Band of Brothers, German version, but with some differences.

Rating: 8/10 (2 September 2017)

Any movie set in World War Two which depicts German soldiers as being just like any other soldiers in the war is at best naïve if not downright ridiculous. This movie is the German version of Band of Brothers and Saving Private Ryan. It is an attempt to depict the war from the German soldier's perspective. The problem is that despite the excellent acting and the harrowing story, the movie fails to generate any empathy or sympathy for the principal characters, all of whom are invaders. They suffer, yet it is suffering that the brought on themselves as representatives of Hitler. This factor cannot be ignored. It's too bad that the these soldiers went through a grinder, but they did it to themselves. Unlike the German soldiers in All Quiet on the Western Front, for whom the futility of their suffering and their alienation generates real sympathy, the German soldiers depicted in this movie do not deserve an iota of respect. That the movie does a great job of depicting the battle from the front line soldier's perspective is commendable, but the movie comes up empty as dramatic story because we already know the ending, and it's not heroic.