Welcome back to Movie Recap. Today I'm gonna show you a 2019 Russian–Serbian action film called,
The Balkan Line. Spoilers ahead. Watch out and take care.
The movie begins in the land of Bosnia and Herzegovina, wherein the sniper
Shatiya attempts to kill the enemy when suddenly she gets hit through the left shoulder,
failing to shoot the target as she runs away from the shooting affray.
Afterward, she radios the commander to report getting hit, but then Shatiya suddenly stops and
injects herself morphine. On the other hand, Slash receives a command through his radio to take the
target alive and breathing while Surah is getting informed about concealing once Slash grabs Harun.
However, Slash misses Harun after trying to kill him by beating his face;
Slash only stops when Surah grabs him from behind to remind him that they need to get Harun alive.
Unfortunately, Surah eventually gets killed by Harun while frustratedly talking with Slash.
And before Harun takes his next step to end Slash’s life, Gerey suddenly appears and beats
his head using the rifle. On the other hand, Slash radios the commander for emergency evacuation
as Surah is almost losing a lot of blood. Meanwhile, Barra leads the next mission as he
takes the call from the commander to get ready. Afterward, he rolls down through the rocks as
he successfully takes the remote and activates the explosion bombs in the forest. Fortunately,
the team accomplishes its mission by taking Harun alive. However, Gerry convinces the
group that Surah will not get alive due to losing much blood as they take the military
helicopter on the way to their base. Upon watching Surah dies, Slash
eventually attempts to kill Harun for killing his brother-in-law. Yet, Deputy Chief of Intelligence,
Lieutenant Colonel Aslanbek “Beck” Ithhoev, clarifies that Harun is under the protection
of NATO Forces, and there’s a warrant not to kill him. Frustrated, Gereev finally talks,
saying that once they kill Harun, they will go to a military court because they are
still subordinate to NATO. However, the former paratrooper-turned-mercenary, Andrey Shatalov,
refuses to agree with Gereev and immediately grabs Harun’s collar and pushes him off the helicopter.
Later, Beck receives a discretion of the officers’ title, non-execution, failure of the assignment,
and threat to the international relations of the RF, to lay down the soldiers. Unfortunately,
these soldiers are Andrei Shatalov, Oleg Barmin, Vera Kurbaeva, Ilya Slashchev,
and Rustam Baba Gereev of the ranks of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation.
However, he also gets a declaration of incomplete official compliance from the NATO Forces.
However, despite signing the Dayton Accords to end the war in Bosnia in 1995,
the peace in the Balkans failed to last longer. A new conflict arose in the region in 1998 as
the Kosovo Albanians wanted independence. Because of that, it suppresses the actions of the Kosovo
Liberation Army, which the UN recognizes as a terrorist organization; the regular Serbian troops
send in Kosovo. Then, in 1999, NATO started bombing Yugoslavia to end the conflict even
without the consent of the UN Security Council. Later, the bombing starts in the land of Kosovo,
Yugoslavia. Yet, the young couple still makes it through to the hospital to give birth when
suddenly the place explodes after Toshka enters with her doctor named Jasna Blagojevic. Panicking,
Stefan enters the hospital and finds Toshka, now dead after giving birth to their baby.
Afterward, Jasna appears and takes the baby with him when suddenly Stefan gets killed
by a flare-up inside. Jasna immediately runs as she sees the ceiling crack due to the explosion.
Because of that, the bombing is getting all over the news as the Russian President has joined
forces with NATO partners against the Serbian Armed Forces led by the Albanian warlord, Smuk.
A while later, General Somov meets with Beck, saying that the Serbs will respond to them,
but once their army comes out of Kosovo, the real power in the region will pass into the
hands of Albanian rebels led by a terrorist named Smuk, the warlord. While listening,
Somov says that the NATO troops will stop the bombing and come as peacekeepers. However, Beck
receives a secret mission from him about the large airport in Kosovo, the Pristina, in control of the
British responsibility sector, and only transport planes can land there. Technically, Beck will
borrow the airport and keep it under control until the dealers arrive. Beck then receives military
equipment to be sent to Bosnia for NATO troops. Leaving him no choice, Beck takes Shatalov’s band
to help him despite not trusting Shatalov. On the other hand, Jasna gives a resignation letter to
her boss, Amir, saying that she cannot continue anymore after what happened to the hospital.
However, Amir refuses to accept it, saying that it’s better to save a life than nothing to do.
Meanwhile, Beck starts driving on the way to the airport when suddenly he sees Geerev joining
the protest on the bridge. So, Beck calls Geerev and orders him to join his group at the airport.
