Thomas Kretschmann in Stalingrad. Again.

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Rolf Steiner
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Thomas Kretschmann in Stalingrad. Again.

Post by Rolf Steiner »

I can only imagine the sense of deja vu German actors must get when their agent calls telling them there's a juicy role as a Wehrmacht officer going. Still, did Thos. Kretschmann really need to revisit old ground? Don't know about you, but I struggle with the concept of Stalingrad as a setting for budding romance. Sorry, doesn't work for me. Still. At a picture house near you: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stalingrad_%282013_film%29
"And I will show you where the Iron Crosses grow!"
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B Hellqvist
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Re: Thomas Kretschmann in Stalingrad. Again.

Post by B Hellqvist »

The third best Stalingrad movie since 1993! OK, there's only been three...

Absolutely dreadful. Poor script, unengaging characters, slow motion in every effing battle scene (Peckinpah, come back!), forgettable score... Only bright points were the sets and uniforms. 3/10.

Some silly stuff (slight spoilers ahead):

- Soviet soldiers charging German positions with their uniforms aflame
- Evil German officer sacrificing a (supposedly) Jewish mother and child before a battle
- Soviet artilleryman bouncing a 37 mm round off a tank wreck, hitting German Nebelwerfer rockets
- The usual hand-to-hand fighting prevalent in Russian war movies
- The Soviet officer upbraiding a sniper about shooting Germans fetching water
- German tank company with tanks side by side in urban area, forming big fat target for Soviet bombers

...to name but a few. I had to watch the factory attack scene in "Stalingrad" (1993) to wash away the drivel I had seen. Now there's a properly directed battle scene, with more intensity in eight minutes than the entire Russian effort. A wasted 2½ hours.

The only marginally interesting character was Thomas Kretschmann's captain, but then he's a veteran of Stalingrad. It's quite a different role, though, compared to his previous foray to the ruins of Stalingrad.
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