The events that took place on the Eastern front were wide and complex but when one steps back from the neatness of usual Soviet or Russian documentaries about the great patriotic war and zooms in on a smaller yet infamous event such as the defence of Brest fortress one is up for a real ride in blood.The film portrays only a small area that suffered as a result of Hitlers aggressive push eastward that shook the world with his sheer comitment of military might.I own about 15 Soviet movies all dealing with ww2 and this has got to be my first choice when voting for the "best".The fighting and battles look realistic almost as if modern movie cameras were transported back in time to capture the situation!!!! The war gear used and computerised all look identical to their historic counterparts(mention should be made of the mocked Panzer 111 and screaming Stukas that appear here and there).Though the excellent hardware will lock ww2 buffs enough to create a trafic jam,the gory atmosphere will test the faint of heart.Using the Russian kid(Alexander Akimov)for telling the story does however bring another dimension for those who need a soft character to identify with.The musical score also contributes greatly to the overall feelings that the film represent,the bit of it in the last minutes of the movie clearly voicing the hopelessness of the resistance made by the brave defenders. The small amount of propaganda blown into some gunfight scenes are minimal but never the less distracting at times because of its "godlike" fighting capabilities given to the Red army who seem to be invincible in hand to hand combat with the Nazis!!! In anycase the Motherland deserves the right to glorify the war it had with the Fascists,she withstood all the evil that the Fuhrer was capable of unleashing and eventually saved the planet from his reign more than any other country can credit itself with.In todays world we must take on an sober view when we recreate events of the past and this epic film delivers that message in my opinion.
Review of Fortress of War
