely, but there is such detail in the book that can't be found in the movie. I recommend for the avid book reader to get their hands on this book. You won't be able to put it down. Slavomir Rawicz lived in England after the war, settling in Nottingham. He died in 2004.
Daniel (12 May 2012)
Objectivity
It's hard for me to be objective about this film. As part of the generation that grew up in the sixties, I saw countless documentaries detailing the horrors of fascism, and what we didn't learn from Holocaust documentaries we absorbed from the popular culture. Everyone in my generation could give a reasonable account of the crimes of Nazism in general, and Hitler in particular. It was a surprise to me to find out in my teens that Hitler was not the only man with a network of concentration camps to his credit. I stumbled across a whole literature detailing life in the Gulags, and then I read all of the Soviet historians I could find who had been translated into English, starting with Roy Medvedev, and then moved onto the American and English historians of the Soviet era, especially Robert Conquest. I read the accounts of Poles, of Hungarians, of Russians. I even read Trotsky's own account. For 35 years now I have been reading accounts in various places of the crimes of Stalin (and of Mao), and yet my generation in general remains ignorant. Why? Well, first, this history is not taught in school, in general, judging from both my own experience in a public high school in Sacramento during the 70's, and the experience of my children in public schools here in Colorado. Second, if there are documentaries on PBS detailing this history, I have missed them. But what has really struck me has been the complete absence of this history in the popular culture. Why? Why has Stalin (or Mao, for that matter) been given a pass by popular culture for so long? Everyone in my generation can tell you about the Gestapo, and Goebbels, but ask about the NKVD or the Cheka and Felix Dzerzhinsky and you will get a blank stare. Why? The crimes against humanity committed by these people are every bit as horrific as those of the Nazi's, and yet those crimes have been put down the memory hole. Among some of the people I knew in college who did have a clue about this history, it was even fashionable to make heroes out of some of them! So, as a movie buff, a long time admirer of Peter Weir (I saw Picnic at Hanging Rock when it came out, at an old theatre in downtown Sacramento), when I see him make a movie that finally, FINALLY, tells some of this story, it is impossible for me to judge it on its artistic merits. I stand up and cheer for the man who has done what no one else has done all these many years. This is history that has not been properly told, and should not be forgotten.
David Traversa (30 April 2012)
Long suffering, not only for the actors involved in this film.
Big production, excellent actors --all of them-- big scenery, extremelycold weather, extremely hot weather, lots of suffering by everybodyinvolved during two long hours...(including this viewer), maybe --asmany comments remarked-- it's worthy to watch this movie just becauseof the landscapes, so vast and majestic. That's all right if onewatches the projection on a huge screen, not so impressive at home on asmall screen. I don't know, it seemed to me like a lot of effort fornot a great deal of a movie experience. We have seen this plot so manytimes before! in black and white, in color, in mono and in stereo andfinally gets to be quite repetitive. Watching the locations and time ofthe year --hard winter in one place, hottest summer in another-- onetends to imagine that the actors involved in this project didn't have alot of fun under those circumstances. I hope they got well paid for theservice rendered.
(29 April 2012)
STRUGGLE FOR FREEDOM
There are some movies that you have a sense of importance about them, a feeling prior to watching that what you are about to witness is important and a film that needs to be seen. Films of this sort rarely live up to those expectations. THE WAY BACK is not one of those. This is a movie that people should see, people who need to know that the price of freedom isn't cheap.Opening in 1943, we are introduced to Janusz (Jim Sturges) a polish officer who is accused of treason by the Russians. With the help of his wife who was tortured into making the accusations, Janusz is sent to one of the gulags (work camps) in Sibera. The gulags were the Russian equivalent of the death camps the Nazis had but not as well publicized or (as is revealed in the extras on this DVD) recorded as much as the Nazis did their camps.Unwilling to remain in the camp, Janusz makes friends with another prisoner who says there is a way out. Given directions and the smallest of hopes that it can happen, the pair make plans to escape. But at the same time, they realize there is a better chance with greater numbers. They pick up several people in their plan and when the time arrives they stall the camp's generator and head for a weak link in the fence.On the run facing the dangers of the frozen wilderness as well as the possibility of capture by the guards or by people of the area since they have a price on their heads, the group struggles on, keeping off the beaten path and making their way to what they hope is freedom. Among the group are an American who goes by the name of Mister Smith (Ed Harris) and a Russian criminal named Valka (Colin Farrell). Each has their own idiosyncrasies to add to the group, Smith doing his best not to care about anyone and Valka being the tough as nails killer in the group.Their trek takes them across dangerous terrain and they soon feel that they are lost. Setting out on his own to make certain they aren't, Janusz finds the lake they have been searching for and their hopes rise. As they move along the lakeside path, they encounter a young woman named Irena (Saoirse Ronan) who asks to join them. Thinking she will just slow them down they deny her the chance, but she eventually does join. Moving from the snow covered terrain to the warmer climate, the group continues to head south in hopes of finding the trans-Siberian train line. Once there they plan to cross over it and shortly find themselves in Mongolia where they think they will find freedom. Instead they find more difficulties and a reason to move ever forward heading towards the desert and almost certain death. And should they make that the next thing they will encounter will be the Himalayas. The most amazing thing about this film is the fact that it is based on a true story. To watch and then realize this makes it all the more engrossing a film to watch and also a sadder one as well. With each step they take, with each encounter with the harshest items nature can toss their way, you wonder if you would have had the fortitude to do what these men did. You can call it a desire to live, a desire for freedom, stubbornness or just a will to live, but what they achieve is remarkable.Directed by Peter Weir (who did MASTER AND COMMANDER, DEAD POETS SOCIETY, WITNESS and more), the film is placed in the hands of a master. He combines the story of the land and the harshness of it with the tale of men who bond beyond what most do. And at the same time he makes you realize that their hunger for freedom is one they will do anything to satisfy.THE WAY BACK is not a happy go lucky film. It is brutal but not violent, gut wrenching but not gory, sad but filled with a happiness that comes from inside. It covers a wide spectrum of emotions. It also presents some amazing photography of natural scenes most of us are likely to never witness. But in the end it is an inspiring film and one that should be seen. Not backed by one of the major Hollywood studios, the film had a small release. The fact that it is available on DVD rectifies that situation. It gives those who didn't have the opportunity to see the film before a chance to watch it and perhaps appreciate their own freedoms just a little bit more.
