Very thrilling despite the flaws!

Rating: 8/10 (17 September 2015)

The film is full of flaws, the needless triangle love story being the first to come to my mind, and many other illogical things, but above all for me it remained an entertaining film throughout, very gripping and thrilling, and for that alone I have decided to shower my generosity upon this one to give it eight one of 10.
The thing to stand out for me from this film is that it is a lot strategy based, unlike a lot of other war films, including the good yet very over-rated 'Saving Private Ryan' (1998) that is quite casually all about lives of soldiers during war and killings. Admitted that some of its strategic points too look very flawed at times, but that in my opinion still remains a thing worthy of praise. The scenes where they wait on for hours for each other with the gun, the traps that they set for each other and the way one escapes from another by inches, all of it make for an intriguing battle. Although not perfectly implemented, but I salute the film- maker for having come up with the idea of such a unique war film that is not after all not only about slaughtering.
Ed Harris' mere presence as Major Erwin König stole the show. He looked quite suited to the role and was brilliant in his performance. Although Vasily Zaytsev does mention of a German major by this name having had a duel with him, it is a shame that no German record of its military show any evidence of any such major having ever existed.