A Potentially Great Movie Rendered Mediocre

Rating: 5/10 (30 July 2005)

Stalingrad. The largest single battle in recorded history, or maybe in the history of the universe. Two huge armies fighting over control of a huge industrial city with factory complexes one-mile long located in one of the most inaccessible parts of western Russia. The outcome of World War Two hinges on the outcome of this stupendous battle. The battle itself should have been more than sufficient to render this movie great, or at least nearly great. But, alas, that does not happen. Instead, this movie attempts to give us an "up close and personal" account of the battle of Stalingrad in the form of some kind of contest between one German soldier and one Russian soldier to prove who's the best sniper. Well, who cares? At least a million soldiers and civilians died in this battle, so what's the fuss about two individual soldiers? The beginning of the movie is most compelling, but when the story evolves, or devolves, into some kind of personal struggle, then, if you take this movie at face value, maybe the Battle of Stalingrad was nothing but a big soap opera, the outcome of which just happened to change the course of history. Oh, by the way, there's also a love scene in this movie. (Imagine having a love scene in Guadalcanal Diary.)