Stalingrad ( 1993) - English Dubbed with Subtitles (World War II Movie)
Stalingrad is a 1993 film by Joseph Vilsmaier, which depicts the horrors of combat on the Eastern Front of World War II in a realistic and unromanticized fashion.
The movie follows a platoon of German Army soldiers as they are transferred from Italy and recent experiences in North Africa, to Russia where they ultimately find themselves unwilling participants in the Battle of Stalingrad.
The film was shot in several different locations, including Finland, Italy, and the Czech Republic.
The film begins with a group of German assault troops enjoying leave in Italy after returning from combat deployment in North Africa. An awards ceremony is announced by a band playing the "Hohenfriedberger Marsch". Some soldiers are late from having to carry "Lupo", the Lieutenant wounded in North Africa, to the ceremony. The three main characters are introduced at the awards ceremony: Leutnant von Witzland, the inexperienced and idealistic platoon leader; Unteroffizier "Rollo" Rohleder, who is refused his decoration when he arrives on parade with an unbuttoned tunic collar, and Obergefreiter Fritz "Fritzi" Reiser, whose tendency to direct talk is made evident. After the parade the group is dismissed and advised their unit has been ordered to the Eastern Front. Their train passes through the small Italian coastal town and into a tunnel, where the scene changes to being far in Russia, with the men in a cramped bunk car. Rollo asks Von Witzland if this is his first time to the front. After Von Witzland confirms that it is, Rollo bets him two cans of water that he will survive and Von Witzland won't.
As they march into Stalingrad, the unit passes some German casualties of the fighting, They also pass a column of Russian POWs who are being berated and beaten by German field police. When one of the POWs almost collapses and tries to hold onto a guard's shoulder for support, the guard knees him, throws him to the ground, and beats him with his rifle butt. Leutnant von Witzland, observing the gruesome spectacle, slips out of line and tries to stop the beating but is knocked down by the guard. As he looks on, the prostrate POW is beaten to death. Witzland gets up and protests to captain Haller, but the captain dismisses him and walks off. A German Army chaplain holds a field service, at which two more characters are introduced; Feldwebel Pfluger, a veteran who has served at Voronezh, and Hauptmann Musk, another veteran who has lost his hand and who claims to have "absolutely no luck with my right side".
The scene then switches to combat in Stalingrad. In heavy fighting, the Germans manage to fight their way to an important factory and take it, but at a heavy cost. The Russians being cleared out, the soldiers relax and listen to Adolf Hitler on the radio explaining why he chose to march on Stalingrad. As the men relax in a building and talk, Fritz tries to comfort GeGe Muller, a teenage soldier upset over accidentally killing his friend Dieter in close combat. The battalion, originally 400-strong, now has only 62 men. All of the Russian defenders were killed. The building is surrounded by Russians, and neither side dares make the first move to attack. The stalemate goes on with bodies and the wounded lying in the streets. In an attempt to rescue the wounded and count the dead, the Germans propose a ceasefire between the two sides and to send out some unarmed men. Tension is high. After collecting dog tags from the dead, a Russian soldier pilfers some meat from a dead man. At the same time, Reiser produces some bread and they decide to share their prized possessions. But this moment of peace does not last long, as a shot rings out, and battle is rejoined. A Russian boy named Kolya is captured during the fight. The soldiers relax at daytime, hearing Russian soldiers sing from their positions. A Russian sniper kills the man on watch, and soldiers carrying food and mail arrive under heavy fire. As the soldiers talk, Rollo finds out his wife has left him to marry a French POW, and as Lieutenant Von Witzland tries to comfort Rollo, the Russians launch a surprise attack. As the Germans try to hold off the Russians, Kolya escapes. A team of men escape into the sewers with flamethrowers. Von Witzland strays from his men and captures Irina, a female Russian soldier who knows German. She proposes a ceasefire to get them both back to their comrades, but when they come to a canal filled with bodies, Irina suddenly pushes him in, but he is rescued by his men. They find a wounded German and try to take him to the hospital, but he dies while waiting for medical treatment. When the three main characters try to use force to get preferential treatment, they are arrested by Captain Haller and his men. Von Witzland requests to speak to Hauptmann Musk, hoping he will help bail them out of trouble.