The Age of Pioneers

Age of Pioneers
Directed by	Dmitriy Kiselev
Produced by	Timur Bekmambetov Yevgeny Mironov Sergey Ageev
Screenplay by	Yuriy Korotkov Sergey Kaluzhanov Irina Pivovarova
Starring	Yevgeny Mironov Konstantin Khabenskiy Vladimir Ilyin Anatoliy Kotenyov Aleksandra Ursulyak Elena Panova Artyom Bystrov Marta Timofeeva Alexander Cena Nelli Nevedina
Music by	Yuriy Poteenko
Cinematography	Vladimir Bashta
Edited by	Anton Anisimov, Nikolai Bulygin, Andrey Shugaev
Production company	Bazelevs, ROME №3 STUDIO
Release date	April 6, 2017 (2017-04-06) (Russia)
Country	Russia
Language	Russian
Budget	RUB 400 million
Box office	RUB 561 million[1]

The Age of Pioneers (Russian: Время первых, translit. Vremya Pervykh, lit. "Time of the first ones"), also known as Spacewalk, is a Russian historical drama film about cosmonaut Alexey Leonov, the first human to perform a spacewalk. Leonov himself served as a consultant for the film. The Age of Pioneers was directed by Dmitriy Kiselev and co-produced by Timur Bekmambetov and Yevgeny Mironov, the latter also starred in the leading role.

The Age of Pioneers was released on April 6, 2017,^[2] to widespread critical praise in Russia. However, the movie's box office performance was unsuccessful.

Plot

The film is set in the 1960s, during the Cold War and the Space Race between USSR and the United States. Russians plan to send a man into space. The test vehicle is destroyed two weeks before the start and the Russians cannot identify the causes of the explosion. Military pilot Pavel Belyayev and Alexey Leonov are ready to step into the open space. But on the way they face many obstacles and dangers.

Cast

• Yevgeny Mironov as Alexey Leonov (the cosmonaut)
• Konstantin Khabensky as Pavel Belyayev (the commander of the ship)
• Vladimir Ilyin as Sergei Korolev (General Designer)
• Anatoly Kotenev as Nikolai Kamanin (Lieutenant-General)
• Alexandra Ursulyak as Svetlana Leonova
• Yelena Panova as Tatiana Belyaeva
• Alexey Morozov as Gherman Titov (the cosmonaut)
• Yury Itskov as Boris Chertok (Designer)
• Vladimir Malyugin as Valery Bykovsky (cosmonaut)
• Alexander Novin as Yevgeny Khrunov (cosmonaut)
• Yuri Nifontov as Boris Rauschenbach (Mechanical Physicist)
• Aleksandr Ilyin as Vladimir Markelov (Helicopter Pilot)

Filming

Principal photography finished at the end of 2016.^[3] Initially Yuriy Bykov was directing the film, but his test footage did not satisfy the studio, and he was replaced by Dmitry Kiselev.

Reception

Box office

The Age of Pioneers grossed RUB 145 million in its first weekend, below early expectations. It was attributed to unseccessful marketing campaign.^[4] However, movie's second weekend drop was very small - less than 15%, as it grossed additional RUB 124 million due to good word of mouth.^[5] By the end of its theatrical run, The Age of Pioneers grossed in Russia RUB 561 million against a 400 million budget,^[6] which is below the two-budget watershed required for a movie to break even or generate profit.

Critical reception

The movie received critical acclaim in Russian media. According to review aggregators Megacritic^[7] and Kritikanstvo,^[8] it received no negative reviews and has an average rating of 7,5/10. Most Russian media, such as Argumenty i Fakty,^[9] Film.ru^[10] Rossiyskaya Gazeta,^[11] InterMedia,^[12] Kommersant,^[13] The Hollywood Reporter^[14] and Nezavisimaya Gazeta,^[15] among others, praised the movie's acting, directing, special effects and patriotism, while TimeOut^[16] and Novaya Gazeta,^[17] among some others, only gave it mediocre ratings. Many reviews compared the movie to Apollo 13.

References

External links

• The Age of Pioneers on IMDb