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Countdown (2004)

Countdown (2004), directed by Evgeny Lavrentiev, starring Aleksey Makarov and Louise Lombard.

12/09/2004 BR Action, Adventure and Crime 1h 40m

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Synopsis

A terrorist organization known as "Ansar Allah" is preparing to turn the city of Rome into a City of the Dead. But the heroism of Smolin, the professionalism of Catherine Stone, and the help of Umar together with the cooperation of Russian and Western special forces will save the world from evil terrorists.

  • Stasch Radwanski Jr.Cinematography
  • Дмитрий ШлыковCinematography
  • Evgeny LavrentievDirector, Writer
  • Mikhail PavlovEditing

About the film

Countdown (also known as Personal Number, Russian: Личный номер) is a Russian action movie directed by Yevgeny Lavrentyev with a $7 million budget, which was huge for Russia of that time, and released in Moscow in December 2004.

The Federal Security Service of the Russian Federation (FSB) assisted the shooting. Former Deputy FSB Director Vladimir Anisimov was hired consultant. The movie was sponsored by Sibneft and Channel 1.

Despite its dubious artistic qualities, Countdown dramatizes many real life political concerns. In the very beginning the plot of the movie closely follows details of the independent investigation of the 1999 Russian apartment bombings described in the book Blowing Up Russia: Terror from Within by Yury Felshtinsky and Alexander Litvinenko, representing them as parts of the plan masterminded and sponsored by exiled tycoon Pokrovsky (obvious hint at Boris Berezovsky in real life) and aimed to discredit Russian security services. As this plan has failed, Pokrovsky assisted by some terrorists organizes a hostage taking in a Moscow circus (very similar to Moscow theater hostage crisis in real life) in order to return to Russia, acting as a saver of the hostages during negotiations. However, he fails to do so. The movie also depicts the Pankisi Gorge in Georgia as a place where an important Islamic militant hides, which was a common allegation by Russian authorities in real life around that time, and depicts destruction of a base of terrorists and allies of Pokrovsky in Qatar which might hint at the assassination of Zelimkhan Yandarbiev. Overall, the movie was widely considered propaganda.

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Countdown (also known as Personal Number, Russian: Личный номер) is a Russian action movie directed by Yevgeny Lavrentyev with a $7 million budget, which was huge for Russia of that time, and released in Moscow in December 2004.

The Federal Security Service of the Russian Federation (FSB) assisted the shooting. Former Deputy FSB Director Vladimir Anisimov was hired consultant. The movie was sponsored by Sibneft and Channel 1.

Despite its dubious artistic qualities, Countdown dramatizes many real life political concerns. In the very beginning the plot of the movie closely follows details of the independent investigation of the 1999 Russian apartment bombings described in the book Blowing Up Russia: Terror from Within by Yury Felshtinsky and Alexander Litvinenko, representing them as parts of the plan masterminded and sponsored by exiled tycoon Pokrovsky (obvious hint at Boris Berezovsky in real life) and aimed to discredit Russian security services. As this plan has failed, Pokrovsky assisted by some terrorists organizes a hostage taking in a Moscow circus (very similar to Moscow theater hostage crisis in real life) in order to return to Russia, acting as a saver of the hostages during negotiations. However, he fails to do so. The movie also depicts the Pankisi Gorge in Georgia as a place where an important Islamic militant hides, which was a common allegation by Russian authorities in real life around that time, and depicts destruction of a base of terrorists and allies of Pokrovsky in Qatar which might hint at the assassination of Zelimkhan Yandarbiev. Overall, the movie was widely considered propaganda.

Plot summary

Cast

Alexei Makarov as Maj. Aleksei Smolin

Louise Lombard as Catherine Stone

Vyacheslav Razbegaev as Umar Tamiev

Viktor Verzhbitskiy as Lev Pokrovskiy

Egor Pazenko as Saulyus Boykis

Ramil Sabitov as Khasan

John Amos as Admiral Melory

Orso Maria Guerrini as Italian Prime Minister

Yuriy Tsurilo as Gen. Sergei Karpov

Xenia Fedorova as Journalist in press-center (credited as Ksenia Borchik)

References

External links

Countdown at IMDb

Trailer and Screenshots

Text from Countdown (2004 film) on Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Countdown_(2004_film)

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What is Countdown about?

Countdown: A terrorist organization known as "Ansar Allah" is preparing to turn the city of Rome into a City of the Dead. But the heroism of Smolin, the professionalism of Catherine Stone, and the help of Umar together with the cooperation of Russian and Western special forces will save the world from evil terrorists.

Who directed Countdown?

Countdown was directed by Evgeny Lavrentiev in 2004.

Who stars in Countdown?

The cast of Countdown includes Aleksey Makarov, Louise Lombard, Vyacheslav Razbegaev, Yuriy Tsurilo and Mariya Golubkina.

How long is Countdown?

Countdown runs for 100 minutes, or 1h40.

How much did Countdown cost and how much did it make?

Countdown had a budget of US$ 7,000,000 and took US$ 4,385,278 at the box office.

Where can I watch Countdown?

Countdown is available on Looke. Availability changes often: the list on this page is the most recent we received.

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Page updated on 09/14/2026.

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Scene from Countdown