Goryachiy sneg

A good epic film about young artillerymen, who got into the heat of battle.

The acting is so poor. It seemed like there was some Soap Opera backing the war plot. Many scenes were obviously done in a sound stage. While the battle scenes appear very authentic, the acting was a let down as was the authenticity of those nice tidy c;lean uniforms worn in heavy warfare. However, several times I could see the supposed metal armor of the field guns flex when a Russian soldier would lean on it or take hold of it. Obviously plywood. When the guns fired, there was no recoil. Apart from that, battle scenes appeared authentic. The sounds of battle were repetitive and obviously the same acoustic recording played over and over. Explosive sounds were not in sync with the explosions seen.

This movie had a lot more potential and is at the lower end of Russian war movies.

To all those folks who know about battle of Stalingrad from the Beevor's books and movie "Enemy at the Gates" this movie is must. The person who wrote the screenplay himself was artillery officer and participated in the same exact battle this movie depicts. Therefore it very likely that despite of the several shortcomings (like participation of Tiger tanks in the battle) and a little bit of propaganda (like appearance of the political commissar who, unlike stern and often unfair general, always acts humanly) the movie shows the battle the way he saw it himself. As a side note: some primitive people don't understand what the word "propaganda" means and how it works and therefore claim that every Soviet movie is a lie. I am sorry for you.

These Soviet war epics tend to get awfully frustrating after a while. While the filmmakers have huge, almost limitless resources at their disposal, like lots of vintage tanks, equipment, Red Army personnel, and government cooperation (providing it's propaganda) - narratively, they fail to adhere to basic practices. Usually a good movie does not play all its good cards at once, but these Russian war films tend to run out of steam before the climax even comes, which ends up being either glossed over or over-shadowed by bigger and better battles earlier in the film! This film is a little more patriotic than Sergei Bondarchuk's "They Fought for their Motherland" (1975), which was set a few months prior to this film in essentially the same theater of war. The big difference is this one is set in the winter and follows a much larger division of younger Anti-tankers, these ones armed with artillery instead of just PTRD rifles. While there's more action and less emphasis on mid-battle philosophizing and humanizing, and some laughable attempts to make the Political Commissars look heroic, trust and beloved by their units, this one is surprisingly short and straight-forward.

The Germans attempt the near-hopeless 'Operation Winter Storm' to break out the beleaguered Sixth Army at Stalingrad. Somehow, we're asked to sympathize with the relatively well-armed Russians who are pre-ordained to win no matter what, especially since their resistance was nullified by Zhukov's 'Operation Little Saturn' which hit the German / Italian flanks and forced them to break off the attack (see the movie ATTACK AND RETREAT) which pretty much ended any hope of German victory. The soldiers pretty much just do their job as instructed besides a young lieutenant who goes through a lot of romantic angst with his girlfriend assigned to his command. A few of the main characters are killed by the anonymous Germans, who are never clearly seen save for a P.O.W.

The German tanks however, with fine mock-ups of Panzer IV's, STUG III's, and even a few Tigers, are well-done and numerous, but where's the air suppport?

It's an unfortunate fate of history that people in the West think of the Second World War being won souly by the combined efforts of Britain and America . It says a lot about Western ignorance when the British Prime Minister David Cameron once stated that " We [ The UK ] were Junior partners in the [ Angol-American ] alliance in 1940 " when in fact the USA were still neutral at this point in the Second World War . In reality it was the Soviet Union who made the biggest contribution to the defeat of Nazi Germany inflicting over 80% of all German casualties while suffering 30 million war dead . This is something that has been unfortunately forgotten . Perhaps it's down to the fact that it's not so much the victors who rewrite history but patriotic Hollywood producers

HOT SNOW very much resembles a Hollywood production . It's a flag waver but instead of the stars and stripes it's waving a red flag celebrating the Red Army . Nothing wrong with that and it does show the hellish conditions the Soviet fighting man had to endure , not only from the weather and the fascist invaders but also their own side . Unfortunately it does somewhat sugar coat the sometimes brutal methods dished out by the political commissars . For example a tank commander faces summary court martial then for no explanation the commissar changes his mind and allows the commander to redeem himself in battle . Despite its flaws ENEMY AT THE GATES is a much better film for showing the pressure the Soviet army was under from its own side

Despite its simplicity and its lack of character development the battle scenes of HOT SNOW are certainly impressive as artillery crews try to stem a German spearhead thrust in to Stalingrad . In some ways you feel the director has been heavily influenced by the battle scenes of Masaki Kobayashi's THE HUMAN CONDITION as the Tiger tanks cut their way through the Soviet lines . As a testimony of the fighting spirit of the Soviet Union it succeeds in its function but you're left feeling that its only function