STALINGRAD focuses on a band of Russian soldiers who struggle to hold a building against German soldiers during the Battle for Stalingrad during World War 2.   They become deeply connected with a Russian woman who lives there while German Captain Kahn (Thomas Kretschmann) becomes involved with a Russian woman as he plans to take back the building.   STALINGRAD has some great production values and battle scenes, but I did feel some of the VFX wide shots of Stalingrad feel a little short.   The strongest character I felt connected to was Thomas Kretschmann’s Khan as he made me want the Germans to win while I cared a little less for the Russian soldiers who were willing to sacrifice their lives (but the Germans make a good point on why they’re losing the battle against the Russians and would end up losing).   The story makes at least one German sympathetic as STALINGRAD shows that both sides were human beings where Khan might have found a lasting relationship with Masha if they didn’t meet during a war (making their romance seem like Romeo and Juliet).   Director Fedor Bondarchuk is able to greatly show the action while the human drama is hit and miss.

 

SPECIAL FEATURES:

THE MAKING OF STALINGRAD- an 11 1/2 minute making-of featurette that reveals Thomas Kretschmann was in two movies named Stalingrad along with showing they built a big set for the production with tons of black ash

 

Previews include trailers for A COMPANY OF HEROES, MONUMENTS MEN, A FIGHTING MAN, POMPEII, and THE RAID 2

 

FINAL ANALYSIS: STALINGRAD has great action scenes, but the drama fails where you end up rooting for the German to win over the interchangeable Russian soldiers in one of the worst written framing stories of how a kid had five fathers.

 

This DVD review is ©5-14-2014 David Blackwell and cannot be reprinted without permission.  Send all comments to feedback@enterline-media.com

 

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