On the other hand, Dr. Colonel Ladov of the Russian Airborne Troop talks with Somov using
the satellite connection. While speaking, Somov informs him that the decision to jump in Pristina
is well established as he also gives him the task to get the airport ahead of the Allies
and prevent information leakage to NATO. However, the Police officers are having an
operation to capture the Slatina airfield after the Albanian warlord, Smuk takes it during the
bombing in Yugoslavia. Afterward, Commander Millic takes Shatalov, covering his actual
name by using another name, Rade, near Smuk’s base. Fortunately, Rade accepts Millic’s request
by telling him everything about his reason for visiting Yugoslavia. While talking, Millic says
that once his troops withdraw, there will be complete lawlessness, so he needs Rade to take
down the terrorists. However, Rade excuses that their problem is unsolvable without outside help.
Meanwhile, Beck gradually visits his last team, including Shatalov, to join his troop.
Millic calls his troop to rescue the Albanian families after leaving the village later.
Afterward, Millic drives their way to the road to save the families as the Albanian neighbors
warn them that the bandits will rob them. Upon arriving, Vuk refuses to listen to Fadil and gets
out of the vehicle, reloading his weapon to shoot the bandits. Luckily, Rade saves Vuk from getting
sniped by killing the sniper using his dagger. However, one bandit escapes while the others are
successfully killed by Rade, saving the families from getting robbed inside the bus. Afterward,
Military Millic gives Rade a passport after successfully taking his job to kill.
Meanwhile, Beck successfully unites the team once again in the abandoned house. Afterward, he drops
his bag on the table while telling them that it’s time to make their decisions without NATO.
On the other hand, Rade accidentally meets Jasna at the terminal bus and luckily rides with her.
However, the bus they’re taking gets ambushed by the bandits. Afterward, Smuk makes his speech,
ordering the passengers, including the driver, to undergo a screening procedure as he acclaims
that they are entering their territory of the Republic of Kosovo. Once resistance occurs, Smuk
will order his men to punish them mercilessly. Unfortunately, Jasna almost gets harassed after
attacking Smuk, who mercilessly shoots the passengers’ heads on the road. Luckily, Rade
immediately makes his move after pretending that he passes out upon getting beaten by a gun on his
head. Rade then kills some bandits while ordering Smuk to tell his men to throw their weapons off.
Afterward, Rade and Jasna help the passengers by riding the bus on the way to a Glogowice
hospital to escape from Smuk. Then, after taking the passengers to the hospital,
Jasna favors coming with Rade to deliver the priest’s corpse to his churchmates.
Eventually, Rade falls in love with Jasna and offers her to stay at his house while taking her
duty at the hospital. On the other hand, Smuk goes to the village to ask Millic about Rade’s
whereabouts. However, Millic refuses to tell the truth despite getting tormented by Smuk’s men.
Because of that, Smuk sentences him to death by shooting his heart.
Meanwhile., Rade receives news from Fadil that Smuk killed Millic. But little does he know;
Smuk is already going to Glogowice hospital to capture Jasna. Afterward, blackmails
Jasna by slicing the women’s neck to tell the location of Rade. Leaving her no choice, Jasna
reveals the truth as Smuk orders to kill all the victims on their prisoners’ base except for her.
Luckily, the young little girl named Devojcica successfully hides at the hospital trolley.
Later, Beck begins their plan by telling them they need to take over the airport in Slatina
and hold their positions until the peacekeepers come. Also, his team marks an essential strategy,
which they need to take the airport without anyone knowing. Since there are a lot of Serbs who guard
it, Barry and Beck will be the dispatchers for negotiating, then Gerey and Slash are anointed
to get the hangars and checkpoints. Lastly, Vera will take the terminal using her sniping skills.
Meanwhile, President Slobodan Milosevic has signed an agreement to withdraw the
allied troops of Yugoslavia from Kosovo, so the management of the war’s end is going to NATO.
Leaving them no choice, the Russian Airborne Troop accepts the task to take control of a
strategically important site, Slatina Airport, before the arrival of the NATO Armored Brigade.
Dr. Colonel Ladov then signals his troop to drive their way to the airport.
Later, Gerey and Slash finally arrive at the airport when suddenly they see suspicious
things inside, so Slash immediately reports it to Beck. On the other hand,
Rade officially takes his call to move to Smuk’s base with his two men to save Jasna. Little does
he know; Gerey, Vera, and Slash are also there, so Rade’s men attack without them knowing.
Because of that, Rade meets his team again and reveals why he plans to attack Smuk’s base.
Afterward, Vera reports about the arrival of a pick-up machine, assuming that they are an enemy.
After a while, Beck’s team tells Shatalov to get involved with his mission to recapture
the airfield from Smuk. Suddenly, Shatalov and the team see a lot of dead bodies upon entering
the camp. Luckily, Shatalov sees Jasna hiding behind the desk, and later on, she admits her
fault of telling Shatalov’s whereabouts to Smuk. On the other hand, Smuk receives a report from
one of his men that Beck conquers their base. Meanwhile, Beck immediately reports to Somov
that Smuk’s base has a hundred people while he has only eight, pointing out that they can’t
handle taking them all down while waiting for the Russian Airborne Troop’s arrival.