(28 April 2012)
The Way Back
This review is from: The Way Back (DVD) This excellent movie is based from the book "The Long Walk: The True Story of a Trek to Freedom." [...] Both reflect the struggles and hardships as well as the goodness possible even in the worst of times. The movie is family rated and as expected from a National Geographic production, the photography top shelf.
JEANNE B (28 April 2012)
Breathtaking! Must see ...
Found this movie to be mesmerising and incredible. Top marks on everything, scenery, shooting, make up, character portrayals, story. Formidable performances by ALL. Went to opening in LA, cast members there to answer Qs at end of movie. Going to see it again, so impressed by it. Nothing more incredible than human endurance and the will to live.
(26 April 2012)
Avoids spectacle in favor of credibility
A story of survival within a Siberian Gulag and after escaping from that Gulag. Beautifully filmed with fine performances and good (though not enough) details of survival. A deliberately paced movie which avoids spectacle in favor of credibility; ironic as the story it is based on was likely invented, though offered up as a true account. Seeing "The Way Back" made me want to see Dersu Uzala again.You can see Saoirse Ronan strut her survival skills in Hanna as well.
(26 April 2012)
As far as our feet will carry us
Now that films about Soviet injustices following the second world war are finally starting to trickle into the public consciousness following decades of films solely concentrating on the Axis powers, it is fulfilling that such a film was finally created in English for all those who shy away from subtitled efforts. Put simply, this well-executed film based on the memoir by Red Army imprisoned Slavomir Rawicz is very much reminiscent of "As Far as My Feet Will Carry Me" (see my review), but follows a group of Soviet labor camp escapees rather than a single individual, and so much of the plot involves relationships within the band rather than the individual psychological hardships depicted in the earlier film. Some of the melodrama that surfaces in the earlier film is also absent here, although I was not particularly fond of the roles played by actors such as Colin Farrell and Ed Harris, who presumably were cast to appeal to a broader viewer audience, although if doing so prompts more interest in this story it was probably worth the sacrifice. As I mentioned in my other review, the scenes of Soviet labor camp survivors traveling through the Siberian wilderness caused me to ponder the plight of the Donauschwabens in my own immediate family (descendants of Germans who had immigrated to an area that was later Yugoslavia, far removed from the political climate of the time who shared similar fates following the war due to their ethnicity), and the last segment of this film, involving some of the best closing scenes of all time, will be especially emotional to anyone who shares such a similar family history, and is one of the many reasons I will proselytize "The Way Back".
davidgee (23 April 2012)
Not quite in David Lean's league
This is a good film that somehow manages not to be a great film. Itbrings to mind other stirring epics like BRIDGE ON THE RIVER KWAI andLAWRENCE OF ARABIA, and you wonder if David Lean would have made it atruly great movie. What the escapees endure during their 4,000-milejourney is vividly brought to life (the Gobi desert scenes areespecially harrowing), but because Jim Sturgess's character is the onlyone with a back-story, there's a lack of involvement with who thesepeople are, and this fatally diminishes your interest in their fate.It's a far-fetched comparison, I know, but one of the best elements ofTHE PERFECT STORM was the way ALL the cast were fleshed-out characters,so that you really wanted each of them to somehow survive the greatwave. Compare that with James Cameron's TITANIC: you know that 1,500souls will perish, but the movie concentrates on a love-struck couplewho weren't really there!Colin Farrell does a great job with a Russian accent but his characterseems particularly pointless. Excellent acting from Ed Harris andSaoirse Ronan evokes sympathy, but they remain just 'cyphers' - thetoken Yank, the token girl. Peter Weir's direction is, as always,flawless; there's a great sense of the vastness of the swamps anddeserts and mountains they have to cross.10/10 for the visuals, but only 6/10 for the writing.
