"The Best Thing About Cold Is" A+

Rating: 10/10 (10 July 2012)

To truly appreciate this movie, you must understand director Sergio Leone's quote regarding his film "The God, The Bad, and the Ugly" (1966):
"I had read somewhere that 120,000 people died in Southern camps such as Andersonville. I was not ignorant of the fact that there were camps in the North. You always get to hear about the shameful behavior of the losers, never the winners."
I rank this one among the best war films I have ever seen. It details the horrific events of history's ugliest battle from its bloodiest war. The battle for Stalingrad left one million dead, and this brilliant movie shows it all from the point of view of the German Sixth Army. If you know history then you're aware of the fact that this loss for Germany was the first major blunder that would result in the ultimate downfall of the Third Reich. Fresh from their previous victories, the members of the Sixth Army believe they are in for a relatively easy win. However, as the fighting grows more turbulent, the city quickly becomes a hell populated by the piles of the dead. Of course, the suffering doesn't really commence till the Russian winter sets in.
Showing this gruesome conflict from the German point-of-view has many purposes. Firstly, to show just how quickly the tide of a military campaign can shift, even for a superpower. Secondly, it is easy for people of the modern era to forget the suffering on both sides. Soldiers have since the beginning of time been nothing more than the tools of politicians (regardless of the government) to cement their goals. The themes are quite relevant, and the story of these men a sheer tragedy. The production value is just stunning and you really are transported back to that time of old, the battle ruined streets of that city. And the score by Norbert Jürgen, Schneider and Martin Grassl is pretty awesome, ranging from bombastic to moments of brutal melancholy. It's definitely one of my favorite war film compositions.
Do not miss out on "Stalingrad".