KV1: Almas de Ferro

Ever wonder what happened to those WWII tanks that were knocked out of commission by enemy fire or broken down? This movie gives a behind the scenes look at a WWII Russian tank depot where those wrecks are brought in for salvage or repair. Not a bad flick, and even though I don't speak Russian, it's well acted.

Accuracy 10

The KV-1 was a Heavy Tank and had the same problems as the German Panzer 6 aka Tiger Tank Heavy Tank. Especially, getting stuck in Russia's mud, due to limited improved roads. The U.S. Caterpillar tractor transmission design as the KV-1 transmission was prone to failure. The few Panzer 6s aka Tiger Tanks were sent to the Western Front, not the Eastern Front.

The majority of the German tanks sent to Russia were Panzer III and Panzer IV Medium tanks with guns not capable of penetrating the KV-1 Heavy tank amour. Depicted are Panzer IV Medium Tanks with bolted on additional turret armour.

To defeat the heavy (thick) armour of the KV-1 the Germans created the Sturmgeschütz with the 75 mm Pak 40,

The few Panzer V aka Panther Medium Tank had a gun capable of penetrating the KV-1 tank amour. But because of the Low Ground clearance ended up stuck in Russia's mud, unlike the High Ground clearance of the T-34.

During the Battle of Stalingrad, the workers at the Russian Tank Factories were producing as many tanks as their lives depended on that. Many Men and Women ended up as Tank Crews. All the Russian Factories sent out Repair Teams of Men and Women to Field Units.

The T-34 with an 85mm gun was made starting 1944.

Excellent Russian WW2 movie great battle scenes good action and acting. Very good plot. I actually read up on real story and main Russian character and it was very accurate. If you like WW2 movies you'll love this one.

This film begins in World War 2 with a young Russian officer by the name of "Semyon Konovalov" (Andrey Chernyshov) scanning the area with his binoculars and to his horror finding a German panzer aiming its gun directly at the tank he is on. When the shell hits it he is thrown out into a field and all but one member of his crew is killed. Thinking that everyone is dead the German panzer then moves on to another Russian tank stuck in the mud leaving both Russian soldiers to be picked up afterward and taken to a surgical hospital for life-saving treatment. Once recovered Semyon is assigned to a military school as an instructor to train new tankers on Russian tactics. Eventually, after much insistence on his part, he is then sent back to the field where he is given a KV-1 heavy tank to command and it's at this time that the film really takes off. Now rather than reveal any more I will just say that this was a very good "tank film" which incorporates a realistic military background, good drama and some excellent special effects and action. It was only after reading that it was inspired by true events that I did some research and found some very noticeable embellishments that were totally unnecessary and led to a slightly lower score than I had originally given. For example, the entire situation with Semyon's wife "Pavla Chumak" (Olga Pogodina) was rather difficult to accept once I had finished my research. There were other minor issues here and there but that particular one aside, this was still a good film for the most part and I have rated it accordingly. Above average.

The battle scenes among the tanks kept me watching indeed. Perhaps because of the quality of the sound of my DVD and the lack of soundtracks found in some other films, this film did seem more mediocre o me - although the tank scenes were good and some parts still enticed me to see what would happen next. Not a bad film - but less impressive than many other Russian war films indeed. Definitely, far from the movie "T-34"