''Mirror Wars: Reflection One'' (russian: Зеркальные Войны: Отражение Первое, italic=yes) is a 2005

Russian Russian(s) refers to anything related to Russia, including: *Russians (, ''russkiye''), an ethnic group of the East Slavic peoples, primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries *Rossiyane (), Russian language term for all citizens and peo ...

crime action film Crime films, in the broadest sense, is a film genre inspired by and analogous to the crime fiction literary genre. Films of this genre generally involve various aspects of crime and its detection. Stylistically, the genre may overlap and combine ...

directed by Vasili Chiginsky, based on a screenplay by Oleg Kapanets, Alex Kustanovich and Nicholas Waller. The film stars both Russian actors Alexander Efimov and

Ksenia Alfyorova Ksenia Alexandrovna Alfyorova (; born 24 May 1974) is a Soviet and Russian actress and television presenter. Early life She was born on 24 May 1974, in Sofia, Bulgaria. She is the daughter of actress Irina Alfyorova and Boyko Gyurov (father of ...

, along with other international stars:

Malcolm McDowell Malcolm McDowell (born Malcolm John Taylor; 13 June 1943) is a British actor, producer, and television presenter. He is best known for portraying Alex DeLarge in ''A Clockwork Orange.'' He was born in the Horsforth suburb of Leeds and raised i ...

Armand Assante Armand Anthony Assante Jr. (; born October 4, 1949) is an American actor. He played mobster John Gotti in the 1996 HBO television film '' Gotti'', Odysseus in the 1997 mini-series adaptation of Homer's ''The Odyssey'', Nietzsche in ''When ...

and

Rutger Hauer Rutger Oelsen Hauer (; 23 January 1944 – 19 July 2019) was a Dutch actor. In 1999, he was named by the Dutch public as the Best Dutch Actor of the Century. Hauer's career began in 1969 with the title role in the Dutch television series ' ...

, as an effort to court an international audience. The enigmatic title refers to the continuation of a mystery revolving around a top-secret Russian fighter aircraft.

Plot

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and Northern Asia. It is the largest country in the world, with its internationally recognised territory covering , and encompassing one-eig ...

n company

Sukhoi The JSC Sukhoi Company (russian: ПАО «Компания „Сухой“», ) is a Russian aircraft manufacturer (formerly Soviet), headquartered in Begovoy District, Northern Administrative Okrug, Moscow, that designs both civilian and mili ...

has developed a

fifth-generation jet fighter A fifth-generation fighter is a jet fighter aircraft classification which includes major technologies developed during the first part of the 21st century. , these are the most advanced fighters in operation. The characteristics of a fifth-gene ...

, the

Su-XX, nicknamed ''Sabretooth'', flown by test pilot Alexei Kedrov (Alexander Efimov), from a remote Russian airbase. Recently suspected of being a traitor due to his love affair with American ecologist Catherine Foley (

), Alexei is patriotic and is unaware that Catherine is not who she claims and is working with London-based arms dealer Dick Murdoch (

). A mystery man (

) also appears to control the effort to steal the ''Sabretooth''. Murdoch and his new partner Aziza (Olga Yakovieva), want to steal the Russian jet and employing numerous mercenaries and clandestine agents, puts the entire flight test unit in jeopardy. Worried about his family, pilot Boris Korin (

Valery Nikolaev Valery Valeryevich Nikolaev (russian: Валерий Валерьевич Николаев; born 23 August 1965) is a Russian film and theater actor, director. Career Nikolaev has choreographed five productions at the Chekhov MKhAT theater. He c ...

) helps Murdoch steal ''Sabretooth''. When Catherine is seen to be falling for Alexei, she is eliminated along with other assassinations and an audacious attack on a former Russian outpost. Alexei and other pilots in his team have to contend with not only the Russian FSB, but also agents from the CIA and British special services. When Air Force One on the way to Moscow, is threatened, the McDonnell Douglas F-15 Eagle escorts try to shoot down ''Sabretooth'' but Alexei uses the extraordinary capability of his top-secret aircraft to outfly the American attack and bring his aircraft home safely. Murdoch, however, with help from the mystery man behind the efforts to steal ''Sabretooth'', is still at large.

