One of my all time favorites.

After playing with our expectations, this turns out to be a very different sort of film.

The film's masterful storytelling did its job. The message was clear. No need to overdo.

It really made me laugh, but for some moments I was tearing up because I could relate so much.

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.

Goryachiy sneg (The Hot Snow) 1972This Soviet era war film tells the tale of the Red Army's defence against the German attempt to relieve the encircled Army at Stalingrad.The film follows the men of an anti-tank gun battery that is right in the center of the action. We have the standard stock Russian characters, the stoic General, the father like Political Commissar, the thoughtful peasant and the brash new officer. Throw in a female medic and several others and we are set.Needless to say, being a Soviet film the "save the motherland' speeches are laid on thick and heavy. But these are to be expected and are dropped once the action starts. One thing Soviet film makers had, was, access to plenty of Red Army units and equipment to use as extras. The period detail is pretty good, with a fair sprinkling of decent looking mock-ups of various German armoured vehicles. (The use of hordes of Tiger tanks though is historically wrong. The first Tiger units were at this time just working up in Germany, and had not been committed to the front yet)Anyways, nitpicking aside, the battle scenes are quite well done, with plenty of oomph and fine pyrotechnics on display. The anti-tank guns are shown firing full load shells with plenty of recoil involved. One seldom sees that in films. The Russians of course manage to slow the German assault enough that the Red Army can arrive to retrieve the situation. The Germans are driven back.The survivors of the battery are all given medals and vodka for their valiant defence of the position. This one is worth a look if you are war film buff. One of the things on the plus side is that, unlike some Soviet war epics, it only has a 105 minute runtime.

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

Hi !This film title means "Burning snow" and this is a story of Soviet artillery soldiers who broke German tank divisions' rescue operation for besieged German army in Stalingrad, on account of their own lives.This is a rare purely combat-focused Soviet film where Stalin and top red army generals are never appeared. Even the commanding red army general on the spot is not named.In such a sense, this film is a bit closer to American war film which always focused on ordinary individual soldiers. Also camera work on this film is excellent and piling up the scenes to the climax of battle. Also actor Boris Tokarev showed his excellent play on his roll of Lieutenant Kuznezov and he symbolized feeling of sadness of war without such words from his mouth.I believe that Boris Tokarev was one of the most favourite soviet actor specially by young females during 1970s.