Rating: 
Summary: Frank Capra's Oscar nominated World War II documentary
Review: "The Battle of Russia" is the fifth in director Frank Capra's celebrated "Why We Fight" series that is the supreme example of American propaganda during World War II. Capra was a major in the U.S. Army Signal Corps and was commissioned by Army Chief of Staff General George C. Marshall to make a series of short documentaries that would explain the policy of the U.S. government to the troops that were being hastily assembled, trained, and sent overseas to fight. Eventually the "Why We Fight" series was shown to the public in theaters and prints were distributed to American allies in England and the Soviet Union as well. "The Battle of Russia: The Nazi March Frozen," on which Anatole Litvak also worked as an uncredited director, followed "The Battle of Britain," both of which were released in 1943. The 57-minute black & white documentary narrated by both actor Walter Huston and writer Anthony Veiller. "The Battle of Russia" begins with Hitler deciding to betraying his alliance with Stalin and attacking the Soviet Union. However, at the end of this documentary the Soviets stop the Nazis at the battle of Stalingrad and Hitler's army suffers a crippling defeat at the gates of Moscow. "The Battle of Russia," which was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Feature-Length Film Documentary, is a prime example of the way the Soviet Union was presented as a strong ally during World War II (check out "Mission to Moscow" in this regard as well). Even today the "Why We Fight" series remains a prime source of archival footage of this period, with film of Joseph Stalin, Adolf Hitler, Benito Mussolini, Haile Selassie, Vyacheslav Molotov, Hermann Göring, and a score of German and Soviet military figures. "The Battle of Russia" is followed by "The Battle of China," which finally introduces the Pacific theater of World War II. In 2000 the "Why We Fight" series was added to the Library of Congress National Film Registry.
Rating:
Summary: Frank Capra's Oscar nominated World War II documentary
Review: "The Battle of Russia: The Nazi March Frozen" is the fifth in director Frank Capra's celebrated "Why We Fight" series that is the supreme example of American propaganda during World War II. Capra was a major in the U.S. Army Signal Corps and was commissioned by Army Chief of Staff General George C. Marshall to make a series of short documentaries that would explain the policy of the U.S. government to the troops that were being hastily assembled, trained, and sent overseas to fight. Eventually the "Why We Fight" series was shown to the public in theaters and prints were distributed to American allies in England and the Soviet Union as well. "The Battle of Russia: The Nazi March Frozen," on which Anatole Litvak also worked as an uncredited director, followed "The Battle of Britain," both of which were released in 1943. The 57-minute black & white documentary narrated by both actor Walter Huston and writer Anthony Veiller. "The Battle of Russia" begins with Hitler deciding to betraying his alliance with Stalin and attacking the Soviet Union. However, at the end of this documentary the Soviets stop the Nazis at the battle of Stalingrad and Hitler's army suffers a crippling defeat at the gates of Moscow. "The Battle of Russia," which was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Feature-Length Film Documentary, is a prime example of the way the Soviet Union was presented as a strong ally during World War II (check out "Mission to Moscow" in this regard as well). Even today the "Why We Fight" series remains a prime source of archival footage of this period, with film of Joseph Stalin, Adolf Hitler, Benito Mussolini, Haile Selassie, Vyacheslav Molotov, Hermann Göring, and a score of German and Soviet military figures. "The Battle of Russia" is followed by "The Battle of China," which finally introduces the Pacific theater of World War II. In 2000 the "Why We Fight" series was added to the Library of Congress National Film Registry.
Rating:
Summary: Frank Capra's Oscar nominated World War II documentary
Review: "The Battle of Russia" is the fifth in director Frank Capra's celebrated "Why We Fight" series that is the supreme example of American propaganda during World War II. Capra was a major in the U.S. Army Signal Corps and was commissioned by Army Chief of Staff General George C. Marshall to make a series of short documentaries that would explain the policy of the U.S. government to the troops that were being hastily assembled, trained, and sent overseas to fight. Eventually the "Why We Fight" series was shown to the public in theaters and prints were distributed to American allies in England and the Soviet Union as well. "The Battle of Russia: The Nazi March Frozen," on which Anatole Litvak also worked as an uncredited director, followed "The Battle of Britain," both of which were released in 1943. The 57-minute black & white documentary narrated by both actor Walter Huston and writer Anthony Veiller. "The Battle of Russia" begins with Hitler deciding to betraying his alliance with Stalin and attacking the Soviet Union. However, at the end of this documentary the Soviets stop the Nazis at the battle of Stalingrad and Hitler's army suffers a crippling defeat at the gates of Moscow. "The Battle of Russia," which was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Feature-Length Film Documentary, is a prime example of the way the Soviet Union was presented as a strong ally during World War II (check out "Mission to Moscow" in this regard as well). Even today the "Why We Fight" series remains a prime source of archival footage of this period, with film of Joseph Stalin, Adolf Hitler, Benito Mussolini, Haile Selassie, Vyacheslav Molotov, Hermann Göring, and a score of German and Soviet military figures. "The Battle of Russia" is followed by "The Battle of China," which finally introduces the Pacific theater of World War II. In 2000 the "Why We Fight" series was added to the Library of Congress National Film Registry.
