Well I don’t know why but I really didn’t want to see defiance, maybe it had to with its release date. Mid January the dumping ground for box office crap. If Hollywood had a trash day it would be mid January. I can honestly say I will not judge a movie by its release date again.

The movie centers on the Bielski brothers, many would try and argue it centers on the holocaust. But it doesn’t the holocaust is the setting the Bielski brothers is the story, the heart. The thing that makes this movie different from Schindler's List is that this movie is a movie. In Schindler's List everything from the cinematography to the acting set a tone, that tone was don’t smile don’t think for a second this will have a happy ending. That’s in all honesty what made Schindler's List great cause even though we knew there was no happy ending, we went for the ride anyways and cried when we got there. What makes defiance great is the exact opposite it is a real movie. It’s the first movie I have seen in years that was actually shot so pretty I commented on it during the movie. You see when we first meet the Bielski brothers we don’t see them has doomed Jews we see them has heroes. Heroes in the making at the very least, 30 minutes into the movie you forget the holocaust is what is forcing these men and women to hide and live in a forest. And because of that you have hope that maybe these guys all make it maybe they all escape. I honestly feel not knowing the history of these people before going in made me enjoy this so much more. I just kept hoping for a happy ending not just in the movie but in history too. For those of you who don’t know what happened I won’t tell you but whether you know your history or not at the very least defiance deserves a rental but it’s definitely worth the ticket price.

As I said earlier this movie is all about the Bielski brothers, the oldest brother Tuvia played by Daniel Craig. Craig plays tuvia to almost perfection he has the most screen time and he doesn’t falter with it. His accent slipped once but I cannot say I put all the blame on him for this since the scene was shot like it was for a bond movie it lasted only a few seconds hardly worth complaining about. Liev Schreiber plays Zus the slightly younger brother his performance is simply the best in the movie his accent spot on and not once does it falter. But it’s not what Liev says in this movie it’s what he shows Liev delivers more with a single look than a page full of dialog could. The oldest brothers have a bit of a rivalry but the director Edward Zwick managed to show the love between them even during their brutal fist fight. Jamie bell gets the short end of the stick here playing Asael the not boy not quite man Bielski brother Bell’s accent is fine so is his acting he just doesn’t have much to do. George MacKay plays Aron the youngest brother who witnesses the brutal murder of his parents and doesn’t speak again. The rest of the cast all deliver on what is required of them

The only real problem I had with the film is Aron. A lot of people I saw the film with did not know he was a Bielski brother. My only other problem is the movie should have been called Bielski, this really is there tale. It’s not Hitler’s tale it’s not some good German's tale, it’s the tale of the Bielski brothers. It’s the tale of how Jewish people helped others Jews and it’s a damn good tale.