I've read a lot about the Eastern Front of WWII and the Battle of Stalingrad especially and have come to realise how bad this film is, historically speaking at least.

The story is all but fictional, there was no famous German sniper who duelled with Zaitsev in Stalingrad.
The scene where the newly arrived conscripts rush, unarmed, at the German positions only to be shot down by the Commissars when they retreat is an extremely negative and unrealistic portrayal of the Red Army and the tactics used during the battle.

I find it a shame that many who watch this movie will take for granted that it's all true and historically accurate, like I used to whenever I watched a modern war movie. Now that I have much more knowledge of the actual events I can see the huge flaws and inaccuracies in movies such as this one and it annoys me to no end.

I'll finish by saying that Stalingrad veterans tried to get this film banned in Russia, that should say something for how… more »

I've read a lot about the Eastern Front of WWII and the Battle of Stalingrad especially and have come to realise how bad this film is, historically speaking at least.

The story is all but fictional, there was no famous German sniper who duelled with Zaitsev in Stalingrad.
The scene where the newly arrived conscripts rush, unarmed, at the German positions only to be shot down by the Commissars when they retreat is an extremely negative and unrealistic portrayal of the Red Army and the tactics used during the battle.

I find it a shame that many who watch this movie will take for granted that it's all true and historically accurate, like I used to whenever I watched a modern war movie. Now that I have much more knowledge of the actual events I can see the huge flaws and inaccuracies in movies such as this one and it annoys me to no end.

I'll finish by saying that Stalingrad veterans tried to get this film banned in Russia, that should say something for how insulting this movie is to the history it claims to portray.