New Russian Eastern Front movie

[Commanderski]

The Last Frontier released November 4, 2020, (Russian title: Podolsk Cadets). 

It's about the 3,500 infantry and artillery cadets stationed in Podolsk, an industrial city south of Moscow during the battle for Moscow

Filming of The Last Frontier took place at the actual battle site in Kaluga Region. The river, bridge, houses, fortified areas and soldiers' uniforms and weapons were all carefully recreated, based on surviving records.

CGI accounts for only 10 percent of the special effects. Instead, original German armored personnel carriers and Pz. IV, Pz. II and Pz. 38 tanks, Soviet 45 mm anti-tank guns and legendary T-34 were restored from museums and brought on set.

The movie was made from the same producers who made Brest Fortress and The Battalion. The first link has a description of the film and a 4 minute trailer. The second link is to teh main movie site and your browser should be able to translate the page. 

Looks like it might be a decent movie. I haven't been able to find out if there is a DVD or streaming site with English subtitles yet.

https://www.rbth.com/arts/333018-russias-best-wwii-film-in-years?fbclid=IwAR1hoskCapAlX963TRN9oWuaTwcYy1zwxFOmiKu4q0NhPXW99vCsUjZqgGE

http://last-frontier.ru/

 

[Erwin]

Always good to see another Russian epic.  We don't make em like that any more.  

[BornGinger]

I wonder how many SS-soldiers they have put into this one even though there historically maybe weren't any SS-soldiers present in this battle? It seems Russian films about WW2 love to have SS-soldiers present compared to the Soviet films.

I'll try to find it to see if it's any good. But I doubt it will be worth more than a moment of yawning big time.

[Aragorn2002]

Perhaps for a change a movie can be made by Russians about the tens of millions of innocent and defenceless people that died because of communism, Soviet occupation and Stalin's malice, the misery and cruelty in the unspeakable Gulag concentration camps, the blind terror of the NKVD, both in Russia and Eastern Europe that destroyed millions of lifes, the deportation of millions of Russians, Estonians, Latvians, Poles, Hungarians, Germans, Rumanians and many other nationalities, the murder by starvation upon millions of Ukrainians etc etc etc instead of glorifying a war for which the Russians themselves were for a large part responsible.

 

Edited December 7, 2020 by Aragorn2002

[Bufo]

9 minutes ago, Aragorn2002 said:

Perhaps for a change a movie can be made by Russians about the millions of innocent and defenceless people that died because of communism, Soviet occupation and Stalin's malice, the misery and cruelty in the unspeakable Gulag concentration camps, the blind terror of the NKVD, both in Russia and Eastern Europe that destroyed millions of lifes, the deportation of millions of Russians, Estonians, Latvians, Poles, Hungarians, Germans, Rumanians and many other nationalities, the murder by starvation upon millions of Ukrainians etc etc etc instead of glorifying a war for which the Russians themselves were for a large part responsible.

Agreed. Stalin was the single biggest traitor of Russia. For this very reason I cannot understand the Stalin lovers. For example, Putins favorite motorcycle band has Stalins picture on the wall in their "HQ".

Edited December 7, 2020 by Bufo

[Aragorn2002]

1 minute ago, Bufo said:

Agreed. Stalin was the single biggest traitor of Russia. For this very reason I cannot understand the Stalin lovers. For example, Putins favorite motorcycle band has Stalins picture on the wall in their "HQ".

They never learn, do they?

[Erwin]

10 minutes ago, Aragorn2002 said:

Perhaps for a change a movie can be made by Russians about the tens of millions of innocent and defenceless people that died because of communism, Soviet occupation and Stalin's malice, the misery and cruelty in the unspeakable Gulag concentration camps, the blind terror of the NKVD, both in Russia and Eastern Europe that destroyed millions of lifes, the deportation of millions of Russians, Estonians, Latvians, Poles, Hungarians, Germans, Rumanians and many other nationalities, the murder by starvation upon millions of Ukrainians etc etc etc instead of glorifying a war for which the Russians themselves were for a large part responsible.

 

You would find interesting the book I mentioned a few months ago called "Bloodlands".  https://www.amazon.com/Bloodlands-Europe-Between-Hitler-Stalin/dp/0465031471

Very readable but goes into detail re how many died and where and how in the 30's due to Stalin - before Hitler came along and decided to compete for the gold.

[Aragorn2002]

3 minutes ago, Erwin said:

You would find interesting the book I mentioned a few months ago called "Bloodlands".  https://www.amazon.com/Bloodlands-Europe-Between-Hitler-Stalin/dp/0465031471

Very readable but goes into detail re how many died and where and how in the 30's due to Stalin - before Hitler came along and decided to compete for the gold.

Actually i've read that book and many others, Erwin. I can also recommend Red Famine by Applegate. For me it's a life long mystery why these massacres don't get the same attention as those caused by the Germans. 

[Sgt.Squarehead]

Hitler & Stalin hardly had a monopoly in massacre. 

Edited December 7, 2020 by Sgt.Squarehead

[Aragorn2002]

26 minutes ago, Sgt.Squarehead said:

Hitler & Stalin hardly had a monopoly in massacre. 

