I was disappointed. It took a personal and local approach to that titanic battle, and rather trivialized it, I thought. To my surprise (because I'm disposed to cut the Rooskies ample slack in telling their own epic vs. the accounts of others) I thought that the 2001 production Enemy at the Gates depicted the struggle more persuasively.

(I was amused that the framing narrative was built around selfless Russian humanitarian/rescue initiatives in the wake of the recent Japanese earthquake/tsunami. Every imperial power, my own included, imagines itself as a disinterested force for good.)

cordially,