Yet, Somov sticks with his order to hold the airport until morning and disappear once the
troops arrive. Afterward, Beck fathers his team to tell their next task, then he orders Shatalov to
take responsibility once the Serbs, which is Vuk and Fadil, remain. Technically, Shatalov
will deliver Beck’s message only to follow his orders. However, Vera takes Fadil on her command.
Afterward, Becks shares his idea to Shatalov about preparing fireplaces and deploying weapons from
the hangar throughout the territory. However, they are lack cartridges, so they need to save.
After hearing his ideas, Shatalov favors letting Fadil take the roof with Vera.
After their discussion, the team starts doing their assignments at the airfield.
Afterward, Jasna walks toward Shatalov to give him morphine when suddenly Shatalov tells her that
she will sit with Beck in the Dispatch Center, which is the safest area to protect themselves
once the battle begins. Shatalov then gives her a gun for protection and reveals his actual name.
Meanwhile, Slash approaches Shatalov, thanking him for throwing Harun off the helicopter to
give justice to his brother-in-law’s death on the battlefield. Afterward, the team prays and
kneels to keep themselves alive in the battle. However, upon waiting, Smuk and his men finally
arrive at the airfield, so the team immediately gets ready for their weapons. Afterward,
Beck orders Barya, Gerey, and the Serbs to hold the terminal after successfully igniting
firecrackers through the sky. While Slash and Shatiy, on the other hand, will keep the field.
Then for the last, Vera is ordered to hide the team using her sniper skills.
A while later, Bara finally activates the landmine while Fadil and Vuk finish the column to kill
Smuk’s men at the airfield. Afterward, Bara throws a grenade while Smuk signals his men to attack.
Little does Smuk know; Beck’s team puts a trap on the field,
wherein anyone who dares to walk on it will explode. On the other hand, Smuk takes out
the second group to attack as his last weapon against Beck’s team while he leaves and goes to
the terminal for invasion. However, Fadil gets shot by one bandit after firing Smuk’s vehicle.
Unfortunately, the terminal is getting attacked by Smuk’s second group, so Gerey and Vuk fire
them while Shatalov, Vera, and Slash shoot in the direction of the road. Meanwhile, Gerey injects
a severely injured Fadil with some morphine while Bara activates the explosion bombs inside the camp
to kill the incoming bandits. Suddenly, they hear incoming bombs from the bandits, attempting to
slaughter them all in their area. Unfortunately, Gerey gets killed due to an incendiary fire,
Fadil’s leg gets hit by artillery shells, and Vera injures herself from Smuk’s rocket warheads.
Meanwhile, Somov receives a message from the President to run after the column from Kosovo
gets suspended. However, Somov refuses to take the order, saying the queue will get to the airport.
Afterward, Somov calls Ladov to stop him from going to the airport and wait for further
instructions. Leaving him no choice, Ladov calls the attention of everyone to control the movement.
But then, Ladov receives a report from his solider that Slatina airport is beyond the pass. Because
of that, the Russian Airborne Troop proceed with the movement on the way to the airfield.
After a while, Slash takes the truck to attack Smuk’s bandits,
sacrificing himself to save the weakling team. While Slash is driving, Beck tries covering him
by shooting from afar when suddenly Slash gets killed by the bandits while his truck explodes,
killing the remaining enemies at the airfield. Afterward, Fadil volunteers
to shoot the remaining group when suddenly Smuk catches Shatalov running at the airport.
Unfortunately, Shatalov gets hit, so Bara takes the artillery shells to hit Smuk from afar.
Meanwhile, Jasna tries saving Shatalov at the airfield while Smuk and the remaining bandits
are walking on their way to their area. Because of that, Shatalov gets killed for saving Jasna.
Afterward, Beck takes the vehicle to get his team inside for withdrawal, but Smuk and his team
immediately shoot to prevent them from escaping. The movie ends with Beck, Bara, Vera, Jasna,
and the young girl almost surrendering themselves to Smuk and his team when suddenly the Russian
Airborne Troop reinforcement arrives. On the other hand, Vuk eventually stabs the neck of the
escaping Smuk on his vehicle, giving his brother, Fadil, justice for mercilessly slicing his head.
Afterward, Beck’s team disappears while Jasna and the young girl get saved by Ladov without knowing
the mission happened at the airport. Luckily, Beck’s team gets themselves out before the
Russian troops and NATO almost start another battle at the airfield. Then, a year later,
Shatalov, whom Jasna thought was dead, suddenly survived his injury and visited her.