I'll give you another chance. You choose and prepare a Russian tank crew. On a designated day at the shooting range, you show your science, to my cadets. You won't have ammunition. Just your skill. If you die ... you die as a soldier on the battlefield.

I thought it was time again to watch a realistic WWII war movie. One that focuses on heroism and the urge to survive. A film where you almost can smell the war and experience the despair, as if you were in the middle of it. Not a movie that shows experimental creatures (like in "Overlord") or Nazi Zombies. I have to admit that after seeing the trailer for "T-34" (yes, yes, I know I always claim to avoid trailers),I was very curious about this film. The trailer looked phenomenal. And I wanted to see if the entire film was peppered with such spectacular images. Or was the trailer again a summary of the best phases of the film? Believe me. The film is unparalleled from start to finish and keeps you glued to your screen.

When it comes to Russian-made films, I need to confess that I don't know much about that. To be honest, my knowledge is limited to the clichés known about this enormous country. But in hindsight, I really have to admit that I was pleasantly surprised by it. The film didn't have such an old-fashioned and woolly appearance, but it looked highly qualitative with extremely perfect footage and solid acting. You could say this film has true Hollywood blockbuster allures.

The movie is about the T-34. A Soviet tank that was used en masse against the invasion by Germany in the former Soviet republic. This medium-sized tank, which was provided with thickened armor, was initially unable to cope with the better-made German panzers. However, they had one advantage: the large caterpillar tracks made them tactically very mobile and the infamous mud pools were no problem in the winter period, while the German armored brigades got stuck in it. So the film is a tribute to this legendary tank that helped defeat Nazi Germany.

If you like action-packed war films and want to see how ruthless and cruel a tank battle can be, then you should definitely watch this film (but I am convinced there are other wonderful films that tackle this subject). The confrontations between German tank brigades and Russian lieutenant Nikolay Ivushkin (Alexander Petrov) and his crew are ultra-realistic and impressive. The close-up images in the T-34 with its limited movement space, are breathtaking and have a claustrophobic effect. You can feel the nerves rushing through your own body. Just as the crew, as they realize they can expect a fatal hit any time. You can almost smell the sweat of fear. And it's the images that leave a huge impression. The slow-motion images of the all-destructive grenades going through steel and concrete, look really exquisite. It all has a very high PC game vibe and perhaps this technique was used a bit too much. But it was entertainment of the highest level.

But not only the tank battles impressed me. The part about Nikolay's captivity in a German concentration camp was also excellent. The scene where the train, crammed with "Prisoners of War", arrives at the concentration camp in the rain, I found impressive. The despair, despondency, and hopelessness were contained in that one image with the train where dead people fall out of the wagons, the moment the sliding doors open. It's here that Nikolay is picked out by camp commander Klaus Jäger (Vinzenz Kiefer) to fix a captured T-34 and make it ready for battle with a crew chosen by Nikolay. The intention is that their Russian tank becomes a target during tank practices by the Germans. What Klaus Jäger doesn't know is that they also found ammunition while removing the dead bodies. And that's the impetus for Nikolay to escape during such an exercise and after that trying to reach Czech Slovakia.

When I was young I loved to play the board game "Tank Battle". "T-34" reminded me of this repeatedly. Only the board game was a bit more peaceful compared to this movie. "T-34" is extremely ruthless and shows how heroism makes the impossible possible. And amidst this war violence, there's even room for some romance between Nikolay and the Russian translator Anya (Irina Starshenbaum) whose privileges in the concentration camp are invaluable for Nikolay and his companions. I kept asking myself just one thing. What impact did such a grenade (that bounces off the armor) have on the crew in the tank? Is it the air pressure? Or the decibels? Because I can imagine that must be a lot of noise. As if you are sitting in a bronze clock and someone hits it with a heavy sledgehammer. It's just a futile question about an otherwise excellent and impressive Russian film.

More reviews here: movie-freak.be

This film essentially begins with the German Army advancing to within about 20 kilometers of Moscow during World War 2. Having just reported to the front lines, a young Russian officer by the name of "Lieutenant Nikolay Ivushkin" (Alexander Petrov) is ordered to stall the Germans long enough for the Russians to evacuate a hospital unit to the rear and to accomplish this mission he is given a single T-34 tank and a small squad of Soviet infantryman. Realizing how badly outgunned he is going to be, he devises a plan to ambush the Germans and nearly succeeds before he is badly wounded and taken to a prisoner-of-war camp in Germany. Three years later, he is recognized by a German officer by the name of "SS-Standartenführer Klaus Jäger" (Vinzenz Kiefer) who personally led the German attack against him and is subsequently coerced into participating in a training exercise for novice German tankers. To that effect, he is given a recently captured T-34 and is allowed to choose his own crewmembers as well. The problem is that the Germans will be firing live ammunition at the Russian tank while he will be unable to respond in kind. However, what SS Standartenfuhrer Jäger doesn't realize is that, while in the process of preparing for this operation, Lieutenant Ivushkin has discovered some ammunition hidden within the tank and with the help of his crew and a Russian interpreter by the name of "Anya Yartseva" (Irina Starshenbaum) he has devised a daring plan of escape. Now, rather than reveal any more, I will just say that this was an entertaining film which contained plentiful action, nice CGI, good suspense and solid acting. Unfortunately, there were also times when the action defied realism and this caused the film to resemble an arcade game of sorts. But even so, it was still an enjoyable movie for the most part and I have rated it accordingly. Slightly above average.

Its just a faboulus movie mother russia has created in t-34, both the tank engine were marvellous,and the film even better. its like hollywoods ''fury'' just change of nationality , language and location, and i think this was even better than fury., make a note that almost all the battle scenes in the film are launched in daylight,a far bigger operation than fury that spent most of the fighting in the cover of darkness. then you may say that its the use of vfx and cgi , well then i will agree and say that its the top notch brilliant use of that , that gives the film sting and dumbell banging sound and visual kinda orgasm.

its a good story,the acting are decent russian standard, the filmography and sound work are impecable,well edited, filled with a deep boiling low bass choired music of true and pure russian propaganda style, and of course for the analphabetish part of the russian community(there are lots of them still)vocal interpretation in the parts where they speak german in the film, in fact the translator even translates the translator.....

want to see a war movie with uncovardly , banging, and explosive ,nailbiting and panzer copulating action, then this is what the grumpy old man recommends this time