Oliver Stone sounds like a journalist you've heard of before and hence one would assume he has some kind of credibility to his name. This documentary proves that he does not. In the entire four hours of interviews Oliver Stone does not manage to muster up a single critical response to anything Putin says.It is natural for a journalis to try and charm their interviewees before asking critical questions, but Oliver Stone seems to have grown old and timid otherwise he has simply forgotten the reason he arrived.

With every subsequent hour, Oliver Stone's questions get more and more contentious. Putin manages to answer every single one (except those bordering on highly classified territory). He does so in detail, and sometimes from different perspectives.This documentary offers revealing insights into the mind of Putin, his words, his body language, his tendency to play with the sofa stitching as he talks. From geopolitical issues, sensitive domestic Russian affairs to Putin's personal life; it's all there.I will state an interesting observation; what rustles Putin's jimmies the most is the topic of NATO encroachment toward Russia's borders, and the US administration's stationing of ABM systems in eastern Europe. The only time during the interviews you can see Putin's expression change to one of barely veiled annoyance is when the conversation veers in this direction.Another thing of note is Putins very academic answers to a variety of topics. Stone asks him about the prominence and rise of the Russian Orthodox Church during his tenure. Putin answers by stating that after the fall of communism and its associated ideology, civil society had nothing else to grasp onto, but the centuries old traditions that the Church provides. Putin says he supported this to give people something to believe in after the traumatic turmoil that was the 90's. To provide stability in their lives. A very practical answer, and it even leads onto more sensitive questions, such as the treatment of homosexuality in Russia. And Putin answers this candidly as as well. Even jokingly sometimes to highlight the absurdity of Russian culture in regards to such topics. This is the theme throughout. There is very little dodging or political wordplay. Most of his answers are formed on the spot, and seem to come from him directly.It is obvious Oliver was charmed during the filming of this. It is apparent Putin humored him on many occasions and that he has a very powerful ability to charm those he talks to. We see a controversial leader (at least from a western perspective) give very direct, apolitical answers to every question that the typical viewer might want to ask such a public figure. In this regard Mr Stone did very well. It becomes patently obvious as to why Russians would express such far ranging support toward Putin. He's very convincing and obsessed with practicalities. But of course; you be the judge. It's a very informative, revealing 4 hours and definitely worth your time.

Many of the media hawks would have you believe Stone has made Putin look good here. But they are just exercising their bias without critically reviewing the material. The fact is all the tough questions are asked, and Putin answers them. Whether you choose to believe his answers is the choice of the viewer. Similar to the doc on Castro. Putin is obviously a very clever man, and appears to be very logical in his answers. Probably the problem for Americans is that their country does so many bad things around the world, it feels like an anti American piece because nobody other then Stone really highlights these methods. I for one believe a lot of what Putin is saying, but at the same time I would be very cautious to believe everything he has said regarding the Ukraine. And as far as only a $60 billion military budget per year compared to the US's $660, that doesn't really add up. If your flying 70 bombing missions a day into Syria, that's a lot of planes and a lot of bombs and a lot of cash. Overall its intriguing to hear Putin without the paradigm of a partisan media forcing innuendo's down our throat for whatever agenda their corporate owners have. Probably Stone has got as deep into Putin as anyone will ever get, and its an interesting challenge to decide if Putin is telling the truth or not about a lot of things....

Director Oliver Stone travels about with Vladimir Putin and produces four hours of "interview" time. It's not really an interview, as it shows Stone doing some interviewing and also accompanying Putin as he plays a hockey game - something he said he learned just three years before this was filmed (2015) - and as he does some judo - he holds a black belt.The thing is, Vladimir Putin comes across as an eloquent and thoughtful guy, not like the fat little dictator of North Korea who is well fed and always tries to dress "cool" but as a result just looks ridiculous. Every time Stone tries to bring up something unpleasant about either Russia past or present, Putin has an answer. Stone brings up Stalin, what a monster he was, and yet there are still statues to him. Putin brings up Napoleon and how France admits that what he did was a disgrace yet there are still statues to him. He mentions England's Oliver Cromwell and how he became a dictator and that yet there are statues to him in his home country. When questioned about gay rights in Russia, he even has a compassionate liberal answer for that. He is well versed in history and politics past and present of both the West and Russia, and never loses his cool. And remember, this guy was in the KGB from 1975 to 1990.Stone asks Putin if he has ever seen "Dr. Strangelove". Putin admits he has not. So Putin stops and takes the time to watch the movie with Stone, although from his expression - and it doesn't change much EVER - you can tell he is probably humoring him. In spite of that, at the end, Putin makes some well thought out remarks about the film that could have been forged into a superior review.The point is - this is not the guy I was expecting. Plus, you can tell he somewhat charmed Oliver Stone. If this is the same Putin that Donald Trump met, who apparently knows how to shift his presentation to his company, Trump could have easily been putty in his hands.Watch it - all four hours if you have the time - I think it will be a revelation.