Pawn Sacrifice (2014)

Set during the Cold War, American chess prodigy Bobby Fischer finds himself caught between two superpowers and his own struggles as he challenges the Soviet Empire.

Director:

Edward Zwick

Writers:

Steven Knight (screenplay), Stephen J. Rivele (story)

Stars:

Tobey Maguire, Liev Schreiber, Peter Sarsgaard

1 win & 1 nomination.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Tobey Maguire	...	Bobby Fischer
Liev Schreiber	...	Boris Spassky
Michael Stuhlbarg	...	Paul Marshall
Peter Sarsgaard	...	Father Bill Lombardy
Edward Zinoviev	...	Efim Geller
Alexandre Gorchkov	...	Iivo Nei
Lily Rabe	...	Joan Fischer
Robin Weigert	...	Regina Fischer
Seamus Davey-Fitzpatrick	...	Teenage Bobby Fischer
Aiden Lovekamp	...	Young Bobby Fischer
Sophie Nélisse	...	Young Joan Fischer
Evelyne Brochu	...	Donna
Conrad Pla	...	Carmine Nigro
Vitali Makarov	...	Ivanovich
Brett Watson	...	Lothar Schmid

Storyline

During the height of the Cold War, American chess prodigy Bobby Fischer finds himself caught between two superpowers when he challenges the Soviet Empire.

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Plot Keywords:

chess | richard m. nixon character | island | woman wears a bikini | cold war | 

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Taglines:

In 1972, Bobby Fischer faced the Soviet Union in the greatest chess match ever played. On the board he fought the Cold War. In his mind he fought his madness.

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Genres:

Biography | Drama | Sport | Thriller

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated PG-13 for brief strong language, some sexual content and historical smoking

Did You Know?

Trivia

Bobby Fischer attended Erasmus Hall High School together with singer-actress-director-producer Barbra Streisand.

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Goofs

Whilst playing against his second, Father Lombardy, in preparation for California exhibition matches against the Russians, Bobby calls out his moves. After Bobby informs him of the move Queen to Knight's 4 as being from the Morphy - Anderssen game, on move 17, instead of returning the Bishop to its square on the 8th rank, Lombardy deviates from the original Morphy game and plays pawn to Queen Rook 4. Subsequently, Bobby does not play the preparatory rook to King 1 move ( played in the real Morphy - Anderssen game, Round 7, 25th December 1858). Bobby still plays Queen to King 7 etc. and wins. However, after Lombardy plays queen takes queen on e7, Bobby's Rook is not on e1, it is on f1, so he is unable to take Lombardy's queen. In fact, this would have been a major blunder from Bobby, and it would have cost him the game.

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Quotes

Paul Marshall: I think he's afraid of what's gonna happen if he loses.
Father Bill Lombardy: No, he's afraid of what's gonna happen if he wins.

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Crazy Credits

In the closing credits, the name of the character Cyril (played by Shawn Campbell) is misspelled "Cryil".

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Connections

References ABC's Wide World of Sports (1961)

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Soundtracks

Olympic Fanfare and Theme
Written by John Williams
Courtesy of Warner-Tamerlane Publishing Corp. on behalf of Marjer Publishing

User Reviews

Come follow me and I will make you a Fischer of men

Pawn Sacrifice is an engaging and well made biopic that is a rich work of cinema.

This flick takes place during the cold war, where America legend Bobby Fischer finds himself in the middle of a political crisis between America and the Soviet Empire. The movie starts out by showing Bobby Fischer( played by Tobey Maguire) towards the beginning of his life, and portrays the struggles he endured which affected him later on in his life. The movie later shows him as a rising chess star and before you know it, he is an adult; and one of the best chess players in the world. He soon finds himself as a pawn in Americas Cold War, and has to take on the number one chess player in the world, Boris Spassky.

This movie is brilliantly directed (Edward Zwick), and gives you an emotional feel for Fischer, and the cinematography is excellent. The supporting cast was good, but Tobey Mcguire stole the show,giving one of the best performances of the year.

Pawn Sacrifice is an engaging and well-made biopic with solid performances.

Details

Official Sites:

Official Facebook Official Site

Country:

USA

Language:

English Russian

Release Date:

25 September 2015 (USA)

Also Known As:

Pawn Sacrifice

Filming Locations:

Montréal, Québec, Canada

Box Office

Budget:

$19,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$202,053, 20 September 2015

Gross USA:

$2,436,633

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$5,578,519

Company Credits

Production Co:

Gail Katz Productions, MICA Entertainment, Material Pictures

Technical Specs

Runtime:

115 min

Color:

Color Color (archive footage) Black and White (archive footage) Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1