Prityazhenie / Attraction, movie for the Attraction series (2017)
image © Art Pictures Studio & Vodorod Pictures
The Attraction (2017) is a contemporary fantasy action thriller film. The movie was reviewed by Kadmon.
Product: Prityazhenie / Attraction, movie for the Attraction series (2017)
Original title: Притяжение (Prityazhenie, In English: Attraction), English title: Attraction
Series: Attraction series
Setting: contemporary fantasy Earth
Product type: Film, Genre: contemporary fantasy action thriller, Style: sci-fi, fantasy, contemporary fantasy, thriller, action, aliens
Release: 2017.01.26
Reviewer: Kadmon, Type: Male, 40s, Preferences: Immersive, logical story, consistent setting, prefers surprises to spoilers, prefers establishing elements before referencing them
Watched: very recent (2021.01), first time
Rating: Average (2 out of 3 points), Enjoyment: Weak (2- out of 3 points)
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This is my review of Attraction, a contemporary fantasy action thriller movie for the Attraction series from 2017. It's about a girl trying to prove her worth for her friends and her father. The Attraction film is watchable, I recommend it to fans of the genre.
If you'd like to be surprised by the Attraction film, I don't recommend you to watch the trailer beyond 0:44, because it gives away too much of the plot. It basically provides a summary for a large portion of the film.
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Review (spoiler-free) - Attraction, movie (2017)
First I've run into Invasion (2020), the sequel to Attraction. As that sounded interesting, I thought I'll start with the first one. I don't think I've watched the trailer.
The Attraction movie is about a girl trying to prove her worth for her friends and her father.
The concept of the story (by Andrey Zolotarev & Oleg Malovichko) is okay, although I'm not entirely satisfied with the execution. The consistency is fine. There are no proper character arcs. There are multiple logical problems.
Almost everything is good, except the story. The characters often act stupidly, in order to further the plot.
The cinematography and the visuals are good. The scenes are visually interesting. The actions are okay, they are easy to follow. The movie is designed to be watched on wide screen.
The main characters are fine. The actors portray these characters well.
I liked that the characters are not very clever nor logical. The only characters I don't like to be depicted in the movie as stupid are the leaders and the alien. For them to be depicted as stupid, it detracts from the quality of the story. The actors are good.
The music (by Ivan Burlyaev) is good.
Attraction is a watchable contemporary fantasy action thriller, I think fans of the genre might enjoy it.
My experience
I was not satisfied with Attraction (2017). I prefer well-thought, logical plots, and the Attaction film couldn't deliver that.
Rating: Average (2 out of 3 points). Attraction is a watchable film.
Enjoyment: Weak (2- out of 3 points). Attraction couldn't really catch my interest.
Rewatchability: I'm not sure. I think it's mostly the surprise of the story that makes you feel interested.
Chance of watching it again: Unlikely. Now that I know the story, there's probably no need to watch it again.
Chance of watching a sequel: High. I'd sure watch it. (Update: I've actually watched it since.)
Prityazhenie / Attraction, movie for the Attraction series (2017)
image © Art Pictures Studio & Vodorod Pictures
Will you enjoy this?
If you like futuristic action movies, you might like Attraction.
If you like alien invasion stories (Andromeda Strain), you might like Attraction, although the focus is not really on the invasion.
If you can get through the first half hour of the movie still interested, from then on it gets into gear, and you might even love this.
If you don't mind illogical elements in your movies, you can enjoy this.
If you hate subtitles, you don't have to worry, the Attraction movie is already available with English dub.
If you prefer visuals over story, the movie has some nice scenes.
If you hate depiction of catastrophes, you should probably avoid this movie.
If you hate depiction of violence, there are some violent scenes in the Attraction film.
Do you need to see the second film to enjoy this?
While watching Invasion (2020) might clear some points from this movie, I don't think you'd really need to watch that, as Attraction is a better movie, and watching Invasion might disappoint you.
Watching for plot points
If you are interested in alien invasion stories, it might be worth watching the Attraction movie for the plot points.
Should you watch this on your own screen at home, or is it worth going to the cinema?
The visuals probably look better if you watch it in cinema.
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Prityazhenie / Attraction, movie for the Attraction series (2017)
image © Art Pictures Studio & Vodorod Pictures
Review with spoilers - Attraction, movie (2017)
I didn't really like the Attraction movie.
Cover
The cover of the movie is okay. It spoils the beginning of the movie, but as it's the actual premise, I think this is not a problem.
The trailer
The trailer is basically a substitute for watching the movie.
If you prefer spoilers, it's a great trailer for the Attraction film. If you prefer to avoid spoilers, it will ruin the movie for you.