Cast

as Dick Murdoch / Mr. Simpson *

as CIA Agent Henry York *

as Mysterious Man * Alexander Efimov as Alexei Kedrov ("Porter") *

as Catherine Foley *

as Boris Korin (credited as Valery Nikolaev) * Mikhail Gorevoy as Manfred Darban * Ivar Kalninsh as Anton Kedrov (credited as Ivar Kalninsh) * Olga Yakovieva as Aziza * Anatoly Zhuravliov as Grom * Amalia Mordvinova as Agent Orange * Valery Afanasiev as Colonel Svirsky * Alexander Kuznetsov as Agent Sea * Alexander Rapoport as Ralph Trenton of the CIA * Oleg Kapanets as Sobol * Sergei Chonishvili as Igor Chaikin * Justin Ipock as Boris * Anna Vaskova as Wife of Boris * Vladimir Vinogradov as Pavel Sokolov * Alexander Yakovlev as Kalenov

Production

Principal photography Principal photography is the phase of producing a film or television show in which the bulk of shooting takes place, as distinct from the phases of pre-production and post-production. Personnel Besides the main film personnel, such as a ...

for ''Mirror Wars: Reflection One'' took place in Russia, with location shooting in Moscow and Crimea. Other photography took place in Los Angeles and London. Filming also involved several locations with military personnel, equipment and facilities provided. The role of ''Sabretooth'' in ''Mirror Wars: Reflection One'' was played by the sole two-seat Sukhoi Su-35UB fighter as it can be seen in the real life scenes of the movie. A 3D modeler for the movie said a

Sukhoi Su-30MKI The Sukhoi Su-30MKI (NATO reporting name: Flanker-H) is a twinjet multirole air superiority fighter developed by Russia's Sukhoi and built under licence by India's Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) for the Indian Air Force (IAF). A varia ...

was used as a base fighter for the ''Sabretooth''. Although the fighter demonstrator was one of the "stars", the film combines aerial closeups of jet fighters in close formation flying. Special effects include the use of pyrotechnical explosions, live-action closeup satellite imagery, and views from inside the flying jets, as well as extensive use of scale and CGI models. The setting of the

MAKS Air Show MAKS (russian: МАКС, russian: label=short for, Международный авиационно-космический салон, Mezhdunarodnyj aviatsionno-kosmicheskij salon, "International Aviation and Space Show") is an international air ...

in Moscow includes footage of contemporary Russian military aircraft and an ancient

Polikarpov I-153 The Polikarpov I-153 ''Chaika'' (Russian ''Чайка'', "Seagull") was a late 1930s Soviet biplane fighter. Developed as an advanced version of the I-15 with a retractable undercarriage, the I-153 fought in the Soviet-Japanese combats in Mon ...

. Other aircraft seen in ''Mirror Wars: Reflection One'' include

Mil Mi-24 The Mil Mi-24 (russian: Миль Ми-24; NATO reporting name: Hind) is a large helicopter gunship, attack helicopter and low-capacity troop transport with room for eight passengers. It is produced by Mil Moscow Helicopter Plant and has been ...

and Mil Mi-17 helicopters along with Sukhoi Su-25, Sukhoi Su-35 and Ilyushin Il-78 aircraft.

Reception

Although a Russian production, ''Mirror Wars: Reflection One'' featured English dialogue with Russian actors either speaking in English or being dubbed. Reputedly costing $10,000,000, the film was not critically received and did not do well at the box office, rating only in 50th place in Russia in 2005.Decker, Nathan
"Review: 'Mirror Wars: Reflection One' (2005)."
''Million Monkey Theater: B Movie reviews''. March 2011. Retrieved: 10 June 2017. After a short theatrical run, ''Mirror Wars: Reflection One'' was released as a DVD for home media by Anchor Bay Entertainment.

References

Notes

Citations

Bibliography

* Gordon, Yefim. ''Sukhoi Su-27 Flanker: Air Superiority Fighter''. London, UK: Airlife Publishing, 2007. .

External links

* (in Russian) * * {{Rotten Tomatoes, mirror_wars 2005 films 2000s crime action films Russian aviation films Russian crime action films English-language Russian films 2000s English-language films