If you liked "Stalingrad", check out "Come and See"

Rating: 10/10 (5 June 2005)

As a stickler for realism in war movies, "Stalingrad" is my ideal war movie. It passes my 10-point manifesto for war movies: 1) Combat is hellish and graphic. No chest-clutching and "I'm hit, tell my wife that I love her..." 2) Equipment and uniforms must be accurate, i.e., no Sherman tanks with swastikas painted on them. 3) Actors must speak the actual languages (with subtitles). 4) The locations must be realistic. 5) The incidental music must be subdued, not a crutch (frankly, I would ban mood music from films.) 6) Characters present realistic opinions, not clichés. 7) Sub-plots should be realistic (no love affairs with enemy nurses, etc.) 8) No preaching, just realism. No propaganda ("patriotic" or "anti-war"), just the feelings of real soldiers. 9) The camera work makes you feel "in the thick of it". 10) No all-star casts. Soldiers aren't Hollywood pretty boys, they're regular men. FYI, I also recommend "Come and See", a recent Russian film about the Eastern Front.