Sammy-Jo Cervantes There are moments that feel comical, some horrific, and some downright inspiring but the tonal shifts hardly matter as the end results come to a film that's perfect for this time.

Griff Lees Very good movie overall, highly recommended. Most of the negative reviews don't have any merit and are all pollitically based. Give this movie a chance at least, and it might give you a different perspective.

Tyreece Hulme One of the best movies of the year! Incredible from the beginning to the end.

Catherina If you're interested in the topic at hand, you should just watch it and judge yourself because the reviews have gone very biased by people that didn't even watch it and just hate (or love) the creator. I liked it, it was well written, narrated, and directed and it was about a topic that interests me.

birgey I deeply impressed by this TV Series which I think is the greatest production so that I personally make a image restoration for this. You could click this link to get the playlist: https://www.youtube.com/playlist? list=PLYOE4TJycDxqrgFEPuKY4YSwgSJwZD2haVoice and subtitles are both Russian. Also there two other Chinese version in my Youtube account, welcome to subscribe.

South62 Reading comments I am glad to see that 90 percent of them are speaking about this serial in superlatives. Nothing better could be done in Brezhnev Era but in this context I am not underlining that fact like an obstacle. Russian creativity was always able to overrun political circumstances. I am posting this comment to point out one of the most touching and best acted scenes in entire motion-picture history. Character acted by Tikhonov is Soviet spy enduring 17 years in Nazi-surroundings. Bosses from Moscow Centre know in what kind of psychological pressure he was and want to help him in in some way. NKVD arranges meeting between Stierlitz and his real Soviet wife. They met in one restaurant somewhere in Third Reich. They did not see each other for years but due to security reasons and keeping Stierlitz's under cover job, man and woman must not talk, must not show that they even know each other. They are permitted just to look each other for couple of minutes. Tikhonov made acting bravura: extremely high emotional suffering suppressed by duty. He did not show he knows the lady. Nobody in German restaurant noticed nothing but TV audience understood his pain.

sunlion This series are far greater than anything that has been filmed about war ever. It shows closely characters of German Nazi top during the last weeks of the war, when they understand that the war is lost. A Russian spy is working among them speeding up the war's end.The pace of the film is slow and thorough, the movie is meant for people with ability to analyze, reflect. Characters of the people involved are depicted are so lively that the film fuses with the documentary pieces. Acting is extremely raw and natural, it actually in't acting, it's living. Tihonov in a role of Stirlitz portrays a real spy - brilliantly talented, sharp, calm, cold, patient - everything that areal spy has to be. At the same time he is not a greedy adventurous coat-turner, he works for his country, his people, his family. And the last - this film works as a litmus test on people. If you don't understand it you simply haven't matured for it. The film itself is flawless.

Yuri Ashuev One of the little-recognized deficiencies of spy movies is that 'action'--chases, shootings, explosions, etc.--is dominant content. Of course, the trend caters to modern audiences that are addicted to sound and special effects. However, action-driven spy movies (e.g., James Bond) suffer from 3 major defects: 1)They are not believable 2)They contain little or no acting performances to speak of 3)As such, they are easily forgettable. This is not the case with "17 moments of spring" (hereafter SMOS)The 12 episodes of the series have been specifically shot in Black and White, in fairly simple studio sets, with no special visual effects. What makes SMOS the favorite of audiences, is a gamut of absolutely incredible acting. Each role, even a minor one, casts an "all-star" Soviet actor, and they deliver deep psychological performances. Tikhonov is an obvious star as Stierlitz, but consider Leonid Bronevoy as Mueller, the friendly, always suspicious and incredibly cruel inside Gestapo chief. Or Oleg Tabakov, as cheerful Schellenberg of the German intelligence. Or Plyatt as very vulnerable and very human Pastor Schlag who nevertheless embodies the power of the Church. So essentially SMOS is not a spy movie, but a tight psychological drama. But we must not forget the subject, and it is an important one, based on a major real life event: in early 1945, trying to finish off the Nazi Germany, the Russians found out that SS-gruppenfuehrer Karl Wolff (essentially a representative of the odious Himmler) attempted to negotiate a separate piece with the Americans in Italy. The talks were top-secret (OSS star Allen Dulles was the US negotiator) and essentially meant a betrayal of Russia by its anti-Nazi allies. SMOS is about how the Russians discovered the secret and forced the end to negotiations. In short, this is one of the greatest all-time spy thrillers. Just as "Rosemary's Baby" is arguably the best horror movie because of its acting and directing, so does SMOS shine through the mediocrity we are fed today. I wish it were shown to the wide Western audiences, so that they can see for themselves!