Promise of the first scene
A girl is walking her dog as an alien spaceship approaches the Earth. I assume the girl will play some role in the events that come.
Execution: Indeed, the girl played a central role in the movie. I wouldn't say it's a great promise, but it's acceptable.
Prityazhenie / Attraction, movie for the Attraction series (2017)
image © Art Pictures Studio & Vodorod Pictures
Plot summary / Synopsis
A girl (Irina Starshenbaum as Yulia 'Yulya' Lebedeva)
The military leader (Oleg Menshikov as Colonel Valentin Lebedev)
The ex-boyfriend (Alexander Petrov as Artyom 'Tyoma' Tkachyov)
The alien scout (Rinal Mukhametov as Hekon)
The setting
Attraction is set on contemporary Earth, probably the 2010s.
In this universe aliens exist, who have visited the Earth with a spaceship.
The aliens
Plot points of interests
The were a couple of interesting elements in the story.
Forces
Aliens
Russian government
Characters - humans
Artyom 'Tyoma' Tkachyov: The former boyfriend of Yulia.
Valentin Lebedev: A colonel in the Russian military. The father of Yulia.
Yulia 'Yulya' Lebedeva: The daugther of Valentin Lebedev.
Characters - aliens
Hekon: A male alien scout.
Characters killed
Technology
Alien mech suits: They can be worn by aliens ans humans alike.
Powers
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Prityazhenie / Attraction, movie for the Attraction series (2017)
image © Art Pictures Studio & Vodorod Pictures
Analysis of the story - Attraction, movie (2017)
I didn't really like the story, there were so many problems that prevented me from enjoying Attraction.
The message of the story
I'm not sure there's one. It's stated by protagonist girl that the moral of the story is that "aliens trust us more than we trust ourselves", but I have no clue how does it relate to a proper message.
The structure of the story
The scenes of the Attraction film are mostly played in sequence, following the same storyline.
There is no single viewpoint character.
It has the usual arc of the dramatic structure - introduction, action, resolution.
Things I liked
- The alien tech looks good.
- The scenes before the event were fine.
Problematic elements
First contact: I didn't particularly liked that it was the daughter of the man who made first contact who made the second first contact with the aliens. It would have been better if they had made a point of this, by allowing only the girl of the general to be able to enter the area, or something like that.
Hiding: When the alien falls from the building, he immediately gets out of his power armour, and covers himself in ash. Why?
Why doesn't he try to ask for help from the ship? His armour seems to have self-healing abilities, they could have put some gadget inside with medical abilities.
The only reason he covers himself in ash is to be able to hide. Why does he want to hide? If he really wants to hide, why doesn't he hide behind something, instead of just lying there, in plain sight?
The device: The alien removes a tech device and gives it to the girl he doesn't know. The device attaches to the recipient on a genetic level, so it cannot be removed. How could the alien remove it from himself? Why did he give it to her? Especially as they are not allowed to leave any tech behind, he tells the general that they are authorised to use deadly force to get anything back. All of these make this gesture a very stupid one. (Update [Spoiler for Invasion (2020)]: Especially in the light of the second movie, Invasion (2020), when the tech device on the girl caused an alien attack on Moscow, probably killing thousands of people.)
The envoys: One of the envoys is a politician. After he gets back from the ship, he starts to tell the reporters they have been attacked and that the aliens want to kill everybody, and this is broadcasted on TV. Even if he somehow got this in his mind, the government wouldn't let that get away. In Russia, they are pretty efficient in this.
Misunderstandings: The girl's boyfriend seems like a decent guy, until he starts to miscommunicate to create misunderstandings to further the plot, then he turns into a full blown psycho. It's strange and it wasn't foreshadowed in any way.
The missing piece: The government just announced on TV they have gathered a piece of the spaceship, after they decided to keep it secret from the aliens. As the aliens were able to communicate with the envoys, one would think they might be able to understand what is told in the news.
Of course this allowed the aliens to find that piece and recover it.
Hiding in plain sight: The alien wants to get back to his ship. The girl convinces him to wait until it's dark. That would sound logical. Until then, they try to hide. To do so, they go to a pop concert to dance together.
The careless general: The general just lets his daughter take everything from her. He has a security badge that he just puts into his pocket, so the girl can take it. He has a gun unsecured in a holster, so the girl can get a gun. Truth to be told, there are rules to prevent exactly this, that is why guns of soldiers and policemen are not just tucked into their pockets, or even holsters.
