Epic is the word to describe this 1971 Russian docudrama! The effort and resources ($$$) that went into this 5 part/7.5 hour production is nothing short of amazing! Talk about a cast of thousands
Talk about hundreds of tanks and planes
talk about incredible battle scenes (especially the tank battle at Kursk and the battle for Berlin
amazing!)
Other reviewers laud the production for its accuracy with equipment (guns & tanks & planes & uniforms). I am not an expert but if that is the case awesome! Thank you for being true to history.
The value of this film as a documentary is huge this is the way that Communist Russia and her satellites wanted the "Great Patriotic War" remembered and that is at times not quite consistent with the Anglo American narrative. It is fun to look for the differences.
The film is of course propaganda it is intended to influence the writing of history thus it had to reflect the party line (think Central Europe 1971). Inasmuch there is nothing negative said about the GPW. It was all honorable sacrifice to defeat the fascist scourge that threatened the world.
What you don't see is the horror the Russians brought onto the Ukrainians, Belarusians, Hungarians, Czechs, Slovaks, Pols and Germans in their quest to eliminate the Nazis. Things like the Warsaw Uprising or the rape of perhaps a million women. More so there is no discussion about the fact that the Russian effort was an equally greedy attempt at empire that would oppress millions for 50 years!
By modern standards the film feels very Russia 1971 (but then again the World at War feels very Britain 1973 and we all love that show). Listen for the parts of the soundtrack that surely came from a bad Russian SciFi film it is hilarious. And yes there is plenty of hokum like Hilter's murder of Eva Braun and his subsequent suicide or the tank battle in the zoo. You will laugh.
The biggest problem of the film is it is just too darn long (7.5 hours). Seriously there are battle scenes that exceed 20 minutes! The film needs a good editing and it would be very simple to get it under 6 hours without hurting the very compelling story.
Finally I loved the way the film represented the major players in the WW2 (Churchill, FDR, Mussolini, Hitler & Stalin (and their staffs). Seriously there is a good history lesson here!
So why is this remarkable film is so unknown (3 reviews on IMDb and 209 ratings). Get on WW2 history buffs you are missing out!
9/10 for effort!
Other reviewers laud the production for its accuracy with equipment (guns & tanks & planes & uniforms). I am not an expert but if that is the case awesome! Thank you for being true to history.
The value of this film as a documentary is huge this is the way that Communist Russia and her satellites wanted the "Great Patriotic War" remembered and that is at times not quite consistent with the Anglo American narrative. It is fun to look for the differences.
The film is of course propaganda it is intended to influence the writing of history thus it had to reflect the party line (think Central Europe 1971). Inasmuch there is nothing negative said about the GPW. It was all honorable sacrifice to defeat the fascist scourge that threatened the world.
What you don't see is the horror the Russians brought onto the Ukrainians, Belarusians, Hungarians, Czechs, Slovaks, Pols and Germans in their quest to eliminate the Nazis. Things like the Warsaw Uprising or the rape of perhaps a million women. More so there is no discussion about the fact that the Russian effort was an equally greedy attempt at empire that would oppress millions for 50 years!
By modern standards the film feels very Russia 1971 (but then again the World at War feels very Britain 1973 and we all love that show). Listen for the parts of the soundtrack that surely came from a bad Russian SciFi film it is hilarious. And yes there is plenty of hokum like Hilter's murder of Eva Braun and his subsequent suicide or the tank battle in the zoo. You will laugh.
The biggest problem of the film is it is just too darn long (7.5 hours). Seriously there are battle scenes that exceed 20 minutes! The film needs a good editing and it would be very simple to get it under 6 hours without hurting the very compelling story.
Finally I loved the way the film represented the major players in the WW2 (Churchill, FDR, Mussolini, Hitler & Stalin (and their staffs). Seriously there is a good history lesson here!
So why is this remarkable film is so unknown (3 reviews on IMDb and 209 ratings). Get on WW2 history buffs you are missing out!
9/10 for effort!