Somewhat superficial - more of an action movie than a war film

Rating: 6/10 (14 November 2018)

This film makes the biggest mistake a war film can make in my opinion: It's directed and edited like an action movie. CROSS OF IRON jumps from shot to shot very quickly, with almost every second one showing a soldier dying theatrically in slow motion in front of an explosion.
You also don't get a good sense of the geography of the various battle scenes - once characters are in a trench, in the next shot they are shown inside a building and after that they are suddenly in the woods (SAVING PRIVATE RYAN does this way better f. e.). All in all, the battle scenes move way too quickly, even if they are well done from a technical standpoint.
This action-heavy tone conflicts very much with the few attempts of seriousness througout the movie - especially at the end, when the film all of a sudden decides to show us random pictures of war crimes and the Holocaust, which feels very disconnected to the film.
Although the acting is generally good, the relationship between Steiner and Stransky isn't thorougly explored and the whole psychological aspect of the film falls flat and feels kind of superficial.
The film isn't bad by any means, just not as good as I expected going in. It's still watchable, mainly due to its high production value with some nice sets and well done practical special effects, and I have to give Peckinpah credit for showing the German perspective of the war. But how people can call this an anti-war film is beyond me.