5 Days of War

5 Days of War
Official teaser poster
Directed by	Renny Harlin
Produced by	Renny Harlin George Lascu Mirza Davitaia Koba Nakopia
Written by	Mikko Alanne David Battle
Starring	Andy García Val Kilmer Richard Coyle Emmanuelle Chriqui Rupert Friend Johnathon Schaech Dean Cain Rade Šerbedžija Antje Traue Heather Graham Mikheil Gomiashvili Mikko Nousiainen
Music by	Trevor Rabin
Cinematography	Checco Varese
Edited by	Brian Berdan
Production company	RexMedia
Distributed by	Anchor Bay Entertainment (US)
Release dates	June 5, 2011 (2011-06-05) (Georgia)
Running time	120 minutes
Country	United States
Language	English Georgian Russian
Budget	$12 million[1]
Box office	$316,944[2]

5 Days of War (also known as 5 Days of August) is a 2011 action film by Finnish director Renny Harlin.^[3] The story is about the Russo-Georgian War^[4] over the Russian-backed breakaway republic of South Ossetia in Georgia, including the events leading up to the conflict.

The film was released in Georgia as 5 Days of August, and in other countries as 5 Days of War and also City on Fire.

Plot

In 2007, during the Iraq War, a Georgian contingent of the coalition forces saves the life of American reporter Thomas Anders (Rupert Friend), although one of his colleagues (Heather Graham) is killed in the process. One year later, in 2008, he returns to Los Angeles, California but soon goes to Georgia on the advice of some of his friends in Tbilisi, who suspect that a large conflict is brewing. He, along with his cameraman Sebastian Ganz (Richard Coyle), delve deeper into Georgian life as conflict escalates and they get caught in the crossfire when an air raid strikes a local wedding they stumble upon. With members of the wedding party (Emmanuelle Chriqui), and the help of a Georgian soldier (Johnathon Schaech) who had earlier saved them in Iraq, their mission becomes getting their footage of an atrocity by Russian irregulars out of the country. But they find themselves faced with international apathy due to the opening of the 2008 Olympic Games. Their flight leads them to the Battle of Gori.

The film ends with a long series of testimonials from Georgian citizens who lost family members during the conflict.

Cast

• Rupert Friend as Thomas Anders, an American reporter
• Emmanuelle Chriqui as Tatia, a young Georgian woman
• Richard Coyle as Sebastian Ganz, an English reporter
• Heather Graham as Miriam, an American reporter in Iraq
• Johnathon Schaech as Rezo Avaliani, a young Georgian officer
• Rade Serbedzija as Col. Alexandr Demidov
• Andy García as Mikheil Saakashvili, the President of Georgia
• Val Kilmer as "Dutchman", a journalist^[5]
• Mikko Nousiainen as Daniil
• Mikheil Gomiashvili as Anton Medoev, father of Tatia^[6]
• Ani Imnadze as Sofi Medoev
• Antje Traue as Zoe, an American reporter
• Kenneth Cranham as Michael Stilton, an English war reporter
• Dean Cain as Chris Bailot, secretary of Saakashvili
• Sergo Shvedkov as Temur Iakobashvili, Georgian Minister of Reintegration
• Steven Robertson as Davit Kezerashvili, Georgian Defense Minister
• Alan McKenna as Alexander Lomaia, Georgian Representative to the U.N.
• Malkhaz Abuladze as Mayor of Tbilisi, Giorgi Ugulava
• Marshall Manesh as Lech Kaczyński, President of Poland, Chairman of the delegation leaders of the former Eastern bloc
• Givi Sikharulidze as Valdas Adamkus, President of Lithuania
• Zura Tsintsqiladze as Valdis Zatlers, President of Latvia

Production

Filming started in October 2009, in Tbilisi. Filming took 36 days with a budget of 12 million dollars.^[1]

According to Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili, the film was not financed by the Georgian government; however one of the producers, David Imedashvili, said that the initial funding for the project came from a Georgian government fund.^[7] According to Georgian media the movie was financed by Koba Nakopia,^[8] a parliamentarian from the ruling United National Movement^[9] party of Saakashvili. Also credited as producer are director Renny Harlin, George Lascu and Mirza Davitaia, the current Georgian State Minister for "diaspora issues", who at the time of filming was the Georgian Deputy Minister, Ministry of Culture, Monument Protection and Sports.^[10][11][12]

One of the buildings of the Georgian Presidential administration was used for filming parts of the movie. Some members of the special effects team were Russian and had previously worked on Night Watch. The military equipment and personnel used in the film were lent by the Georgian army.^[13]

Premiere

• The film first premiered in Tbilisi, Georgia on June 5, 2011 and was attended by the participating actors, as well as actress Sharon Stone, who helped raise approximately $1 million during the subsequent fundraiser for the victims of the Russo-Georgian war.^[14][15][16]
• London, England, June 9, 2011^[17][18]
• In Polish cinemas, the film was dedicated to late Polish President Lech Kaczyński.

Theatrical release

• Georgia, June 6, 2011^[19]
• United States, August 19, 2011^[20]
• Poland, April 27, 2012^[21]

Reception

5 Days of War has received generally mixed to negative reviews from critics. Review aggregation website Rotten Tomatoes reports that 33% of critics have given the film a positive review based on 33 reviews.^[22] Metacritic gives the film score 31/100 based on reviews from 14 critics.^[23] It has been poorly received by other film critics, with Bloomberg and Washington Post both giving it a one-star rating.^[24][25]

5 Days of War opened in limited release in the United States on August 19, 2011 in two theatres in New York City and Washington D.C. It grossed $6,254 in its opening weekend.^[26]

Home media

5 Days of War was released on DVD (Region 2)^[27] and Blu-ray (Region B)^[28] on 13 June 2011.^[29] The DVD is a one-disc set. The Blu-ray is a one-disc set that includes DTS-HD 5.1 sound, as well as subtitles, in English, German and French.^[30]

See also

• Olympus Inferno
• August Eighth

References

External links

• Official website
• 5 Days of War at AllMovie
• 5 Days of War at Box Office Mojo
• 5 Days of War at the Internet Movie Database
• 5 Days of War at Metacritic
• 5 Days of War at Rotten Tomatoes

• Fedorov, Alexander. The Analysis of Stereotypes of Politically Engaged Media Texts in Media Studies in Student Audience (by the Example of Renny Harlin’s films “Born American” (1986) and “Five Days of War” (2011)