SummaryInspired by true events. Two childhood friends decide to enlist in Rio de Janeiro's Military Police Department. After juggling their police jobs and college, both make up their minds to try out for a Special Operations Squad whose mission is to take down the drug-lords that plague the city. Both men struggle to survive, facing the daily challenge... Read More
Directed By:José Padilha
Elite Squad
Metascore
Generally Unfavorable
33
User score
Universal Acclaim
8.5
My Score
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Top Cast
Metascore
Generally Unfavorable
29% Positive
2 Reviews
2 Reviews
14% Mixed
1 Review
1 Review
57% Negative
4 Reviews
4 Reviews
70
This latest pounding slice-of-thug-life thriller from Brazil packs the same cinematic firepower as "City of God," only on the other side of the law.
70
The captain narrates in a punchy, journalistic style that gives Elite Squad an air of sociological realism--it bears a resemblance to viscerally exciting seventies urban thrillers like "The French Connection."
User score
Universal Acclaim
89% Positive
179 Ratings
179 Ratings
6% Mixed
12 Ratings
12 Ratings
5% Negative
11 Ratings
11 Ratings
Jan 7, 2025
10
Demorei bastante para assistir, mas quando assisti gostei muito! É bastante pesado e expõe o comportamento desumano tanto da polícia quanto dos traficantes. Também levanta um ponto interessante, do qual muitas vezes jovens são levados pra essa vida pra garantir que um riquinho possa fumar maconha. Enfim, vale super a pena assistir! Achei super esquisito essa metascore.
Oct 9, 2024
10
One of the best Brazilian films, and I think these bad ratings against this film must be because not everyone watches it with the same eyes, especially nowadays.
40
A one-note celebration of violence-for-good that plays like a recruitment film for fascist thugs.
30
Poorly structured and at times incoherent.
25
Pokes and prods the viewer to watch the brutal, indiscriminate methods of Rio's SWAT-like cops and then demands only one conclusion: That cops in Rio's drug-infested slums must do what they do and if that means rampant point-blank executions, so be it.
25
It boggles the mind to think that Elite Squad won the top prize at the prestigious Berlin Film Festival in February.
0
A relentlessly ugly, unpleasant, often incoherent assault on the senses from Brazil.
Feb 6, 2024
10
Filme excelente que mostra uma realidade que a maioria das pessoas não estão preparadas para aguentar.
Dec 7, 2015
6
A foreign film and made in Brazil , where a captain of a secret society of police chronicles the life and violence in Rio de Janeiro , a slightly exciting movie.
Mar 20, 2020
5
It's the BOPE vs. the cartel in this seedy, sleazy sprint through the favelas of Rio, one that unfortunately brings me back to the punchline of a, now dated, cutaway from Seth MacFarlane's Family Guy -- "Kids, kids. You're both. . .just awful." Let me start off by saying that, I completely and totally recognize my fortune in hailing from a country that has nowhere near the amount of troubles as the one depicted here, but when it comes to the role of the police in society, it's not as if that concept's never come up out here in The States. And though I'll almost always root for the guys on the right side of the law in a movie, it was genuinely difficult to like -- or let alone get to know -- any of the characters in this. When it's not busy being downright ugly and brutal, "Elite Squad" is sowing the seeds of an eventual scene that's ugly and brutal. Yes, it helps that we have characters admitting they regret doing the things we see them do. Yes, I understand the juxtaposition of the BOPE's actions vs. the cartel's. Did that all add up to an enjoyable, enthralling watch? Not really.
Nov 3, 2011
3
This film is very good as a movie, but thats AWEFUL and TERIBLE as a social critic. Only one side of the coin has been shown and that just grind my gears. As a simple movie I could even recomend it, but as a social analisation it just ****.
Nov 30, 2023
2
Highly overrated Brazilian movie depicting **** cops group. It seems we are supposed to empathize with the main protagonist, a sadistic child killer fascist, who harass some morons rookie tofind the one who will be the next bastard to pursue his exactions. Actors ranging from mediocre (Wagner Moura is definitely very weak, and will confirm in Narco) to ridiculous. And a very powerful morale : the bad guys are the rich people. Not the trash dealers or the **** cop, nono. Pathetic…
Production Company:
- Zazen Produções
- Posto 9
- Feijão Filmes
- The Weinstein Company
- Estúdios Mega
- Quanta Centro de Produções Cinematográficas
- Universal Pictures
- Costa Films
Release Date:Sep 19, 2008
Duration:1 h 55 m
Rating:R
Tagline:On the streets of Rio only the elite survive.
Awards
Cinema Brazil Grand Prize
• 8 Wins & 13 Nominations
Prêmio Guarani
• 9 Wins & 11 Nominations
Prêmio Contigo Cinema, Brazil
• 7 Wins & 10 Nominations
