Seriously, why is almost every scene in this movie using slow motion? This one visual trick screwed up the film's pacing and tension so badly that whatever else might've been there couldn't have saved it. Slow motion is usually used to amplify powerful scenes, not to blanket the whole movie with it. It can obviously enhance a scene in a movie if used sparingly but the filmmakers really went comically overboard with its use in this one. The movie's laughably propagandistic sentimentality does it no favors either though I guess Bondarchuck's pal Putin might appreciate it (Bondarchuck has publicly supported Putin's moves in Crimea and otherwise).

The script and the dialogue were absolutely terrible and cringe-worthy. Who actually speaks in those propagandistic terms? They also set up the characters so badly, I could scarcely remember anyone's name and didn't care about any of them. They're ridiculous caricatures with no humanity behind them and their actions are illogical and baffling most of the time. The characterizations are so minimal you'd struggle to see them with a microscope. The setup in the beginning and the narration overall didn't work either, I mean was that Russian aid worker really telling the story of the bloodiest battle in human history to a group of scared German girls trapped under ruins? Way to depress them even further.

The movie wasn't really about Stalingrad either but about this hastily put together group of soldiers defending some random building in Stalingrad. You could've transplanted them to any other random battle and nothing would've changed. There's the Barmaley statue of the dancing children and boats crossing the Volga to remind you it's actually Stalingrad but that's about it. If they chose this as the film's context then the movie should've been about resilience and brotherhood but none of that was to be found. Instead the film's focus was on the explosions and slow-motion combat. Michael Bay would surely be proud. I have to say I did get a few laughs from the movie though. When the few defenders of the building suddenly decide to storm out of their defensive positions à la 300 and when a gun crew manages to bank a shell off the armor of a broken T-34 to a German position around the corner, I just couldn't contain myself. I don't think the filmmakers intended those scenes to be funny though so make of that what you will.

The movie opens with the aftermath of a massive earthquake in Japan. One of the Russian rescuer tells a trapped victim that he has five fathers. Back in the autumn of 1942, Stalingrad is in flames. As the men advance, five of them end up capturing a building as they rescue a young woman named Katya. She would turn out to be the mother of the present-day rescuer. The Russians would defend the building against the Germans led by captain Kan.

This starts off with a massive battle. The CGI is impressive. There is one scene where the Russian troops are set on fire and still charge at the German lines. It's something new. I could do without so much slow motion action scenes but the action is well done even with them. As long as the movie stays with its action, it is quite a popcorn movie. Of course, the movie has to have a story and that's where the mess starts. The five Russians don't have great characterization. Random Russians keep popping up. They are not necessarily likable characters. They are all over the place. Actually, the best drawn character is the German captain Kan. The movie concentrates on him for half of the film. His part of the movie is vastly more interesting. One must question why Kan is the most compelling character in this movie.

In the present days, a Russian rescue team is saving lives in Japan after a tsunami. They find survivors and their leader calm a youngster down telling the story of his five fathers.

In 1942, a group of Russian soldiers hold a strategic building in Stalingrad against the German troops to protect the Volga River for the crossing of their comrades. They meet the seventeen year-old teenager Katya (Mariya Smolnikova) and she becomes the pride and joy of the band. Meanshile, the German Captain Koln (Tomas Krechmann) falls in love with the Russian Masha (Yanina Studilina), who resembles his deceased wife. But love in time of war may be tragic.

The impressive German war movie "Stalingrad" (1993) is one of the best of the genre ever, depicting the bloody Battle of Stalingrad. The Russian "Stalingrad" (2013) is not a remake of the German movie but a melodramatic and corny love story in the environment of the devastated city and heroic attitudes of the Russian soldiers. The CGI, scenarios and battle scenes are top-notch but part of the dialogs may be lost in translation since there are long sentences in Russian that are resumed in one sentence in the subtitle. My vote is six.

Title (Brazil): "Stalingrado" ("Stalingrad")