Movies: find it!

[Eryk]

Agreed! Cross of Iron is a guilty pleasure (like you, from what I remember). Simply seeing T-34s on the screen was great!

[Commissar]

Yeah, you don't see them in their prime on screen too often.
It was a great sight.

And its one of the few movies about the eastern front that is widely available for viewing in the west.
I'm surprised there are not more war movies made about the Soviet effort.

Anybody seen Stalingrad?

[aironmeiden]

Originally Posted by Komandir RKKA

ENEMY AT THE GATES - a blockbuster
Probably on the West.
But former Soviet citizen can only laugh on this stupid film.

Yes IT IS a blockbuster!
97.000.000$ earned are not loose change in my opinion.
There's also Jude Law in the cast...
If you don't like it's another kettle of fish: as a case in point Cloverfield is a crap but earned 170.000.000$ and IT IS a blockbuster!

Actually i pretty liked "Enemy at the Gates" for a particular reason: americans always portray russians as the "bad guys" and in my country russian are always dubbed with stupid accent while americas speak fluently in italian. In this film they are not the bad guys and they speak fluently italian so i liked for the effort...

Originally Posted by desantnik

This is a period scope and is actually quite large - the Germans had a much smaller one.

Not the scope in the photo... the scope in the film.

Yesterday i see also "Coraline", an animated stop motion cartoon from the director of Nightmare Before Christmas.
One of the characters wears a medal and i think it is the Medal for Service at the Chernobyl Nuclear Disaster.

[Commissar]

I'm glad I wasn't the only one who noticed that.
I saw that film at a special screening months before it came out and the second I saw the romanov eagle hanging from that house I just knew there was going to be some sort of wacky, insane room mate possibly from the former Soviet-Union.
And I was right!
I pointed it out to my friend and he didn't seem to notice it at all.
Good details.

[Jeffrey Meffert]

Cross of Iron:
Laughable in many ways (and for the purists, all the soviets are carrying M44 mosin nagants way too early in the war) but has one of my favorite scenes from any of the thousands of movies I've seen: at the end when James Mason picks up his Schmeisser and leads the troops out into the street "where the iron crosses grow".

[Esteban_cool]

Originally Posted by Commissar

Anybody seen Stalingrad?

Yes, I saw it when I was a kid. I liked it, since it´s the only movie (at least that I have seen) that shows the germans as normal, ordinary human beings sent to war and not as warriors of evil fighting against good nor fascist pigs trying to destroy the workers´paradise.

BTW, you have a very sharp eye, Commisar. I was impressed by how you could note such details in Enemy at the Gates.Cheers for ya.

[aironmeiden]

Originally Posted by Esteban_cool

Yes, I saw it when I was a kid. I liked it, since it´s the only movie (at least that I have seen) that shows the germans as normal, ordinary human beings sent to war and not as warriors of evil fighting against good nor fascist pigs trying to destroy the workers´paradise.

BTW, you have a very sharp eye, Commisar. I was impressed by how you could note such details in Enemy at the Gates.Cheers for ya.

Yes it's a great film!
I had a relative that fought in wermacht and like him many soldiers were forced to fight for Germany over many fronts... actually this is the film that i consider above all more close to reality.

[Esteban_cool]

Originally Posted by aironmeiden

Yes it's a great film!
I had a relative that fought in wermacht and like him many soldiers were forced to fight for Germany over many fronts... actually this is the film that i consider above all more close to reality.

Unfortunately, war movies are the most weak subject to an excessive (and most of times irritating) propaganda. I think there´s no way to avoid it, but showing the military or any combatant as men like you and me inside a uniform helps to reduce that level.
I´ve also met several war veterans and former combatants from defeated and victorious countries and sides, and none of them -and I mean none- fought because of pure evil and hatred towards other individual.

Coming back to the topic, has anybody seen the russian Shtrafbat series?
Is it worth the time to watch it?

[Simon]

Russian review of Enemy at the Gates:

ENEMA AT THE DOOR: an Foreigner Will Not Notice, a Russian Will Not Forgive - THE RUSSIAN BATTLEFIELD

Forgive the clumsy auto-translator job.

[Jeffrey Meffert]

I've seen (have) the shraftbat mini-series. I liked it but the subtitles are sort of russian into chinese into english and range from passable to horrible. If you actually speak russian, it's worth the investment in time.