5 Days of War

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5 Days of War
Georgia-renny-harlin.jpg
Official teaser poster
Directed by Renny Harlin
Written byMikko Alanne
David Battle
Produced byRenny Harlin
George Lascu
David Imedo
Mirza Davitaia
Koba Nakopia
Starring Andy García
Val Kilmer
Richard Coyle
Emmanuelle Chriqui
Rupert Friend
Johnathon Schaech
Dean Cain
Rade Šerbedžija
Antje Traue
Heather Graham
Mikheil Gomiashvili
Mikko Nousiainen
CinematographyChecco Varese
Edited by Brian Berdan
Music by Trevor Rabin
Production
company
RexMedia
Distributed by Anchor Bay Entertainment (US)
Release date
  • June 5, 2011 (2011-06-05)(Georgia)
Running time
113 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguagesEnglish
Georgian
Russian
Budget$12 million [1]
Box office$316,944 [2]

5 Days of War is a 2011 action film directed by Renny Harlin. [3] The story is about the Russo-Georgian War [4] over the Russian-backed breakaway autonomous republic of South Ossetia in Georgia, including the events leading up to the conflict.

Contents

The film was released in Georgia as 5 Days of August, and in other countries as 5 Days of War and also City on Fire.

Plot

In 2007, during the Iraq War, a Georgian contingent of the coalition forces saves the life of American reporter Thomas Anders (Rupert Friend), although one of his colleagues (Heather Graham) is killed in the process. One year later, in 2008, he returns to Los Angeles, California but soon goes to Georgia on the advice of some of his friends in Tbilisi, who suspect that a large conflict is brewing. He, along with his cameraman Sebastian Ganz (Richard Coyle), delve deeper into Georgian life as conflict escalates and they get caught in the crossfire when an air raid strikes a local wedding they stumble upon. With members of the wedding party (Emmanuelle Chriqui), and the help of a Georgian soldier (Johnathon Schaech) who had earlier saved them in Iraq, their mission becomes getting their footage of an atrocity by Russian irregulars out of the country. But they find themselves faced with international apathy due to the opening of the 2008 Olympic Games. Their flight leads them to the Gori.

The film ends with a long series of testimonials from Georgian citizens who lost family members during the conflict.

Cast

Production

Filming started in October 2009, in Tbilisi. Filming took 36 days with a budget of 12 million dollars. [1]

According to Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili, the film was not financed by the Georgian government; however one of the producers, David Imedashvili, said that the initial funding for the project came from a Georgian government fund. [7] According to Georgian media the movie was financed by Koba Nakopia, [8] a parliamentarian from the ruling United National Movement [9] party of Saakashvili. Also credited as producer are director Renny Harlin, George Lascu and Mirza Davitaia, who served as Georgian State Minister for "diaspora issues" from 2009 to 2012, who at the time of filming was the Georgian Deputy Minister, Ministry of Culture, Monument Protection and Sports. [10] [11] [12]

One of the buildings of the Georgian Presidential administration was used for filming parts of 5 Days of War. Some members of the special effects team were Russian and had previously worked on Night Watch . The military equipment and personnel used in the film were lent by the Georgian army. [13]

Release

Reception

On review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds an approval rating of 34% based on 35 reviews, with an average rating of 4.44/10. [22] On Metacritic, the film has a weighted average score of 31 out of 100, based on 14 critics, indicating "generally unfavorable reviews". [23] Both Bloomberg and The Washington Post gave it a one-star rating. [24] [25]

5 Days of War opened in limited release in the United States on August 19, 2011 in two theatres in New York City and Washington D.C. It grossed $6,254 in its opening weekend. [26]

The film was vehemently denounced by the government of South Ossetia with their Minister of Media, Georgiy Kabisov, calling it "Hitler propaganda" and the people that made it as "Nazis." Kabisov also went on to say that the Georgian people and government where "spiteful aggressors" and that the film rejects the "truth" of the war. [27]

Home media

5 Days of War was released on DVD (Region 2) [28] and Blu-ray (Region B) [29] on June 13, 2011. [30] The DVD is a one-disc set. The Blu-ray is a one-disc set that includes DTS-HD 5.1 sound, as well as subtitles, in English, German and French. [31]

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References

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Further reading