Search - Stalingrad on DVD

Admirable account of the Battle of Stalingrad... Terrible En

dooby | 09/12/2006

(4 out of 5 stars)

"This is a fine 3-part documentary (3-hours long) on the Battle of Stalingrad. It is a German/Russian co-production made in 2003 to commemorate the 60th Anniversary of the battle that turned the tide of the war. It is a remarkable collaborative effort between the two former belligerents, with unprecedented access to their joint historical archives, both in terms of film footage and documentary records. The progress of the battle is told through the recollections of surviving veterans from both sides, as well as poignant letters home from those who perished. Alongside the better known footage from the German archives, there are rarer clips from the Russian vaults, of life in the city before, during and after the battle, and propaganda films of German POWs in Soviet concentration camps. From the NKVD (KGB/FSB) archives, we learn how, contrary to long accepted historical accounts, Field Marshall Paulus' surrender did not bring the battle to a close - over 10,000 German troops chose to fight on amidst the rubble, holding out against superior Soviet forces for another 2 months before finally being defeated. In all, over a quarter-million German soldiers (the mighty 6th Army) died at Stalingrad. The Russians suffered over half a million casualties.

The documentary is far from exhaustive. Only cursory mention is made of the Romanian, Hungarian, and Italian Armies (over half a million men) that took part in the assault and perished alongside the Germans. But on the whole, it is a balanced, moving and admirable account of a battle that has for too long, remained untold in the west. Its value lies not so much in the battle-footage unearthed but more in preserving the first-hand testimony of the last remaining survivors of this decisive moment in history.

My only criticism is of the irritating English dubbing of every spoken word in the documentary. This was originally shown in German and Russian with all the interviews conducted in those languages. It's fine to dub the main narration but dubbing over the veterans' and survivors' accounts was overkill and highly annoying. As the previous reviewer said, it was to appease the "subtitle-averse" crowd. Personally I thought the producer should have given his audience more credit. Many of the veterans interviewed were emotionally distraught as they recounted the trauma. Having American voice-actors trying to capture their distress with faked emotion made the whole exercise laughable. For me, the height of absurdity was when Hitler and Goebbels had their speeches dubbed over by some American voice-actor. Optional English subtitles should have been the way to go.

The documentary was shot in 1.78:1 widescreen and is presented as such on this DVD (Anamorphic). The recent footage, including the interviews, shots of the present-day city and the graphics used, all look excellent, with sharp images and strong, natural colours. The archive footage is understandably poorer in quality, unrestored and from the Russian side, significantly grainy. Sound is in Dolby 2.0. There are no subtitles. Extras include a 10-minute long interview with Prof. Guido Knopp who wrote and co-produced the documentary, 20 minutes worth of additional interviews with veterans (both in German with optional English subtitles) and a 5-minute modern-day tour of a pristine, snow-clad Volgograd (City on the Volga - the new name for Stalingrad)."

Fine film ruined by voice-overs on this DVD.

J. Cantor | 07/03/2006

(2 out of 5 stars)

"A solid documentary with interesting new footage and invaluable testimony from participants in the battle and related events is ruined by loud voice-overs by poor actors. Both the narration and the voice-overs of interviewees are mediocre at best. If you are averse to dubbing of fictional films, you will understand that overdubbing of non-fictional work is particularly onerous. Clearly a decision was made to create a version that would be accessible to those averse to reading subtitles. But in the age of DVD it is fairly absurd not to include the original version of the film."

Beyond 5 Stars

DrBig | Laguna Niguel, CA United States | 06/03/2006

(5 out of 5 stars)

"This doc does for Stalingrad what Ken Burns "Civil War" did to the ACW. Outstanding archival film research resulted in never before seen footage of Operation Blue & Stalingrad (especially life in the Kessel). 99% of the footage is genuine late 1942 vintage, and quite a bit in color. This is a MUST-SEE on HDTV. The doc also reveals a stunning secret regarding the Kessel, but I won't spoil it for you. I have $3K in English, Russian & German Stalingrad books/video, and I would buy this one again if I had the choice. You can't possibly regret this."

Great Documentary

J. Buck | 06/12/2006

(5 out of 5 stars)

"I saw this about 3 years ago when it was playing in a very limited release in NY city, this documentary was unbelievable, extremely moving and the best documentary ever made on Stalingrad. Told throughout by interviews with the people who were there (or sometimes the wife they left behind)it is so enlightening, even to someone like myself who has seen everything on the battle including even visiting Stalingrad(Volgograd) in 1998. I had been trying to find out how I could purchase this documentary in the three years since I saw it , to no avail, to see it finally on Amazon is great,I am ordering it today. Worth every penny!!!!!!"