Glucedee It's hard to see any effort in the film. There's no comedy to speak of, no real drama and, worst of all.

Humaira Grant It’s not bad or unwatchable but despite the amplitude of the spectacle, the end result is underwhelming.

Erica Derrick By the time the dramatic fireworks start popping off, each one feels earned.

Jenni Devyn Worth seeing just to witness how winsome it is.

yurgenburgen I got Comandante from a second-hand DVD shop in my town. From the summary on the back of the case it sounds great. I've an interest in the different 'dictators' of the world and the way this film was described made it sound right up my street.How wrong I was. I expected nice long, insightful interviews with Castro. Instead, I got shaky, horribly-edited interviews about nothing of any real interest. We never get any chance to actually see the 'real' Castro through these interviews because Director Oliver Stone seems to have chopped out any good material he may have filmed over the three days they were in Cuba.On top of all that, the concept of presenting the whole thing with the black-and-white "COMANDANTE" opening scene and such, to make the film look sort of like an old Commie propaganda video, just failed abysmally. Comandante was almost like a bad, unamusing parody of Communist propaganda films, with Fidel being like a cartoon version of himself throughout. Just rubbish.

wrightr-2 I'd like to congratulate cubanorwich on a phenomenal movie review; it was top notch-very objective and professional. I like the way he uses historical facts about the successes of communism in places like Soviet Russia and Maoist China in helping to ward off mass starvation, human rights abuses, and their efforts to promote freedom of speech and of the press. I agree with you, cubanorwich; I too am overjoyed with the current state of the Cuban economy and of the liberties afforded to each citizen to criticize the government in print, speech, and protest. It must be that all of these political refugees from Cuba are simply ignorant ignoramuses. You, Sir, should go immediately to Oxford and apply for a job in the history department; surely they will be falling all over themselves to hire you. Or at the very least, you should call Freedomhouse here in America and tell them off. Keep up the good work.

Ryan Ellis Since I was not one of the few people who saw Oliver Stone's documentary about Fidel Castro in its 5-minute theatrical run, I was excited to see that CBC Newsworld here in Canada was running it this past weekend. The film was edited down a bit to fit into the network's alloted time slot, although I don't think we missed anything important. This is essentially a multi-camera one-on-one conversation between two controversial men, with a woman translator to bridge the communications gap on both sides. Since this doc gives Castro the chance to say whatever he wants, corporate & political America must have scoffed at the very idea of this film. If they were concerned that Stone would get conspiracy theorists buzzing about the still-fiery Cuba situation, they can calm down. That would take a powerful 'JFK' type film. This is not even close to that level.The filmmaker employs many of his usual techniques, cutting ruthlessly between stock footage and the many cameras he's brought with him. This is one time where that might not only be effective, but necessary. Watching a man in his 70s go on about various topics (politics, dictators, U.S. relations, Che Guevara) would get boring if not for the mix of visual material weaved into the picture. Not that Castro is up on a pulpit. He's sympathetic here & there, tough & determined too. He also seems to be hiding something. He claims never to have tortured a soul in his 40+ years in power, yet Newsworld's host tells us that 3 Cuban dissidents were killed just recently (dozens were jailed). He's preaching to the converted guy sitting right beside him when he gives Stone his views on hypocritical U.S. leaders and the Kennedy assassination (yup, not a lone gunman), then doesn't take enough responsibility for some of the dangerous events he's "witnessed" (the Cuban Missile Crisis, for instance).Hey, I better be honest here, much of my knowledge of Cuba has come from movies...some of them directed by Stone himself. Excellent, here's a chance to hear a dictator's side of the story right from his own mouth. We learn off the top that Castro never asked Stone to stop his multitude of cameras, so the film is apparently an uncensored look. All the same, I have no doubt that Castro did what all politicians do; jazz the place up when the unblinking eye of a camera is upon him. We see several Cubans and foreign visitors fawn over Castro, yet it comes off as a typical political photo op. Really, would it be very hard to find a few pro-Castro crowds to wow Stone for a few days? Stone undoubtedly believes that his film is balanced, and indeed the lack of a voice-over narration allows viewers to listen to the two men talking and draw their own conclusions. Here's mine---I feel no closer to knowing Castro than I did before seeing 'Comandante'.It should come as no surprise that a living political leader would give us limited access to what's really on his mind. I'm not saying that Castro is lying or that Stone is throwing softballs, but this is a subject that should have been far more explosive. Castro + Stone = shrug? That's not the math I expected to be doing after seeing this film. All the same, the most false moment comes at the end. The hug shared by Stone and Castro seemed heartfelt, but the crew didn't seem quite as eager or as comfortable to embrace the hug-happy communist dictator. Perhaps that few seconds of the picture tells us a great deal more about Fidel Castro than the rest of the doc does---some sympathize, others distrust. Stone is going back to Cuba to shoot a sequel of sorts. Hopefully, he'll prepare better, dig deeper, and draw the real Fidel out. He didn't do it in 'Comandante'.

jordiainaud "Comandante" has all the virtues (and defects) one could expect from Oliver Stone: great editing, a bigger-than-life protagonist, and a close, albeit superficial, look at the political myths of the 60s and 70s: Kennedy, Nixon, Kruschev, Che Guevara --they are all here, plus Castro himself, of course. Stone is not a professional journalist, and at some points, one wonders about the depth of his research on Castro's darkest side. On the other hand, he does ask some tough questions. Castro provides some answers, too, which you may believe or not, and only in very few occasions does he elude a straight reply. But then again, isn't that what most politicians would do (e.g. Bill Clinton commenting on his "relationship" with Monica Lewinsky)? And at some points, Castro's insights prove revealing and even illuminating. All in all, "Comandante" is a good documentary, as it sheds some light on a most interesting and troubled period of our history. I hardly think Castro's portrait in the film is 100% positive: he is too complex a character to emerge as a saintly figure, especially for a 100-minute documentary. I see him as some sort of political dinosaur who has managed to survive in his Caribbean time-capsule. If you liked "Jurassic Park", you'll probably enjoy "Comandante".