The Great Battle of the Volga (1963) User Reviews

Story of the volga

[gideonlp · 7/10 · 12 August 2007]

I do agree with the comments of the critic. However, I have been to Stalingrad, now Volgograd (also Volgagrad). This film story of what had happened,according to the Soviet's view, is what the people of today in the area admire and revere. The monuments are enormous. Anyone who is interested in the WWII should see this one as it well depicts the events and activity from the Soviet's point of view. The movie about Stalingrad and the news footage we saw in the US at the time did not come close to showing what this film did. Volgograd has fully recovered from the war, and has left a few structures as they were at the end of the war as a memorial and reminder of the events that happened. The huge statue and mausoleum have a constant flow of people, mostly school groups of kids from all over Russia.

Somewhat dry and somewhat silly narration counter balanced by images that haven't been over used

[dbborroughs · 6/10 · 1 February 2007]

Soviet film about the German invasion of Russia during World War Two and the siege of Leningrad in particular.

I'm of mixed opinions of this film. The film is at times dry, the story of the battle being told in a much too straight forward manner, since they tell you exactly what happened. At other times the film falls in to an almost parody of communist propaganda (and it is propaganda) with flowery passages about the strength of the peasant and the sacrifices made for the "motherland". Its almost as if you don't know if you should be sleeping or laughing.

On the other hand there are the images. Shot by some 150 cameramen this film has a great deal of really good combat photography. This is the war in the East as most people have never seen it simply because we haven't had access to the footage. Its not the same footage of the war that has been used again and again and again. For me the fact that I was looking at new material made getting through the uneven narration possible.

Is this film worth seeing? Over all yes. Sure its got some off kilter narration but the images are often treasures. Those interested in the Second World War and the War on the Eastern Front really should check this out. Others (and even many buffs) may find this a bit tough going.

The turning point

[nickenchuggets · 8/10 · 30 November 2021]

The battle over the city of Stalingrad is often considered to be the critical turning point of the second world war. Before it took place, most of the world was convinced that Hitler's armies were unstoppable, as their highly mobile and mechanized armored vehicles (supported by dive bombers) tore into country after country. This documentary sets itself apart from the majority of ww2 documentaries I've seen because it shows things from the Soviet perspective. It was made after the war was over, as evidenced by footage of russian soldiers raising the hammer and sickle flag over the Reichstag in Berlin. The Great Battle of the Volga focuses on the fight over Stalingrad between august 1942 and february 1943, with the brutal confrontation culminating in the total annihilation of the german 6th army, under the command of Field Marshal von Paulus. While other people have commented that the narration in this film is pretty bad at times, I didn't really find it to be any worse than something like World at War. The narration does what it's supposed to do. It says how the german army invaded the caucasus region of the USSR in order to capture valuable russian oil reserves, among other important information. The film provides a multitude of maps which help show viewers how the battles looked from a general's point of view. Soon, December 1942 arrives and the germans are stuck in a brutally cold russia for the second year in a row, meaning the battle gets a lot harder. We see how savage the fighting in the city is: house to house and room by room. The soviets attempt to bring in reinforcements across the Volga river while under constant attack by the luftwaffe. Eventually, the bravery of the red army prevails and the entire german 6th army is cut off and surrounded, prompting Goering to attempt to resupply them from the air. Soviet anti-aircraft weapons make short work of the lumbering german transport planes, and the 6th army's fate is clear. Paulus surrenders, and over 90 thousand german soldiers stumble off into captivity. Fewer than 5000 would ever see germany again. When it was all over, the germans had lost enough equipment and vehicles to equip a quarter of their whole military. This monstrous confrontation between nazi germany and the soviets is just one part of this film, though, as it also goes over how soviet citizens did their part to fight back against fascist aggression. The people of Moscow were mobilized and dug a large network of anti-tank ditches in order to prepare for the assault they thought would come. Women worked in the factories as most of their husbands were now in the red army. Stalin even issued an order saying how any soldiers foolish or cowardly enough to retreat during a battle were to be shot. In the soviet army, it took more courage to run away from the enemy than do the opposite. The documentary also makes mention of Pavlov's house, which was a building in Stalingrad that was held by a squad of russian soldiers for an agonizing 2 whole months. Despite the huge devastation the germans caused to the city, it was rebuilt after the war and renamed Volgograd. Many leaders from around the world are shown visiting soviet monuments in the city to pay tribute to the red army warriors who paid the ultimate price almost 80 years ago. The Great Battle of the Volga may not be on the same level of quality as Frank Capra's Why We Fight series of war films, but I still enjoyed it due to its alternate perspective. It showed me some things I didn't know about the Battle of Stalingrad, all because it's told through the experiences of soviet citizens and fighting men. The combat footage is still riveting to watch so many decades after the end of the war, and I often watch films like this due to my interest in ww2. It didn't really tell me much I didn't already know, but each one of these old movies is unique and worth looking at. The only bad thing I can think of is how the narration is pretty sappy at times, and seems to demonize the german army too much, but because the USSR suffered the most at their hands, this is expected. I say if you're interested in world war 2 history, specifically the german vs soviet aspect of it, you should watch this. The eastern front of ww2 was the site of some of the most brutal fighting in living memory.

USSR Soviet tainted biased documentary.

[oscar-35 · 20 September 2012]

*Spoiler/plot- 1963, A film showing and speaking of the conditions that made the battles in Russia so historic.

*Special Stars- Director: Maria Slavinskaya

*Theme- Cooperation and planning wins wars.

*Trivia/location/goofs- USSR documentary. Sniper units are explored in this film. Several Soviet 'Heros of the Motherland' exploits and photos are explained in this film.

*Emotion- An enjoyable documentary made up of live action combat or newsreel footage. However, there are the unpleasant shots of injured and killed Germans with some blatant racist language. But it is extremely educational and does what a narrative simulated war film can do.

Different Perspective

[goldfussmikey · 8/10 · 9 October 2018]

Interesting watch because it presents the battle from the Soviet point of view. Even today, this is what has been taught in schools and what is believed in Russia.

Also interesting to see how advanced the Russians were in the film industry.