Sadly Over-hyped

Exactly the movie you think it is, but not the movie you want it to be.

Blistering performances.

Like the great film, it's made with a great deal of visible affection both in front of and behind the camera.

There are several great films about Stalingrad.Unfortunately, this is not one of them. Not really epically designed, It has a cast of several. And one big studio set for everything. In fact, I was wondering if they were recycling the Enemy at the Gates set? But on reflection it's a lot smaller. The cast does the best it can with a terrible script which could have come right out of the 1940s or 1950s war movie library. The dramatic death scenes of the various heroes and anti-heroes are just appalling. So contrived, predictable and unconvincing.The real name for this should have been "Stalingrad? : The Love Story". I couldn't help but think "Of all the Gin joints in all the Volga ruined buildings, you girls have to come into mine. Shoot em again, Sam. "The dialogue is corny, twee, pointless and overlong. It does not engage the viewer. The fight scenes have their moments, but other WW2 films do it better. So apart from the script, the ridiculous set piece heroic death scenes, the stereotype Nazi general and honourable German hero (oh no, Sir, no murdering SS around here, all good honest soldiers Sir) , the corny clichés of defiance, pathetic attempts at wit,..... bah ! why continue. Don't waste your money here. I'm being generous with a 5*.

This is a very odd film, obviously mixing a variety of genres and movie tropes, with uneven results. Nonetheless, I found it worthwhile, though I was forced to revise my expectations continuously while I watched.Like the previous German 'Stalingrad,' this Russian film does not attempt to tell the story of this pivotal battle of World War II. Instead, it once more burrows down to give us a worm's-eye view - this time from the Russian side. But where the German film captures only chaos and madness, the Russian version gives us at least a symbolic representation of the larger reality. We don't see the vast strategies at play, or the chronology of the battle. But we do glimpse the scale of the devastation, and we do get some perspective on the undoubted fortitude of the Russian defenders.There's a very odd 21st Century gloss over all all this. The film uses trendy digital techniques, and even IMAX 3D. (Mercifully, I saw the 'flat' version.) This gives it a hyper-kinetic, surreal quality that seems painfully at odds with the historical subject matter. This is the battle of Stalingrad as seen by a modern time-traveler, not as it would have appeared to the participants. The film is impeccably produced, but the stylistic approach will be understandably off-putting to many viewers.However, almost obscured by all the high-tech technique, there's a rather beautiful little story struggling to escape. The tale is presented as a reminiscence, almost as a fable. It's about one small group of soldiers, who befriend a young civilian survivor. This girl, Katya, refuses to move out of her apartment, even though her friends, neighbors and family have all perished there. And even though the Germans bring ever greater firepower to bear against the building.Young Katya does a pretty good job of representing The Spirit of the Russian People. Idealized, certainly, but why not? Surely those who fought and died in this gruesome battle deserve to be idealized, if anyone does. Katya's innocence is the innocent hope of every civilian population that's ever been subject to invasion and subjugation. How could ANYONE endure the unimaginable hardships of war and occupation, if they couldn't cling to some vision that it would all be worth it, that in the end things would come out right?The soldiers are also stereotypes, but likable ones. Like Katya, they're icons that do ring true on some human level. Their violence - on both Russian and German sides - is casual, senseless. This is a view of war reduced to a personal battle of wills, between opponents who no longer clearly remember their original objectives. And the individual dramatic arcs do work, despite the odd style of the film.It is both a compliment and a criticism to say that this version of 'Stalingrad' is 'enjoyable.' The creators have wrung a very positive, very human story out of the chaos of large-scale butchery. It's an odd objective, to be sure, and one that many will find inappropriate. But taken purely as a cinematic creation, 'Stalingrad' is definitely worth seeing. And, in some strange way, it does deepen our understanding of the time and place it depicts.It's true, this 'Stalingrad' is impossible to watch without mixed feelings. But perhaps that's as it should be, for any film on this topic.

Look closely beyond the battle scenes and you will find ironies: A German captain judging Russians as back stabbers, as beasts -- all the while representing a fascist army occupying another country and destroying it. Russian soldiers who manage to find beauty while war rages around them. A Russian who shoots a water-fetching German who showed his canteen to the enemy to avoid getting shot. A fellow Russian reproaches the shooter as inhumane and the shooter reminds him of the Germans' inhumanity. The statue of children holding hands in a circle as the world crumbles around it. The battle scenes are good but the human element in this movie is priceless. I came away thinking that I knew every Russian soldier holed up in the building. And I came to care for them. We forget that the Russians were the valiant ones fighting fascism for so long while the U.S./Britain bade their time (and for good reason). We forget that while Stalin was as bad as Hitler that his soldiers held off the Nazi monster for so long and, ultimately, allowed the West (and my Army dad) to crack the western wall and march toward Germany. Unlike us in the U.S., Russians suffered so much. Their cities were destroyed. Millions of them died. They (the Russian people) are my heroes for their sacrifices so we could buy time. I hope this film reminds us to give credit where credit is truly due. -- Guillermo Torres

I really LIKE this film because it really represents inclement of war,but nobody can't now what really happened in Stalingrad. But,I have one defect,there in film is no modern Russian rockets,named Kacusa.Maybe,it's little hard for watching. If you watch movie like movie,lower grade,but if you understand movie and war,it can be very higher and it can be very good.People did very good job.You will like movie.The scenes were carefully created and the effects such as when the oil tanks blow and the solders come running at the Germans when they are on fire was just a great sight(Not that I like seeing people burn). The background art is the amazing. I recommend seeing it in Russian with subtitles of your language. It's just better that way.All in all,good movie and I suppose you to watch if you don't,and sorry If I have little bad English.