Rushing the soldiers: There are soldiers stationed at the gate, in order to keep people away. The first car might get in because they surprise them. But the second car, with the girl and the alien should have been stopped, either by shooting or using barricades.
The gun: In the end, one of the soldiers just puts his gun down, and leaves it there, allowing it to be taken. A proper soldier would care a bit more about his equipment.
Unanswered questions
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Possibilities of improvement
I'm not sure there's a way to edit this into a coherent and intelligent movie.
Make the flat of the general be totally destroyed by the alien attack. That way he would be more generous towards the guy who made his daughter leave that flat, when he ordered her to stay.
Make the girl the only one who could have entered the restricted area. This way it doesn't just feel random that it's her who meets with the alien guy, after he just met his father.
How it could have been better?
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How does it compare to the other works of the creators?
From the writers (Andrey Zolotarev & Oleg Malovichko), I've only seen Sputnik (2020), that was almost good. Attraction is a lot weaker.
From the director (Fedor Bondarchuk), I've seen the Inhabited Island, that was a good movie. I also think the direction was also efficient in this one.
Update: Since then, I've seen Invasion (2020), the sequel to Attraction (2017), and it was a lot worse than this movie. That means that they don't really improve in this series.
How does it compare to the other films in the series?
Attraction is a better, more interesting movie than Invasion (2020).
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Behind the scenes
Thoughts about the reviews of others
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Prityazhenie / Attraction, movie for the Attraction series (2017)
image © Art Pictures Studio & Vodorod Pictures
Uses for the film - Attraction, movie (2017)
Plot
- Set on contemporary Earth.
Scenes
- When the spaceship falls down into the city could be used for space invasion or catastrophe stories.
Designs
- The alien mechs look good.
Scenario ideas - Role-playing game scenario ideas
Scenario ideas - Wargame scenario ideas
Retrieval: One of the forces sent a scout in a power suit to acquire some resource. The scout was able to get it, but his high tech power suit was stolen. Now, the scout has to get through the line of attackers back to his own forces. Their attackers now also have one warrior wearing his power suit.
Protect the objective: One of the forces want to protect an object. The other side is intent on destroying it. The protectors refrain from killing anyone. They have to stop the attackers as long as they are able to get reinforcements, move the object, or finish their work.
Miniatures - 1/50-1/60 (28-32mm scale)
Aliens: Human-sized (S3) futuristic human female / male civilian.
Alien mechs: Large futuristic humanoid warriors.
Civilians: Human-sized (S3) modern (advanced) human female / male civilian.
Soldiers: Human-sized (S3) modern (advanced) human female / male soldier.
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Similar stories - Attraction, movie (2017)
Short stories
Novels
Graphic novels
Movies
Vtorzhenie / Attraction 2: Invasion (2020): The sequel to this movie, the second film in the Attraction series.
TV series & episodes
Computer games
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Frequently asked questions - Attraction, movie (2017)
Will the Attraction movie be available with English audio dub?
By now, Attraction is already available with English audio dub.
Is the Attraction film based on a book or comics?
No, Attraction is not based on either books or comics.
Is the Attraction film a remake or reboot?
No, the Attraction film is neither a remake nor a reboot.
Is there a post credit scene in Attraction? Does Attraction have end credit scenes?
No, there's no post credit scene in Attraction.
Where can I see Attraction? What is Attraction playing on? What streaming service is Attraction on? Where can I watch Attraction online? Is Attraction available on Netflix? Is Attraction on Amazon?
As of 2022.01.20, Attraction is available on Amazon Prime Video, Apple TV, Google Play, Microsoft Movies, Vudu, YouTube.
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Resources - Attraction, movie (2017)
Official
Art Pictures Studio: Attraction (in Russian): Official article.
Information
IMDB: Prityazhenie / Attraction (2017): Database article.
WikiPedia: Attraction (2017 film): Database article.
Letterboxd: Attraction 2017: Database article.
Rotten Tomatoes: Attraction 2017: Database article.
Creation
: Concept art article.¤
https://80.lv/articles/attraction-cgi-production-for-films/
Reviews with no spoilers - Attraction film (2017)
: Review video about the Attraction film with no spoilers.¤
Reviews with spoilers - Attraction film (2017)
: Review article of the Attraction movie, with spoilers. Includes a very detailed plot summary.¤
Analysis - Attraction movie (2017)
: Analysis video, explaining the finale of Attraction.¤
https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie-reviews/attraction-review-1030021/
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Buying the product - Attraction, movie (2017)
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Have you seen the Attraction film? How do you like the movie? Would you recommend it to others? Do you know reviews or resources you'd like to add? What further thoughts do you have about it? Tell your opinion in the comments!
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