A bad movie, See Stalingrad (1993) instead

Rating: 3/10 (11 September 2003)

The biggest complaint I have about this movie is the editing. The battle scenes are so poorly pieced together that I can hardly tell what's happening. In once early scene, for example, we see some Russians running toward the German trenches, then a few seconds later some Germans running in the same direction. Then some explosions in random places, then it cuts to the bunker where we see wooden planks falling on German soldiers. Who is attacking what? It just doesn't make sense.
It's true that Saving Private Ryan set a new standard for war movies, and perhaps it's unfair for me to pan this 1977 movie based on SPR. But there are better movies even from this time period. For example, Stalingrad shows fighting on the Eastern Front in a much more detailed and realistic fashion. That movie is entirely in German, so you'll need to read the subtitles.

Other failings (imho): Much of the dialogue is muttered or screamed, so it cannot be understood. The Actors do not seem AT ALL like German soldiers. (Spoiler Alert)The ending does not show what happens to Capt. Stransky, and the howling laughter seems an unsatisfying way to conclude the movie.