hans-235 (23 April 2012)
Two hours of scenery would deserve more seconds of characters
From director Peter Weir I have seen movies that spend rich but nearsilent moments on building characters and rapport with theprotagonists, in a masterful way. With The Way Back, there is wonderfulscenery and much dialog to drive the epic tale forward - but sadly notenough scenes focusing on the characters, the inherent struggle in thejoint endeavour we are experiencing. Perhaps sticking to the originalstory made the path too linear, or editing simply became overwhelmingconsidering the huge amount of vivid and colourful footage of thismovie. I would have wanted more and longer quiet but conflict fullscenes early in the movie - for example the route into Siberia couldhave been a 5 minute long silent tour de force to have us reallyunderstand the solitude and low temperatures. Nevertheless a beautifuland exquisite piece of film - but it could have become more engagingwith different editing.
Brad (18 April 2012)
Great Movie
An overall great movie. I read the book prior to seeing movie. I as not disappointed. The acting and scenery were supurb. Would recommend especially to history buffs.
Theodore (17 April 2012)
Don't Trust Paid Reviewers!
Once again I went to a movie with diminished expectations. I told my wife that the first half of the movie was supposed to be exciting and action filled but that the last half might be boring. When we emerged from the theater she says to me "When was I supposed to be bored?" I coudn't agree more. We were on the edge of our seats from beginning to end. I hope that many people undetered by the reviews will see and enjoy this beautiful movie, beautiful not just because of the scenery but also for the courage of those walkers to freedom.
(17 April 2012)
It Made It Back
This review is from: The Way Back (DVD) I was totally amazed at how great this movie was, and it told the story exactly as it was without any influence except for the path to freedom. I recommend that everyone should see this.
FilmRap (16 April 2012)
We cared about who these characters symbolized but not about them
This movie has all the ingredients for an epic movie. The story is thata handful of prisoners escape from a Russian gulag in 1940 and trekacross Siberia to the Himalayas and ultimately into India more that4000 miles. There are freezing cold temperatures, snow storms, sandstorms, blistering hot desserts, gigantic mountains, starvation, lackof water. The actors include Ed Harris, Jim Sturgess and Colin Farellall who do a terrific job as does the the supporting cast, especiallySaoirse Ronan a spirited 15 year old actress, under the direction ofPeter Weir who had a 29 million dollar budget. The scenes are quiterealistic as you can almost feel their numbness in the frigidtemperatures, the pain from the blisters on their feet and theirparched throats or deliciousness of an occasional oasis of water. Thestory is based on popular memoir written by Slavomit Racuwicz in the1950s which sold 500,00 copies worldwide. It was ultimately determinedthat the author, while he was prisoner in the gulag for awhile, did notmake this trek himself but based it on stories that he had heard about.Peter Weir and his team or writers and producers extensively researchedthe subject and ultimately this adventure is also based on theexperiences that some real people actually went through. Certainly itis tribute to the human spirit, the will and ability of man to survivethe horrors of mankind and the harshness of nature. The problem that wehad with this two hour and 13 minute movie is that the individualstories of each of the characters were not developed in a manner, whichengaged us. Yes, we ultimately learned about some of them, usuallythrough a brief conversation. We did not find that their stories cametogether nor did it made us care about them as individuals as much aswe may have cared for them for who they symbolized. As survivors whowere seeking freedom through an almost impossible (and very long) path,we rooted for them. But in the end, we don't think we shall rememberthem. FilmRap.net
Warrior (16 April 2012)
Based on a true Story
An incredible story by Slavomir Rawicz. What prompted the story was a rumor to a British paper, that was doing a series on the Yeti, of a man who had actually see one.A reporter was dispatched to interview Rawicz. He soon found that Rawicz and his band had indeed seen a Yeti but this was just a chapter to this story. The final product - a book entitled "The Long Walk". I was introduced to the book back in the early '70s and it was the first book I could not put down.From Amazon: "Cavalry officer Slavomir Rawicz was captured by the Red Army in 1939 during the German-Soviet partition of Poland and was sent to the Siberian Gulag along with other captive Poles, Finns, Ukranians, Czechs, Greeks, and even a few English, French, and American unfortunates who had been caught up in the fighting. A year later, he and six comrades from various countries escaped from a labor camp in Yakutsk and made their way, on foot, thousands of miles south to British India, where Rawicz reenlisted in the Polish army and fought against the Germans. The Long Walk recounts that adventure, which is surely one of the most curious treks in history. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title."Now, the movie "The Way Back". I can't wait to see it!
(16 April 2012)
Good movie
This review is from: The Way Back (Amazon Instant Video) The movie was generally well done. My major complaint is that is was not as true to the book as it could have been.
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