Chernaya Molniya (2009)

A Moscow college student's gift car from his parents turns out to be more than anyone expects when it flies, which he uses to become both a city guardian and a speedy floral delivery boy.

Directors:

Dmitriy Kiselev, Aleksandr Voytinskiy

Writers:

Dmitriy Aleynikov, Alexander Talal (as Aleksandr Talal)

Stars:

Grigoriy Dobrygin, Ekaterina Vilkova, Viktor Verzhbitskiy

1 win & 3 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Grigoriy Dobrygin	...	Dima
Ekaterina Vilkova	...	Nastya
Viktor Verzhbitskiy	...	Kuptsov
Valeriy Zolotukhin	...	Perepelkin
Yekaterina Vasilyeva	...	Romantseva
Juozas Budraitis	...	Elizarov (as Yuozas Budraytis)
Ivan Zhidkov	...	Maks
Sergey Garmash	...	Otets Dimy
Ekaterina Starshova	...	Tanka (as Katya Starshova)
Mikhail Efremov	...	Alkogolik
Dato Bakhtadze	...	Bakhram
Igor Savochkin	...	Boris
Sergey Legostaev	...	Gena - okhrannik
Elena Valyushkina	...	Mat Dimy
Vitaliy Alshanskiy	...	Vasya

Storyline

Moscow, 2004, and wealthy entrepreneur Kuptsov drills deep beneath the city, trying to reach a huge diamond vein. Aware that his ruthless drilling will destroy the city and its denizens, it's a result he's willing to accept for untold additional wealth. Fortunately, his equipment lacks enough power. He needs the Nano-catalyst (developed years ago) to fuel his machinery, but its current whereabouts is unknown. Meanwhile, in another part of the city, college boy Dima dreams of owning a car and dating gorgeous co-ed Nastya. His wealthy friend Max has a Mercedes Benz and is flirting with Nastya, which frustrates Dima. On his birthday, Dima finally gets a car (from his parents) - a grungy, antiquated Volga of which he is privately ashamed; but, unbeknownst to anyone, the car - the recipient of "failed" Nano-catalysis - is capable of much more, and turns Dima into an unidentified crusader of justice known as Black Lightning.

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Plot Keywords:

car | lightning | drill | birthday | diamond | 

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Taglines:

Prepare for the thrill ride of your life!

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Genres:

Action | Sci-Fi | Thriller

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Certificate:

Not Rated

Details

Official Sites:

Official site [France] Official site [Russia]

Country:

Russia

Language:

Russian

Release Date:

31 December 2009 (Russia)

Also Known As:

Black Lightning

Box Office

Budget:

$15,000,000 (estimated)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Bazelevs Production

Technical Specs

Runtime:

102 min

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

This was the first Russian Superhero film ever made.

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Quotes

Romantseva: It all started with a crystal found in a soil sample from the moon. It turned out that the crystal was capable of altering the chemical composition of substances. We created a device that increased the energy of fuel a million-fold. We called it the nanocatalyst.

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Connections

Spoofed in Samyy luchshiy film 3-DE (2011)

User Reviews

A Russian Black Lighting : mix Spiderman, Transformers, Batman.... and stir

Take the Spiderman movie, replace New York with Moscow, the spider suit with a flying GAZ-21 Volga, the green goblin by some billionaire in a flying Mercedes, throw in a bit of Iron Man, Batman as well as Transformers.... and you pretty much get "Chernaya Molniya".

Say what you want, but this movie is just a Russian cocktail, throwing together several of the recent American superhero movies. Only, "Chernaya Molniya" is actually better, but I can't really pin down exactly why. Is it the Russian music, the Russian humor or just the overall exotic nature of a big budget comic style movie taking place in the heart of Moscow, with Russian actors and spoken in Russian?

I don't know or care, really. All I can say is that I enjoyed this movie, in spite of its very cliché plot, its very cliché action scenes and its strangely familiar Hollywood style atmosphere. For those who're in the mood for some light entertainment but are tired of the same old Hollywood crap, this film is something like a subtle breath of fresh air. It has all the familiar plot twists, all the clichés and the same atmosphere of a comic style Hollywood blockbuster movie, but it's served by a Russian cast and a Russian director... that in some way makes it not just bearable but even enjoyable to a guy like me who's tired of the same old Hollywood crap.

But maybe that's just me. Hate it or like it... but this is a movie I'm sure you'll remember.