Only Old Men Are Going to Battle

a lovely film. few lines and a profound message. a war film but far to be another movie about heroic events and mounts of dead. it is poetry and music. homage and wise example to be more than political instrument. a film about human links, not complicated, about joy and sacrifices. a film of characters because each of them is a seductive sketch. a film about Soviet Union as a large family but without the veil of propaganda. it is strange its freshness. the explanation is simple - the values who defines ordinaries lives. the war is short, the music is eternal and this is the heart of its force and charm and science to present basic truth in perfect light, in the best form. nostalgic and tender. a slice from a great cinema school.

Decent ww2 film with good acting and captures the period. However I have watched Soviet war movies with much better action scenes with more authentic aircraft not post war trainers. And using newsreel battle footage instead of filmed stuntwork is cheap and weird given they use much better staged scenes in many of their ww2 films. They have the budget for this in 1974. I watch war movies mainly for the action not talking scenes. To give the filmmaker credit he offered sentimental memories and a believable atmosphere with funny moments. I have watched much more engrossing war movies than this however.

It's a movie about the Great Patriotic War and the life of Soviet war pilots, who died for their motherland. The cast is great. We watch this movie every year and it doesn't become less interesting.

I think it's one of the best not only Soviet but world movies of all time.

for the music. for the nuances of story. for the human map of Soviet Union. for the status of image of essence of friendship, love, sacrifice and courage. for the humor. and for the force to give, after forty decades, a fresh story, an admirable cast. each of that details does it more than entertainment's support. it is almost a testimony about great themes of life in a delicate-precise manner. a film about courage and about choices. few memorable scenes. and splendid music. a film about war. exploring its nuances in inspired manner. because, like many films from Soviet Union, the war is the lead actor. so, the sides of it are subjects who defines the existences, choices, sacrifices, emotions and reflections of the other characters. a film who must see. for the music, for the acting, for the script, for the fragments from old documentaries. but, more important, maybe, for the atmosphere.

This movie is about war! Our war, that killed 30 million people. It is about love. Love which does have country borders or nationalism! It is about soviet heroes, who died letting us live. Who died fighting against Hitler! There is no Soviet propaganda, which makes it suitable for any generation and for any person. The main idea is people. Their relationships, their dreams, their believes, their sacrifice and tears. This movie let you think about war. It wont show you physical pain, it will show you inner grief. Watch it and think twice voting for people who start wars, who says that your nation is better, who let people die!