Movie Name: Zaschitniki(The Guardians) (2016)
Director: Sarik Andreasyan
Producer: Sarik Andreasyan, Gevond Andreasyan, Vladimir Polyakov, Max Oleinikov, Nikita Argunov
Writter: Andrei Gavrilov
Star: Sanzhar Madiyev, Anton Pampushnyy, Sebastian Sisak-Grigoryan, Alina Lanina, Valeria Shkirando, Stanislav Shirin, Vyacheslav Razbegaev
Genre: Science fiction
Release date: February 23, 2017
Country: Russia
Language: Russian
Story: Zaschitniki (In Russian: «Защитники»; The Guardians) is a Russian neo-noir superhero film directed by Armenian director Sarik Andreasyan and starring Anton Pampuchniy, Sanzhar Madiev, Sebastian Sisak-Grigoryan, Alina Lanina, Valeria Shkirando and Stanislav Shirin. It is set to be released in February 2017.
The film is set in an alternate history at the height of the Cold War between the United States and the Soviet Union, as a group of Soviet superheroes were created during the Cold War. The group includes representatives of the different nationalities of the USSR, superpowers protagonists reflect strengths and traditions of the people of the USSR.
Set during the Cold War, a secret organization named "Patriot" gathered a group of Soviet superheroes, altering and augmenting the DNA of four individuals, in order to defend the homeland from supernatural threats.
The group includes representatives of the different nationalities of the Soviet Union, which each one of them have long been hiding their true identity. In hard times, they settled down to business and gather to defend their homeland.
Anton Pampushniy as Arsus
Wildman, Arsus is a 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 himself. He has multiple phases of transformation due to his ability to partially transform. He is armed with minigun in battle, which he carries on his back when fully transformed. He can also use his inhuman physicality to fight, especially when he is full bear form. Desperate, loyal and determined, he is known for his drive to "break the enemy into small pieces".
Sanzhar Madiev as Khan
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, which resemble a scimitar, scythe or sickle and can be joined at the hilts to form a double bladed weapon. 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 possess inhuman speed, to such a degree that it appears he almost appears to teleport.
Sebastian Sisak-Grigoryan as Ler.
Landman. He is armed with all forms of earth manipulation abilities, and is able to control stone and soil, collect dust from boulders, stop falling rocks, and move mountains. He can cause the ground to break apart under his enemies feet with great precision in what parts break and what shape the subsequent depression makes. This allows him to form instant craters, canyons, ravines, and sink holes to fight his opponents, though these formations are usually small in scale. Being able to cause quakes and tremor like events in the ground beneath his opponents, such as making the ground under them erupt and explode with the force of a hand grenade. 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.
Alina Lanina as Xenia
Waterwoman. Flexible and agile, to a superhuman degree. She has the ability to move on water as if it were solid ground, as well as to seamlessly floating through it. This gives her higher mobility in water than 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 liquid and use it defensively or offensively.
Valeria Shkirando as Head of "Patriot" Secret organization.
Vyacheslav Razbegaev as Major-general Nikolai Dolgov
Stanislav Shirin as August Kuratov.
Main antagonist. Owns a machine named "Modul-1" which allows him to control any technical equipment. He decides to build his own army of clones in order to capture Moscow, in preparation to control the whole world.
Filming began on April 27, 2015 in Moscow while the casting process was concluded earlier in this year. Filming was continued in Moscow Oblast and in the Crimean peninsula, and was wrapped on July 14, 2015.
A sequel, Guardians 2, is planned, with Turbo Films, the Chinese distributor of the first film, as a co-production company.
