Stalingrad

It was interesting to see WWII from the German side of things, especially their view of the Russian Front, an idiom all-too-often imagined by us Americans, rather than seen or experienced.

*Stalingrad* follows a German lieutenant and his squad from their R&R in Italy to their ultimate deployment in the longest, largest and most costly battle of the war. The other recent film about this battle, *Enemy at the Gate* is a slicker production with a bigger budget and recognizable stars. But it catches only brief glimpses of the situation's intractable desperation. *Stalingrad* packs more emotion and spirit, its protagonists more real, more flesh and blood than *EATG*. There is no romantic subplot to distract from the Germans' struggle against their two inevitable foes---the Russian soldier and the Russian winter.

As they change from an elite and well-equipped Storm Trooper unit to becoming a rag-tag band of starving deserters, they search for a safe haven in a world where everything else is the enemy.

The squad unsuccessfully grapples with contradiction while Humanity takes a backseat to the German War Machine. One message is made clear: the German soldiers possess far more compassion than the Nazis.

*Stalingrad* has lots of blood and guts a la *Saving Private Ryan*. Although Stalingrad's battle-gore FX are far less realistic than those employed by SPR, it's not for the squeamish viewer.

My sons and I were emotionally affected by this film. We saw how War is not always fought on bright summer days and is not as glorious a pursuit as we may have imagined. But most of all we learned that our enemies aren't all Nazis or zealots or villains. The poor fellows freezing in the trenches are human beings just like us.


4 Star Movie, 2 Star DVD   July 4, 2003
 7 out of 7 found this review helpful

About the only complaints I had concerning the movie itself dealt with a couple battle scenes that seemed... rushed. As they occur early enough in the movie where they should be getting you hooked (they are the first ones IN Stalingrad), I could see how someone not interested in the subject matter to begin with might lose interest.

The plot is good, engaging; and gets you to sympathize with the protagonists without raising the propaganda flag. There are some moments that seem staged, but on the other hand you also get to see how some evil people can do enough bad to wash over their comrades' more valiant deeds (on either side). I kind of wish there was a little more information given to the watcher as to the progression of the battle... You basically find out they're encircled, and then, near the end, you get to see Paulus and the rest march into captivity, with the doomed general chastising one of the protagonists (who does not know anything more than we do) about still carrying a weapon. In a way, the lack of that plot device serves to keep your focus on the doomed "heroes"... and I suppose it tries to show you what it's like to be in the midst of all that chaos and violence without knowing if it's even worth it anymore.

As far as the DVD goes... I may as well have been watching it on VHS. The picture quality is nothing to brag about, and I'm too used to getting at least Dolby 5.1 on DVD format. Plain old stereo doesn't do jack to justify a DVD format, and a war movie without volume lacks. There are no special features other than "English or German" and "Subtitle" menus, which is rather unfortunate, considering the amount of side information one could offer on such a huge event in history.


Complete rubbish   June 26, 2003
 13 out of 29 found this review helpful

Das Boot had a couple of nonsense scenes but generally was well done and reasonably accurate. I suspect a number of people will buy Stalingrad in the belief its of similiar quality.

Unfortunately, nothing could be further from the truth. This travesty seems to obsessed with rewriting history which I'll get to later.

Lets first deal with the....battle scenes. One scene which takes place in a factory shows a badly wounded russian staggering towards a frightened german in a strange herman munster fashion. The german riddles him with bullets from his pistol but cannot stop his progress. Then another german comes from behind and kills the russian with an axe. He then stutters "I just [urinated] my pants". The other german responds "So did I". The whole scene is like something from a really bad b-horror film. There are several such scenes. The highlight battle scene is a confrontation between a small number of german troops dug in the snow and a dozen or so russian tanks. This scene is like most of the rest in that its just not believable. Good battle scenes might give this flick some value but its not there.

The creator apparently has watched to many Oliver Stone films and doesn't believe historical accuracy is important. For example, the film portrays the upper echelon of the german army as living the high life in some cozy hideaway while the grunts freeze their you know what off. Actually, almost every German general in WW2 right up to army group level went onto the battlefield himself. A shocking number of generals and officers were killed in action.

Finally, this film has all the usual new age copouts. A german who behaved quite rationally unexpectedly commits suicide in one scene because, you know, war is insanity.


A balanced account of the German Soldier in WWII   June 22, 2003
 1 out of 2 found this review helpful

It seems to me that so-called "Anti-war" movies make the best accounts of warfare and "Stalingrad" is no exception. This acclaimed anti-war film delivers solid acting and characters with depth, excluding the two-dimension Military Police Captain, who fulfills the obligatory role of as the film's token "true Nazi" (there had to be at least one!). Aside from that, I'm hard-pressed to name another movie that portrays the German soldier in World War II with such historical accuracy and objective portrayal. Military history buffs will appreciate the attention given to uniforms and the correct organization of the unit in the film as an Engineer battalion with an attached Feldgendarmerie company. (Though in the English version, the translators botched this, choosing to translate "Sturmpioniere" to the politically pejorative "Stormtroopers" rather than the more accurate "Assault Engineers") Real Russian T34s, magnetic anti-tank mines, a PAK 40 and a host of other authentic equipment make the setting for the tale believable.

But the movie is more than an active display of 1942 militaria. It is an intensely human tale of person within the soldier. For me, the film was strongly reminiscent of Guy Sajer's "Forgotten Soldier", particularly in capturing the deadly misery of the Russian winter and the daily lot of the common soldier. "Stalingrad" will be of interest to military viewers for leader professional development training. In particular, the film is solid precursor to values training and discussions of the boundaries of duty, selfless sacrifice, and loyalty.

I am extremely pleased to add this film in my collection and thank you for the opportunity to recommend it further.


I like this movie   June 20, 2003
 1 out of 2 found this review helpful

I can't comment too much on the historical accuracy of this film. What I do know, however, is that I truly enjoyed it. It really made be feel for what it would be like to starve and/or freeze in the middle of nowhere with no help in sight. The lost cause. Always an interesting premise.