I vividly recall when watching the opening minutes of "Saving Private Ryan", the incredible feeling of being a part of the actual scenario of carnage rather than a mere viewer of an excellent war movie. One almost felt the need to duck the firepower, so realistic was the sight and sound of battle.A similar feeling was created by viewing this movie about the destruction of the Brest fortress, except here, the bombardment by the invading Germans was staggeringly relentless. The production values of this movie are indeed exceptional, and despite the usual whines from war buffs about the armaments used or the procedure of attack depicted (these pedants are such a pain!) the realism is captured as well as in any war film I have seen. Such is the detail of mangled and bloodied bodies, one almost needs a second viewing to appreciate the attention given to every scene.An extraordinary depiction of the futility of war and man's inhumanity to man.

Good WW2 drama.Based on the German attack on the Brest fortress during the opening days of the German-Russian theatre of WW2. Very gritty: the impact of war on people, esp civilians, is palpable. Also demonstrates how war shatters lives and relationships.Not perfect though: treatment of the Germans is a bit heavy-handed and one-dimensional. They're all shown to be brutal, unthinking thugs, while the Russians - of course, being a Russian film - are perfect human beings. Does have a ring of propaganda to it.Good performances all round.

There can be no doubt that The Fortress is a cinematic masterpiece with grade one photography, acting, special effects, screenplay, pace and emotional depth. None of this is questioned and all readers are recommended to view it. Basing the story from the viewpoint of a child trainee soldier was particularly effective and the film effortlessly holds viewer attention throughout the generous 138 minutes.Moreover the film was well researched in many aspects. Not only were the sets extremely accurate in their portrayal of the fortress but even the ruins were perfectly reconstructed from post war photographs. The officers really existed and their heroism was deservedly depicted.But it is without question a work of huge political propaganda. And it completely failed to illustrate the true horror of war as it really happened.In every battle the wounded always outnumber the dead. Indeed many die subsequent to the injuries of combat and the percentage of soldiers killed outright is normally rather low. War is not a computer game in which the fallen just drop dead on the spot with a little groan. It is a sea of suffering and screaming and agony in which the able are caught in a quandary whether to aid the victims or run for safety.But this was not at all captured in the film. The victims just die instantly and lie there in huge peaceful heaps. Even their faces appear as if they just went to sleep. Of course this is rubbish.The film depicts those Russians that fought on as heroes whilst any soldiers that left are slurred with the implication of cowardice. The Germans are portrayed as inhuman killing machines without compassion and slurred with the entirely untrue concoction of using civilians as human shields in their attack. Russian attacks are shown as courageous head on charges across open ground as if they were led by 19th.century heroes whilst in fact the leadership was inept and too inexperienced to coordinate effective counter attacks. The film did not portray the brutal use of boy soldiers by the Russians as ammunition feeders to machine gun posts and ID tag collectors from the fallen. And Commissar Fomin is shown to have given himself up for execution as a Jew whilst in fact he was betrayed by his own men as a hated Bolshevic. Such details suggest a very different reality inside the stubborn pockets of resistance than the film portrays. And it takes little imagination to understand the motive.'Stalingrad', the notable 1993 epic of that engagement remains supreme in the honest depiction of war and this film cannot reach it. Ultimately heroism and barbarism are individual aspects of battle and not national psychologies. But this film attempts to show good and evil as if there can be a good side to war. And it never suggests that Russian preparations to attack Germany in 1942 were well under way in 1941 and that Hitler only attacked first before Stalin did the same to him.Sorry readers but this film must be taken with a large pinch of salt. Nevertheless I did shed a tear with the old man at the end and my heart went out to the young musician boy as it was meant to.

Well, first off, I found out about this while chatting with fellow Russian rifle collectors (they mentioned the movie had excellent scenes with lots of interesting weapons). They pointed me to youtube, and in the first 2 minutes, I was hooked.The first 15 minutes are background story (which really fleshes out the movie and helps you see the actors as human beings). Then the fighting begins, and it truly doesn't let up from there. There are several scenes of intense violence (it's a war movie, what do you expect?), but overall they were very tastefully done (this isn't SAW VI after all).Now, I did have a few complaints, such as extremely poorly designed replica MG34's (they look like a hybrid between a '34 and an MG42), but overall this movie is the best war movie I've seen in recent years, and it's definitely a nice change of pace from watching Jude Law acting like a cardboard standee of himself in Enemy at the Gates.