Guardians (2017 Film)

Movie Name : Guardians
Type :  Russian superhero film

Initial release: February 23, 2017 (Russia)

Director: Sarik Andreasyan

Box office: 4.7 million USD

Budget: 5 million USD (330 million RUB)

Languages: Russian, English, Hindi, Tamil, Telugu

Guardians (Russian: Защитники, translit. Zashchitniki) is a 2017 Russian superhero film directed by Russian-Armenian filmmaker Sarik Andreasyan and starring Sebastien Sisak, Anton Pampushnyy, Sanzhar Madiyev, Alina Lanina, Valeriya Shkirando and Stanislav Shirin.

The film tells about a team of Soviet superheroes created during the Cold War. The team includes representatives of the different nationalities of the USSR. Each of the protagonists' superpowers reflect the strengths and traditions of the people of the USSR.

Guardians was met with strongly negative critical reception in Russian media. The movie debuted at the top of Russian box office, however its gross quickly dropped,and Guardians is believed to be a box office bomb

The film will be released by Shout Factory on DVD in the USA on September 5th 2017

Cast

• Sebastien Sisak as Ler (լեռ, Armenian for "mountain"; found in Khor Virap Monastery, Armenia).

Landman. He is armed with earth manipulation abilities, and is able to control and levitate rocks, dust and soil in his vicinity, or cause them to orbit him. He can even summon rock onto his body, covering himself in rock to make an exoskeletal armor to physically enhance himself. Along with his abilities, he is armed with a small chain with a large rock cemented on its end, which he can use as a type of flail. Like the rest of the team, he was given a special costume to increase his effectiveness and abilities, as well as an extendable chain of rocks linked together by electric-like energy that can be manipulate by him and used as a whip or be curled into a shield. Ler became a hermit after his family died of old age (his wife, daughter and even grandchildren) meanwhile he remained youthful due to his superpowers.

• Anton Pampushnyy as Ursus (found in Putorana Plateau, northern Siberia)

Wildman. Ursus (Latin for bear) is a type of berserker or werebear, and has the ability to transform himself into a large bear, though he can control how much of his body is transformed and can transform partially if he wills it. This transformation ability can allow him to seamlessly alter his size, bulk and musculature and transform himself into a burly humanoid, as well as use his transformations to physically augment his physical abilities, resulting in him having inhuman strength and bulletproof durability. He has multiple phases of transformation due to his ability to partially transform. His phases can make him physically a hybrid between bear and human, such as giving him the head, paws and bulk of a bear and the shape of a man. He can use his inhuman physicality to fight, especially when he is full bear form. With this, no normal person can physically overpower him and he is immune to their strength. Desperate, loyal and determined, he is known for his drive to "break the enemy into small pieces". Like the rest of the team, he was given a special costume to increase his effectiveness and abilities. Part of this costume's equipment is a hand-held mini-gun and its battery pack, both of which are harnessed to his torso for battle, while he carries them both his back when fully transformed. Even while not transformed, he is shown to be strong enough to wield the large weapon and its power source. Ursus fears losing control of his powers and someday transforming into a bear without turning back.

• Sanzhar Madiyev as Khan (found in southern Kazakhstan)

Windman. Masterfully skilled with all kinds of blades, as well as with many kinds of martial arts. Along with other blades, he is primarily armed with twin, crescent like blades, each of which resemble a scimitar, scythe or sickle and can be joined at the hilts to form a double bladed weapon. His strong blades can slice through the metal of cars with enough force and without going blunt or being damaged. He is also physically augmented, possessing a degree of superhuman strength that allows him to smash through brick walls with a single punch and send men flying through the air with his attacks, as well as superhuman mobility that gives him acrobatic and gymnastic capabilities and the ability to effortlessly dodge and evade attacks, even gunfire at point blank range. He also possesses inhuman speed, enough that he almost appears to teleport. Using his speed requires him first to focus hard, achieving a meditative state that causes his eyes to turn completely white and allowing him to perceive faster than any human can. While in this state, he sees everything as being in slow motion while he himself moves at normal speed, or somewhat faster. Whenever he moves in this state, a black gaseous trail appears behind him to outline his movements. His strength and speed allows him to generate enough force to slice a car and anyone in it in two with his blades. Like the rest of the team, he was given a special costume to increase his effectiveness and abilities, as well as a grappling line mounted on his wrist. He volunteered for the Patriot proyect because he wanted to be "invincible" and start living out of the shadow of his sister (who was a better martial artist), but after gaining his powers he loosed his temper during a combat with his sister, killing her.

• Alina Lanina as Xenia (found in Moscow

Waterwoman. A skilled acrobat, gymnast, and martial artist, She has the ability to move on water as if it were solid ground, as well as to seamlessly floating through it as it if were air. This gives her higher mobility in water compared to the fastest, or most maneuverable sea creature. She cannot feel temperature differences and can survive in an airless vacuum, which allows her to survive underwater without any negative effects. She can also transform her body into a clear, transparent liquid, which allows her to become gelatinous and viscous, allowing her to flow like liquid, while being able to physical touch and interact at the same time. In this form, her body becomes silhouetted and nearly featureless, with her hair disappearing and the only features on her being her the shape of her ears and nose. She can even use this form to become invisible, while she also wears a special costume designed also become invisible with her and allow her to project her invisibility onto objects or people that she touches. She has amnesia and don't remenber anything prior 1978, so at first she don't recognises Lar, Khan and Ursus when they contact her.

• Valeriya Shkirando as Major Elena Larina, the head of the secret organization, codenamed "Patriot".

• Vyacheslav Razbegaev as Major-general Nikolai Dolgov. He gives Major Larina the order to assemble the Guardians but is a ploy of Kuratov, who wants them in his side. Kuratov kills him after he is no longer useful to his plans.

• Stanislav Shirin as August Kuratov.

Main antagonist. Owns a machine named "Modul-1" which allows him to control any technical equipment by generating electric-like energy. This mechanized exoframe-like harness enhances his physical abilities to the point where he can overpower physically superhuman opponents, such as Khan, a fully transformed Arsus or Ler/Landman while the latter is using his rock exoskeleton. He decides to build his own army of clones in order to capture Moscow, in preparation to control the whole world. He later attempts to use the Ostankino Tower and the Federation Tower as a beacon to transmit his commands to an old Soviet satellite, and use it to control every other satellite orbiting the Earth and control all technology.