When a movie has you begging for it to end not even half way through it's pure crap. We've all seen this movie and this characters millions of times, nothing new in it. Don't waste your time.

I wanted to like it more than I actually did... But much of the humor totally escaped me and I walked out only mildly impressed.

This is a coming of age storyline that you've seen in one form or another for decades. It takes a truly unique voice to make yet another one worth watching.

what a terribly boring film. I'm sorry but this is absolutely not deserving of best picture and will be forgotten quickly. Entertaining and engaging cinema? No. Nothing performances with flat faces and mistaking silence for subtlety.

Absolutely without a doubt this German 3-part documentary is a 10. But be FOREWARNED ... simply listening to the German 6th Army and Red Army survivors (about 80 years old in 2003) and a few citizen survivors of Stalingrad is both very upsetting and heart wrenching. But there are a lot of both pictures and film, too. By the last 2 months of this 5+ month battle (from late August 1942 to February 1943), the conditions inside Stalingrad were devastating, horrific. Incredible cold, which began in late November, lack of food and any kind of warm shelter, hopeless military situation for the Germans. Even people eating horse meat and later on dogs and even cats and at very end parts of dead PEOPLE!!!And the UTTER stupidity of Hitler. He could have and should have given permission to his generals to withdraw the 6th Army by no later than December 1942, thus saving much of the men and equipment of the 300,000 man army that first attacked in August 1943. But he ended up sacrificing practically the entire army and IMHO sealed the defeat of his nation. From that point on the Soviets were on the offensive and the Nazis were retreating.

Stalingrad named so by supreme leader of Russia Joseph Stalin, for his personal favorite city on the Volga River. STALINGRAD appeared on TV as a three episode documentary. A definite stark look at World War Two as it was dragging to an end. This 156 minute documentary features newsreel footage, military footage from both sides and films from actual soldiers of the war. Interviews with survivors of that war at times is heartfelt. The city was picked by a delusional Adolph Hitler as he saw the capture of Stalingrad as the possible crowning event to his victory in the war. The ego-maniacal leader had little concern that his German 6th Army was running out of fuel and food. Tanks were running out of fuel withing sight of the city. These soldiers were already starving before they managed to cross the Volga. The battle raged for about six months finally concluding in February of 1943. At one time the Nazis controlled 90% of the city, but a tenacious throng of Soviet defenders managed to surround the 6th Army that finally quit fighting all together for Hitler. No help was coming and there was little regard from Hitler, believing that his troops should be steadfast with willpower as they took part in one of the bloodiest battles on the Eastern Front. A bombed-out city was not about to be taken by the Germans.

A very visceral documentary on the Battle of Stalingrad which marked a crucial turning point of World War II. It has interviews with several German, but less Soviet, participants.There are three parts: the prelude where the Germans invade the city, the "Kessel" (cauldron), and the final surrender and its aftermath. This was a total and brutal war and we are provided with film and interview footage that substantiates this. Also much of what is said, is also found in the book "Enemy at the Gates" by William Craig (don't confuse this with the rather romantic movie version made a few years ago). For instance Craig's book also describes the part about German soldiers desperately hanging onto the wings of airplanes leaving the besieged city.Some of the soldiers interviewed break down due to the overwhelming nature of the experience they endured. Post-traumatic stress disorder not only affects soldiers just returning from war– it is something that scars for life – most of these veterans were in their 70's and 80's. It was important to get these interviews – these participants are a non-renewable resource and their stories needed to be recorded for future generations to comprehend the horrible scope of this war.Even though this is a German-made documentary, I was hoping for more interviews with Soviet participants. Admittedly there are some Soviet interviews and I would have liked more about how the civilian population of Stalingrad experienced the war. There is substantially more on German military tactics – for instance there is almost as much about the failed attempt by Manstein to relieve the beleaguered troops as there is about the Soviet encirclement. Also it is mentioned a few times during the documentary that of the 200,000 German troops taken prisoner in February, 1943 less than 10,000 returned after the war (many in the 1950's). It must never be forgotten that the German took prisoner over 5 million Soviet soldiers during the invasion that began in June, 1941. Of these, less than 10 percent survived – many starved to death from neglect. To the documentaries credit a few of the German soldiers state that they knew what to expect when they were to surrender to the Soviet troops, for they had seen first-hand what was happening in German occupied territory.Regardless, this is a devastating documentary that shows the terrible truths of total war – it extinguishes any illusions about the "Glory of Battle". In the "World at War" documentary episode on Stalingrad a Russian comments: "These German soldiers are a funny lot with their shiny black boots attacking Stalingrad - did they think they were on a joy-ride?"

First, I'll just get a few short comings of this work out of the way.(a) It helps if you know something about the battle before watching this documentary. You -might- feel a little lost in the bigger-picture sense without such knowledge.(b) Those looking for an in-depth military analysis of the battle should look elsewhere. This film is brilliant in its ability to capture the experience of war, not the theory behind it. Hence, there are not a lot of maps, etc. in this movie.(c) Sometimes the film can be a but redundant.So, now that all of that is out of the way, on to the good stuff. What really makes this film shine is the first-person accounts by people who were actually there, and lived through it. Both ex-German and Russian soldiers are interviewed, along with Russian civilians. It is said that a soldier only really experiences war in the 1000 feet that is around him. If that is true, then this film is a horrifying, moving, and amazing account of those 1000 feet. It also abuts the historical-drama movie by the same name. The two are really worth watching in tandem. This is a bottom-up account of Stalingrad that illuminates the experiences of the common foot soldier, which is often a story not heard from the German side of things. I really feel this is "must see" for anyone with even a remote interest in WWII.