DefianceMovie Reviews

Poster art for "Defiance."

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So-so
Avg. Critic Score: 58 out of 100 Mixed or average reviews Metascore® based on all critic reviews
Information for Parents:
16 Iffy for 16+
Read Common Sense Media review

Critic scores range from 0 to 100, with higher scores indicating more favorable reviews.

  • 70
    Washington Post | Ann Hornaday

    It's impossible to watch Defiance without experiencing a vicarious thrill of resistance and revenge. Read full review

  • 67
    Entertainment Weekly | Owen Gleiberman

    Zwick offers excitingly staged moments, but once you get past the novelty of WWII Jews acting this heroically macho, Defiance bogs down in a not very well-developed script. Read full review

  • 63
    Rolling Stone | Peter Travers

    For all the film's flaws, this is a war story told with passion about a band of brothers that still has the power to inspire. Read full review

  • 63
    USA Today | Claudia Puig

    The tale of the resistance movement in Belorussia is undeniably inspiring and ideally suited for a cinematic rendering. But Defiance resists bold, passionate storytelling and delivers something rather conventional. Read full review

  • 63
    Chicago Sun-Times | Roger Ebert

    The best performance, because it's more nuanced, is by Liev Schreiber. His Zus Bielski is more concerned with the big picture, more ideological, more driven by tactics. Read full review

  • 60
    The Hollywood Reporter | Michael Rechtshaffen

    That butting of heads, as performed by actors as strong and soulful as Craig and Schreiber, lends Defiance an emotional charge, even as the film itself struggles dramatically to find its way out of those woods. Read full review

  • 50
    San Francisco Chronicle | Mick LaSalle

    As a drama - an epic drama, no less, clocking in at 137 minutes - its fascination is diffused, and the movie becomes something of a long slog. Read full review

  • 50
    The New York Times | A.O. Scott

    Defiance presents itself as an explicit correction of the cultural record, a counterpoint to all those lachrymose World War II tales of helplessness and victimhood. This is a perfectly honorable intention, but the problem is that, in setting out to overturn historical stereotypes of Jewish passivity, Mr. Zwick (who co-wrote the screenplay with Clayton Frohman) ends up affirming them. Read full review

  • 50
    Los Angeles Times | Kenneth Turan

    Defiance has some genuine strengths but also some weaker elements, and these opposing traits battle it out kind of the way the contentious Bielskis fought not only the Germans but each other. Read full review

  • 50
    Variety | Todd McCarthy

    A potentially exceptional story is told in a flatly unexceptional manner. Read full review

View more reviews for Defiance on Metacritic

Information for Parents
Common Sense Media says Iffy for 16+ Brave brothers risk all in brutal, graphic WWII epic.
What Parents Need to Know Parents need to know that this war movie isn't for kids. There are many fierce battles and violently graphic killings, as well as executions of unarmed citizens. Other images include hand-to-hand combat, mob beatings, point-blank shootings, and barbaric, inhumane treatment of the Jewish population. The language is very strong as well, with lots of harsh swearing. There's some suggested sexuality, but nothing explicit and no nudity. Soldiers and resistance members drink vodka in many scenes, sometimes to excess. But if they can handle the intense content, this movie could offer mature teens and young adults a valuable look at a momentous period of recent world history and a vivid example of heroism -- as well as power and prejudice run amok.
  • Families can talk about why so many movies about World War II and the Holocaust are still being made so long after the events occurred. What connection do stories about these events have with today's world?
  • Are there still instances in which strong beliefs set people apart and against one another? How do you think the media will end up treating current conflicts further down the line?
  • Why do you think the Bielski brothers were heroic? What made them different from the people who were afraid to stand up for themselves?
The good stuff
  • message true0 Positive messages: Classic good-versus-evil situations. Bravery and selflessness are shown to be powerful forces against the enemy. Meanwhile, the Nazis wreak havoc on the Polish Jews -- rounding them up, killing them, bombing them, and spraying bullets into large groups of people (including women and children).
  • rolemodels true0 Positive role models: Most of the characters aren't clearly "good" or "bad." For instance, Russian soldiers are shown to be heroic but also anti-Semitic. And the Jewish victims who fight back are shown to be both honorable and selfish, just and unjust.
What to watch for
  • violence false4 Violence: Violent battle scenes from beginning to end. Piles of naked bodies lie in a dry river bed; babies and children are wrenched from parents' arms and slaughtered; bombs are dropped on fleeing victims. There are many instances of cold-blooded, point-blank shooting, including the execution of entire families. There are also vicious fist fights, stabbings, and a lengthy scene in which an angry mob beats and stomps a Nazi soldier to death.
  • sex false2 Sex: A man's hand touches a woman's breast over her clothes. Several passionate kisses. One couple is shown embracing, with their bare shoulders visible above blankets to indicate a post-sexual moment.
  • language false4 Language: Harsh swearing throughout, including all forms of "f--k" and many instances of "s--t," "bitch, " and "hell."
  • consumerism false0 Consumerism: Not an issue
  • drugsalcoholtobacco false3 Drinking, drugs and smoking: Multiple scenes of Russian soldiers, victims, survivors, and partisans drinking vodka. One leading character drinks heavily. Several scenes in which men drink until they become very drunk. Camaraderie inspired by drunkenness appears to be the only form of recreation available to these people who are hiding out for years.
An independent nonprofit dedicated to providing families the information they need to help kids thrive in a world of media and technology. © Common Sense Media Inc. 2010. All rights reserved.

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