I agree with the Russian in Australia.

Rating: 8/10 (22 March 2006)

I agree with the comments of the Russian living in Australia. As a person who has spent half a lifetime studying Russian History and Culture, I am sometimes repelled by the ignorance and arrogance displayed by some Americans. But then, Americans have always been very easily duped into believing half-truths, even about themselves.
The film may not have been the best film I have seen, but what it did do very well was to portray Russian sailors as precisely that: Russian sailors, and not as stereotyped "bad guys". I am reminded of the movie The Enemy Below where the basic humanity of the Germans is also shown in stark contrast to the propaganda view normally portrayed during the Second World War. Make no mistake; in the case of both Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union we are dealing with what can only be described as criminal states. But at the same time, individuals must be viewed for their own deeds and not those of their leadership. Also, many men believed they were doing their patriotic duty even though they did not subscribe to the official policies of their government. One need only look to the examples of Rommel or Zhukov.
We all owe a lasting debt to the military forces of the former Soviet Union: it was they who defeated Nazi Germany. And they who suffered the most (25 million dead!) at the hands of the Nazis.
History and life are more complicated than the simplistic views too often stated.