Typical Russian WW2 Film
It's not the first Russian film to have the English title of The Last Stand. Russians love to make films about how the Red Army are outnumbered but face the German juggernaut to defend their motherland and their beloved Uncle Joe (Stalin). This one is a typical Soviet (or Russian, if you like) film. It has the romantic subplot of the pretty girl who's in love with the film's hero, the soldiers who are happy to be at war, and how the war is really just a big adventure for everyone, with the sad occasional death of a comrade.
Except for the very bad voice dubbing, it seems in the beginning like it might be good. The photography and scenery are good, as usual, the acting is goofy as usual, and according to this one, the Germans used small Japanese-style tanks on the Eastern Front. The fX are very good, though. Russian filmmakers are allowed to use real ordnance when making films and the explosions are magnificent! During one scene, German planes drop bombs on a Soviet position and when they hit the ground they explode almost simultaneously while spread across a fairly small area, just as they did in reality. In films made in other countries the bombs explode every few seconds and the explosions aren't very impressive.
Nevertheless, there's a scene in which a German grenade flies a few hundred meters or so (waaaay ahead of the German troops) and lands in a Soviet bunker and still has enough time left on the fuze for a nurse to stare at it in shock for a couple of seconds before a doctor grabs it and throws it out of the bunker where it explodes harmlessly.
Because it's a true story, I gave it a few stars, but there's just too much melodrama and bad acting to give it more than four. It's an important story, though. It just deserves to be told better.
Except for the very bad voice dubbing, it seems in the beginning like it might be good. The photography and scenery are good, as usual, the acting is goofy as usual, and according to this one, the Germans used small Japanese-style tanks on the Eastern Front. The fX are very good, though. Russian filmmakers are allowed to use real ordnance when making films and the explosions are magnificent! During one scene, German planes drop bombs on a Soviet position and when they hit the ground they explode almost simultaneously while spread across a fairly small area, just as they did in reality. In films made in other countries the bombs explode every few seconds and the explosions aren't very impressive.
Nevertheless, there's a scene in which a German grenade flies a few hundred meters or so (waaaay ahead of the German troops) and lands in a Soviet bunker and still has enough time left on the fuze for a nurse to stare at it in shock for a couple of seconds before a doctor grabs it and throws it out of the bunker where it explodes harmlessly.
Because it's a true story, I gave it a few stars, but there's just too much melodrama and bad acting to give it more than four. It's an important story, though. It just deserves to be told better.
- ETO_Buff
- Aug 20, 2024