Goryachiy sneg (The Hot Snow) 1972
This Soviet era war film tells the tale of the Red Army's defence against the German attempt to relieve the encircled Army at Stalingrad.
The film follows the men of an anti-tank gun battery that is right in the center of the action. We have the standard stock Russian characters, the stoic General, the father like Political Commissar, the thoughtful peasant and the brash new officer. Throw in a female medic and several others and we are set.
Needless to say, being a Soviet film the "save the motherland' speeches are laid on thick and heavy. But these are to be expected and are dropped once the action starts. One thing Soviet film makers had, was, access to plenty of Red Army units and equipment to use as extras. The period detail is pretty good, with a fair sprinkling of decent looking mock-ups of various German armoured vehicles. (The use of hordes of Tiger tanks though is historically wrong. The first Tiger units were at this time just working up in Germany, and had not been committed to the front yet)
Anyways, nitpicking aside, the battle scenes are quite well done, with plenty of oomph and fine pyrotechnics on display. The anti-tank guns are shown firing full load shells with plenty of recoil involved. One seldom sees that in films. The Russians of course manage to slow the German assault enough that the Red Army can arrive to retrieve the situation. The Germans are driven back.
The survivors of the battery are all given medals and vodka for their valiant defence of the position.
This one is worth a look if you are war film buff. One of the things on the plus side is that, unlike some Soviet war epics, it only has a 105 minute runtime.
This Soviet era war film tells the tale of the Red Army's defence against the German attempt to relieve the encircled Army at Stalingrad.
The film follows the men of an anti-tank gun battery that is right in the center of the action. We have the standard stock Russian characters, the stoic General, the father like Political Commissar, the thoughtful peasant and the brash new officer. Throw in a female medic and several others and we are set.
Needless to say, being a Soviet film the "save the motherland' speeches are laid on thick and heavy. But these are to be expected and are dropped once the action starts. One thing Soviet film makers had, was, access to plenty of Red Army units and equipment to use as extras. The period detail is pretty good, with a fair sprinkling of decent looking mock-ups of various German armoured vehicles. (The use of hordes of Tiger tanks though is historically wrong. The first Tiger units were at this time just working up in Germany, and had not been committed to the front yet)
Anyways, nitpicking aside, the battle scenes are quite well done, with plenty of oomph and fine pyrotechnics on display. The anti-tank guns are shown firing full load shells with plenty of recoil involved. One seldom sees that in films. The Russians of course manage to slow the German assault enough that the Red Army can arrive to retrieve the situation. The Germans are driven back.
The survivors of the battery are all given medals and vodka for their valiant defence of the position.
This one is worth a look if you are war film buff. One of the things on the plus side is that, unlike some Soviet war epics, it only has a 105 minute runtime.