The one character that brings life and some measure of excitement to the film is Zus. He is bold, full of bravado, and steals every scene he is in. This same brashness causes some conflict between the two brothers and results in Zus leaving to join the Russian army. The Russian army is a ragtag group of fighters themselves, who will take anyone with a gun. They welcome Zus and the handful of men he brought with him, but end up treating them like second-class citizens because they are Jewish.
The overall feel and look of the film is excellent. Everything appears authentic, and the special effects are not overdone as they are in a lot of films. It has a gritty earthiness and is worth seeing because of its historical significance and the simple fact that the Bielskis manage to save 1,200 people. While this might make for a good television program on the History Channel, it just doesn’t quite have enough energy to make for a successful motion picture.
DVD SPECIAL FEATURES
1. Directory Commentary by Edward Zwick.
2. "Return to the Forest: The Making of Defiance" features behind-the-scenes interviews with cast and crew.
3. "Children of the Otriad" -Tuvia and Zus’ children and grandchildren speak about the stories they heard and talk about what kind of men the Bielski brothers truly were. It’s nice to see what the real Bielskis looked like and what became of them after the war. The stories that the children tell are a nice addition to the DVD, and make their adventures seem even more important knowing that the 1,200 people they helped to survive now have 19,000 descendants.
4. "Bielski Partisan Survivors" - a short black-and-white montage of recent photographs of the surviving members of the Bielski Otriad, taken in November of 2008
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