Why this movie is more realistic than some want to believe

Rating: 10/10 (28 October 2014)

1. The level of violence: The level of violence in this movie is quite accurate. Hollywood has "taught" us in the 60s and 70s that the battles fought in WW2 were somehow of mild violence and conducted by "gentlemen" who were highly educated, mannered and fought with honor and respect for the opponent. We all know today that this "portrait" is light years away from what really happened then. In 1998 Steven Spielberg has "destroyed" this idealistic picture with the best war movie ever made, a movie in which the brutality of combat was shown almost at the "correct" level. Almost. This was later corrected in the Band of Brothers mini-series, which contains even more graphic and brutal scenes. But even in this 2 titles the portrayal and description of soldiers was "softened" and though they were not as well "educated and mannered" as their "counterparts" from the 60s and 70s movies, they were still too "tenderhearted" for their own good and completely not in tune with the times and with the magnitude of a world war. I am somehow astonished that some people are still "shocked" in the era of internet, Live TV and portable cameras by the brutality of the war and by the manner in which humans can slaughter each other. Just look at the violence, intensity and brutality of the 3 major wars of the last 10-11 years: the War in Iraq, the War in Afghanistan and the War in Syria. And these wars are "limited" wars, not world wars.
2. "Summary" executions: Some people talk about how in this movie the US soldiers kill unarmed German prisoners. There are 2 scenes in which captured Germans are killed apparently with no reason: one in which a German soldier is captured while wearing a US army uniform and another scene in which a SS officer is shot after he had surrendered. The first case is simple: any enemy soldier captured wearing an allied uniform has to be executed after interrogation or if the situation can't permit otherwise on the spot. This was the standard procedure on both sides, because once a soldier is dressing up in the uniform of the enemy he is no longer a simple soldier, he is an infiltrator and he must be punish exemplary. The second case is that of an SS officer shot dead after the US forces have captured a town. Before the US forces enter the town, bodies of German teenagers executed by hanging can be seen on the roadside. All these teenagers were executed by the SS officer that was later captured and killed, because they didn't want to "fight for Germany". It must be emphasized that the SS members were treated differently than regular German army soldiers, primarily because their fanaticism was one of the last things that hinder the rapid capitulation of Germany at that time and secondly because in April 1945 most of the concentration camps were already discovered and the atrocities committed by the members of the SS were well known by all allied soldiers. That is the case for the so called "Dachau liberation reprisals" episode (check the history books or search online) that happened at the end of the war.
3. The US tank crew in the movie seem to be cold and brutal: Maybe, if you look at it from the outside. They are fighting in the War for 3 years now (1942 North African Campaign) and at the beginning of the film we find out that one of the crew members has just been killed. So it is normal to see them sad and not very interested in the outside world. Also they know very well that the War will end soon and are frustrated by the fanaticism of their enemies. All these feelings and manifestations are very legit and credible. Again the realism is there. To truly understand them and care about their suffering imagine that you are one of the original crew members, or imagine that you are the fresh recruit that "has never seen the inside of a tank and who is just a typist trained to type 60 words a minute". Try to understand their sadness, their fury, the visible signs of post-traumatic stress disorder and their initial unwillingness to accept a new member in their "family" after 3 years of combat. Do that and at the end of the movie I guarantee your eyes will water.
4. Some combat scenes look exaggerated and not very realistic: Overall the combat scenes are very well made and quite realistic. If you analyze in detail the combat scenes from other great war movies like Saving Private Ryan, Band of Brothers mini-series, The Thin Red Line etc., you will also find some exaggerated things in them, but that is nothing uncommon, there will never be a war movie 100% accurate. Plus a war movie should make you feel very engaged in what you see and this is not possible without a little dose of extra drama, like the way in which this movie ends.