This movie is just entertainment. It is not based on any actual event except a band of Germans soldiers retreating from the Russian offensive.
The opening minutes I found immediately off-putting, to have the Germans and Russians speaking "the Queens English", but when the commanding officer speaks revealing an American accent.... that sets the distraction for the rest of the movie. The "Lieutenant" as he appears throughout the movies (unsure which actor that is) has an accent that in opening scenes sounds American and then as the movie progresses, seems to fluctuate between Welsh, British and American. While movies such as "Enemy at the Gates", where the actors spoke in their own country of origin accents, the accents were not off-putting as throughout their lines, words of the characters language are mixed in their speech. For example, in this movie, the Germans are saying "$hit" while if they said the German, "$cheissen", this would give the viewer the impression "I am German". Neal Ward who plays Sergeant Bruno Guize has a quite profound northern English accent. The Russians again had English accents and not even the term "Comrade" was used to indicate "I am Russian". I think even a poor attempt at a German accent would have been an improvement so as not have the strong and varied English accents so distracting.
As the Germans retreat in this movie, the obvious lush grassland and heavily wooded forests show that this is not the geography of the real German retreat which was in reality, mass destruction and "scorched earth". This movie does not indicate where they are retreating from, but given the apparent decimation of the Germans, this would have actually been in Winter of 1943/44. There is no snow in this movie nor indication of cold weather. Clearly the vegetation shows Spring or Summer. I am confident this was actually filmed in rural UK somewhere.
Visual Authenticity is strong in this movie. Genuine restored vehicles from the era, correct weapons and the uniforms are correct... except that the Russians are wearing winter uniforms and the Germans standard summer uniforms.
Tactical authenticity is lacking.... many times we see the Germans in close formation while a threat is imminent or while under attack... They should be spread out thinner as would have been the case in reality. The other is bunching up together and lighting up cigarettes while the scout/point member checks out something unusual. That would never have happened in reality. Just one well placed grenade or mortar would have killed the lot, not withstanding the cigarettes to give away their position. As these Germans are in retreat of the portrayed advancing enemy, watch them amble along in the forest at a slow pace is akin to a family taking a casual stroll after a picnic.
My Overall Opinion of the movie - I feel that the interaction of characters in the actual catastrophic retreat and defeat of the Germans is not at all portrayed in this movie. I would say it is "hinted at" but not depicting. I felt that the hostile interactions between the Germans as they retreated were not amplified sufficiently to show that they were falling apart as was the case in actual history. The quality of acting I would not say was bad, but maybe refer to it as very ordinary. I did not think much at all of the camera work... seemed more akin to walking around holding hand-held digital cameras. I thought the script and dialogue overall could have been much better. Overall, I watched in through the end and would not at all say it was a bad movie and not disappointed for having sat through it. An Award Winning movie it is not, but I would not be quick to call it a B-grade movie. If you want to kill an hour or so with not much else to do, this won't disappoint you, but I would not recommend that you go out of your way to watch it. I give it 4 stars, but maybe a bit generous.