No, but they most certainly had a main share.

[Erwin]

1 hour ago, Aragorn2002 said:

mystery why these massacres don't get the same attention as those caused by the Germans. 

Well...  The book seems to outline well the Soviets believed that they had to do what they had to do to have the USSR survive (they had been under attack from white forces since the Oct Revolution), and change from a rural/agrarian society to an industrial one fast or the USSR might implode.  They had to suppress dissent and the only way they could get the foreign currency was to sell food - and those motivations largely caused the Ukrainian famines  as well as the Pogroms and exiles to Siberia etc.  (Plus there was much historical ethnic hatred between Poles, Ukrainians, Russians etc etc.)

HItler and the Nazis didn't embark on a war of survival but one of conquest and empire-building and unnecessarily created a strategy of deliberate massacre by building factories to kill millions of people that they didn't like.  While the end result was similar, the intent was quite different and that is probably why history is the way it is.

While the WAllies may not have wanted to publicize Stalin's crimes while they were fighting the Nazis, they certainly could have done so during the Cold War had they wished.

Edited December 7, 2020 by Erwin

[Sgt.Squarehead]

Shhhh....Don't mention South Korea:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_massacres_in_South_Korea

https://www.smh.com.au/world/south-korea-owns-up-to-brutal-past-20081115-gdt2yw.html?page=fullpage#contentSwap1

Amongst so many, many others. 

 

[Aragorn2002]

1 hour ago, Sgt.Squarehead said:

Shhhh....Don't mention South Korea:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_massacres_in_South_Korea

https://www.smh.com.au/world/south-korea-owns-up-to-brutal-past-20081115-gdt2yw.html?page=fullpage#contentSwap1

Amongst so many, many others. 

 

Homo homini lupus.

[Aragorn2002]

8 hours ago, Erwin said:

Well...  The book seems to outline well the Soviets believed that they had to do what they had to do to have the USSR survive (they had been under attack from white forces since the Oct Revolution), and change from a rural/agrarian society to an industrial one fast or the USSR might implode.  They had to suppress dissent and the only way they could get the foreign currency was to sell food - and those motivations largely caused the Ukrainian famines  as well as the Pogroms and exiles to Siberia etc.  (Plus there was much historical ethnic hatred between Poles, Ukrainians, Russians etc etc.)

HItler and the Nazis didn't embark on a war of survival but one of conquest and empire-building and unnecessarily created a strategy of deliberate massacre by building factories to kill millions of people that they didn't like.  While the end result was similar, the intent was quite different and that is probably why history is the way it is.

I  MOST strongly recommend reading The War That Had Many Fathers by Schultze-Rhonhof,it will probably change that point of view. 

Freedom Betrayed by Herbert Hoover will probably do the same for your view on the Pacific War. 

 

 

Edited December 8, 2020 by Aragorn2002

[danfrodo]

this is ridiculous.  It's classic old fascist claptrap where they say "what about Stalin"  when they are really saying "Hitler had the right idea" but know they can't say that out loud so do it this way.   And then we have memoirs of captured german soldiers who complain how badly they were treated by the soviets -- after having killed ~15% of the soviet population.  they were treated horribly and suffered terribly, but no worse than what was done to those hundreds of thousands (millions?) of soviet prisoners who the germans let die in 1941/42.  So let's not play the "who was worse" game. 

yeah yeah yeah, we all know Stalin was a murderous monster of unbelievable proportions.  I read a book on Stalin and was shocked that he was even worse than I thought when I already thought he was an incredible monster.  Which somehow gets Hitler off the hook, and also shows that the allies were hypocrites, and we should've allied w hitler to stop the commies, blah blah blah. 

But all that really matters here is some russian folks made a movie that has lots of 45mm AT guns shooting at some realistic-looking german tanks, and that's all I really care about.  I am not watching this for it's literary elegance or great moral enlightenment or historical accuracy (other than the gear, which has to be right).  I just want some CM-looking battles on my TV. I usually fast forward through the pathetically scripted non-battle sections anyway (who can write such drivel?).  So they made it into russian propaganda? who cares, everyone does that -- as if hollywood never made nationalistic, propaganda-filled war movies.  Just show me some good battles. 

And herbert hoover never had to make the choice of which monster to back, so it's easy for him to throw stones later.  If the soviets had fallen how long before the US was facing armadas of german Uboats sinking all our commerical shipping?  What choice did we really have other than to back Devil #2 to fight Devil#1?

[Freyberg]

Summary:

• Bad people are bad
• But good war movies are good

It sounds like a good movie - I'll check it out.

[Aragorn2002]

3 hours ago, danfrodo said:

this is ridiculous.  It's classic old fascist claptrap where they say "what about Stalin"  when they are really saying "Hitler had the right idea" but know they can't say that out loud so do it this way.   And then we have memoirs of captured german soldiers who complain how badly they were treated by the soviets -- after having killed ~15% of the soviet population.  they were treated horribly and suffered terribly, but no worse than what was done to those hundreds of thousands (millions?) of soviet prisoners who the germans let die in 1941/42.  So let's not play the "who was worse" game. 

yeah yeah yeah, we all know Stalin was a murderous monster of unbelievable proportions.  I read a book on Stalin and was shocked that he was even worse than I thought when I already thought he was an incredible monster.  Which somehow gets Hitler off the hook, and also shows that the allies were hypocrites, and we should've allied w hitler to stop the commies, blah blah blah. 

