nadeshikomail I am genuinely in love with this film. This is one of the best Indonesian movie I have ever seen. This story is adapted from a best-selling novel entitled "Laskar Pelangi" by Andrea Hirata. This film tells about 10 children called Laskar Pelangi (Rainbow Troops) by their teacher. These children live in rural area, in a poor environment but their heart and imaginations are always rich. The main character of this film is Ikal, a curly-haired young boy who has a dream to study abroad, his relations with his friends and teachers, and his struggles with his family financial condition. The scenery is so beautiful, Belitung island, rich of natures. All of the characters are based on the author's real life story so everyone seems very realistic. This movie is amazing and very inspiring. I recommend you to watch this.

handoyo Too bad, the good story just executed in that way: linear, flat, shallow. Too unrealistic for realistic movie, and very poor imagination for surreal movie. Not clear at all what is the genre of this movie.This movie also used too many verbal language, not challenging the power of thought at all. Seem like it copy paste from the book literally. It is clear that the directors, didn't understand the difference between movie and book.But the main flaw of this film is about the acting. Those children eyes didn't act at all. Even Michael Bay's Autobot, more good in acting compare too all of them.May be Riri Reza need to learn from Slumdog Millionaire. How those kids in that film, act so natural. They are all amateur actors, but doing a great great job in that movie. Or he can learn from Iran's movie Children of Heaven. About how to act and to use a non-verbal language.

bigdave11 Have just seen the European Premiere at the Berlin Film Festival. This was the first Indonesian film I had ever seen and did not know what to expect. I was not disappointed. It was colourful, beautifully photographed and well acted by the young cast. The plot was somewhat simplistic and the 'preachy' pro Islamic Education sentiments which were repeated ad-nauseum throughout became rather tiresome. Other systems work as well you know! Despite this I thoroughly enjoyed the experience and only the extremely hard of heart would not have to wipe tears from their eyes at the moving finale. Highly recommended. It deserves to be seen by a wider audience.

oni_sur This is the most anticipated movie in Indonesia, in 2008. It is a movie about a small poor school, that has only two dedicated teachers and 10 pupils, struggle for survival.One thing is very common for movie critics in Indonesia. They tend to give more credits if the movies being reviewed contain good moral values. The same thing happens with this movie, Laskar Pelangi. Many reviewers acclaim this movie, and I choose to be on the other side, to see the movie as an art, regardless of the moral values within the movie.To say that this movie is a bad one of course is not true, but to say that it is an extremely good movie is an over-statement. It is good, up to certain aspects. The beginning is beautifully rendered, and will bring back memories to anyone who has been at Belitung Island. The siren sound in the background that signal the end of the work hour sure is a brilliant addition. But then, as the story goes, it looses grasp that has been so well developed in the first 15 minutes.Another weakness is that the producers are not brave enough to take risk to use local talents, they still use movie stars. The 10 local kids that play the central role are showing their talents, and of course they don't have to struggle to speak in local dialect, not like the other movie star. Yes, some of the movie star play their role flawlessly: Robby Tumewu played remarkably well as "baba toko" (Chinese shop owner) to haggle all the time with the buyer, a common sight in Belitung; Slamet Raharjo Jarot also, as a sympathizer of the school. But the other I will rate as average, some even below average. But the central roles I admit are well acted.The main weakness is the ambient of the movie. It lacks sights and sounds that brings the feel of being in Belitung. It focuses too much in the dialog, and miss the important shots that really shows what does it look like being in a small island in Belitung. The only one that gets quite good shots is the shots in the beach, which is beautiful, naturally.The scenario which is based on a best seller novel of the same title also lacks the sense of integrity. It jumps from one scene to another. Yes, it is difficult to transfer the book to movie-script, because the book itself is too fragmented. The writer should be braver to invent new plots, in order to create a wholesome picture.As conclusion, it could have been better, seen from the eye of myself, which has spend my entire childhood in this island.