But all that really matters here is some russian folks made a movie that has lots of 45mm AT guns shooting at some realistic-looking german tanks, and that's all I really care about.  I am not watching this for it's literary elegance or great moral enlightenment or historical accuracy (other than the gear, which has to be right).  I just want some CM-looking battles on my TV. I usually fast forward through the pathetically scripted non-battle sections anyway (who can write such drivel?).  So they made it into russian propaganda? who cares, everyone does that -- as if hollywood never made nationalistic, propaganda-filled war movies.  Just show me some good battles. 

And herbert hoover never had to make the choice of which monster to back, so it's easy for him to throw stones later.  If the soviets had fallen how long before the US was facing armadas of german Uboats sinking all our commerical shipping?  What choice did we really have other than to back Devil #2 to fight Devil#1?

Just read the books, Frodo. I agree that calling people with another opinion fascists will cost you less time and probably make you feel better, but from reading books you'll learn more.

Apart from that movies like this aren't just good fun, but must be seen in the context of what's happening in Russia. Glorifying war and prepare people for another, are never a good sign when used by a dictator. And you can bet movies like this are sponsored by the same propaganda machine.

Edited December 8, 2020 by Aragorn2002

[Freyberg]

1 hour ago, Aragorn2002 said:

Just read the books, Frodo. I agree that calling people with another opinion fascists will cost you less time and probably make you feel better, but from reading books you'll learn more.

I read a funny one the other day:

"Say what you like about Hitler, but he didn't go round calling his enemies Nazis."

As for the movie - my old dad used to have a go at me for watching war movies and playing wargames.

"Fun, were they?" he used to say, "Hitler and that lot? Entertaining?"

And I'd go, "Geez, Dad - it's just a movie..."

Edited December 8, 2020 by Freyberg

[Aragorn2002]

7 minutes ago, Freyberg said:

I read a funny one the other day:

"Say what you like about Hitler, but he didn't go round calling his enemies Nazis."

As for the movie - my old dad used to have a go at me for watching war movies and playing wargames.

"Fun, were they?" he used to say, "Hitler and that lot? Entertaining?"

And I'd go, "Geez, Dad - it's just a movie..."

He was right of course. It is a strange addiction.

[Aragorn2002]

For those interested the links of the book I've mentioned:

https://www.amazon.co.uk/1939-War-That-Many-Fathers/dp/144668623X/ref=sr_1_1?dchild=1&keywords=the+war+that+had+many+fathers&qid=1607422628&sr=8-1

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Freedom-Betrayed-Aftermath-Institution-Publication/dp/0817912347/ref=sr_1_1?dchild=1&keywords=freedom+betrayed&qid=1607422740&sr=8-1

[Bulletpoint]

16 hours ago, Erwin said:

Very readable but goes into detail re how many died and where and how in the 30's due to Stalin - before Hitler came along and decided to compete for the gold.

Hitler's rise was in part a response to Stalin and the fear many Germans and other Europeans felt at watching what happened in the Soviet Union. The Nazi propaganda played heavily on this (not completely unfounded) fear till the end. I think many people today tend to forget or not be aware of how afraid people were of Bolshevism back then.

[danfrodo]

10 hours ago, Freyberg said:

Summary:

• Bad people are bad
• But good war movies are good

It sounds like a good movie - I'll check it out.

yeah, why do military history types like us get labeled?   Lots of folks like to read murder mysteries, true crime, or about serial killers, etc.  We don't call them "pro murder" or "pro serial killer".  but for some reason watching war movies makes folks think we are pro war (I am most certainly not, I think we've had plenty at this point).

[Jace11]

Looks like state sponsored propaganda to me.

Ministry of culture and ministry of defence? Perhaps someone decided all the books by western historians detailing the Red Army’s conduct in Ukraine, the Baltic states and Poland needed some counter balance. I find reading these books pretty difficult given the amount of pages detailing the use of mass rape as a terror tactic, and often in countries who’s only crime was to be occupied by Germany. The murder and genocide I am less shocked by now, having read a few.

[RockinHarry]

Watched the trailer and I´m surely interested in it. Likely would be somewhat nitpicky in certain detail works and battle presentations (examples left aside for now), but let´s see how story telling is.

[Aragorn2002]

16 minutes ago, Jace11 said:

Looks like state sponsored propaganda to me.

Ministry of culture and ministry of defence? Perhaps someone decided all the books by western historians detailing the Red Army’s conduct in Ukraine, the Baltic states and Poland needed some counter balance. I find reading these books pretty difficult given the amount of pages detailing the use of mass rape as a terror tactic, and often in countries who’s only crime was to be occupied by Germany. The murder and genocide I am less shocked by now, having read a few.

I agree. Few things are as disgusting as rape.