Rating:
Summary: Frank Capra's Oscar nominated World War II documentary
Review: "The Battle of Russia: The Nazi March Frozen" is the fifth in director Frank Capra's celebrated "Why We Fight" series that is the supreme example of American propaganda during World War II. Capra was a major in the U.S. Army Signal Corps and was commissioned by Army Chief of Staff General George C. Marshall to make a series of short documentaries that would explain the policy of the U.S. government to the troops that were being hastily assembled, trained, and sent overseas to fight. Eventually the "Why We Fight" series was shown to the public in theaters and prints were distributed to American allies in England and the Soviet Union as well. "The Battle of Russia: The Nazi March Frozen," on which Anatole Litvak also worked as an uncredited director, followed "The Battle of Britain," both of which were released in 1943. The 57-minute black & white documentary narrated by both actor Walter Huston and writer Anthony Veiller. "The Battle of Russia" begins with Hitler deciding to betraying his alliance with Stalin and attacking the Soviet Union. However, at the end of this documentary the Soviets stop the Nazis at the battle of Stalingrad and Hitler's army suffers a crippling defeat at the gates of Moscow. "The Battle of Russia," which was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Feature-Length Film Documentary, is a prime example of the way the Soviet Union was presented as a strong ally during World War II (check out "Mission to Moscow" in this regard as well). Even today the "Why We Fight" series remains a prime source of archival footage of this period, with film of Joseph Stalin, Adolf Hitler, Benito Mussolini, Haile Selassie, Vyacheslav Molotov, Hermann Göring, and a score of German and Soviet military figures. "The Battle of Russia" is followed by "The Battle of China," which finally introduces the Pacific theater of World War II. In 2000 the "Why We Fight" series was added to the Library of Congress National Film Registry.
Rating: 
Summary: Viewing to be taken into historical context
Review: Before viewing this film one should be historically aware of the circumstnces surrounding the reasons for its production. It is part of the "Why we fight" series that was shown to new recruits that were about to become part of this tremendous worldwide conflict. This is truly a propaganda film that was intended to show our "allies", the communist Russians, in a favorable light. The intent was to instill a purpose into these recruits that we were fighting an evil force, the Nazi Germans, together with the Russians. Anybody who is historically educated in this time period realizes that the United States government no doubt realized the horrors that Joseph Stalin himself was capable of. But to attempt to rally the recruits by villianizing our allies would not serve well, therefore kind portrayal of the communists was essential. Although the awful behavior of the German invaders is documented here, there is no mention of the atrocities committed by the Russians on their German captives. I think anybody interested in history as well as nostalgia will enjoy this film when realizing the historical context in which it was produced.
Rating:
Summary: Viewing to be taken into historical context
Review: Before viewing this film one should be historically aware of the circumstnces surrounding the reasons for its production. It is part of the "Why we fight" series that was shown to new recruits that were about to become part of this tremendous worldwide conflict. This is truly a propaganda film that was intended to show our "allies", the communist Russians, in a favorable light. The intent was to instill a purpose into these recruits that we were fighting an evil force, the Nazi Germans, together with the Russians. Anybody who is historically educated in this time period realizes that the United States government no doubt realized the horrors that Joseph Stalin himself was capable of. But to attempt to rally the recruits by villianizing our allies would not serve well, therefore kind portrayal of the communists was essential. Although the awful behavior of the German invaders is documented here, there is no mention of the atrocities committed by the Russians on their German captives. I think anybody interested in history as well as nostalgia will enjoy this film when realizing the historical context in which it was produced.
Rating: 
Summary: Dreadfully Bad
Review: Ok, the topic is great... the Soviet repulsion of the Nazi military might. But the war-time propaganda, the lack of depth of the "documentary", the missing facts, and the poor quality of the film make this a horrific failure when one considers the title. I don't care if this is a known propaganda film used for recruiting in the United States during WWII... it simply has no social context sixty years later. Shouldn't we be concerned with the facts of the Nazi siege and the Soviet repulsion as they relate to a deeper understanding about the two nations of the 20th century that produced the worst dictators (Hitler and Stalin)? Consider the following facts: 1) There was a major event in the 20th century, commonly referred to as "World War II", when most of the nations of the world were at war. 2) During that event Nazi Germany terrorized all of Europe (and especially the Soviet Union), through their military might and demonic plans (the Holocaust). 3) The Nazi's invaded the Soviet Union in 1941. 4) The Soviet Union repulsed the Nazi invasion. I would guess that the mentally ill and the recently born make up the vast majority of the population that isn't aware of the above-mentioned facts. This movie is for them.
Rating:
Summary: Dreadfully Bad
Review: Ok, the topic is great... the Soviet repulsion of the Nazi military might. But the war-time propaganda, the lack of depth of the "documentary", the missing facts, and the poor quality of the film make this a horrific failure when one considers the title. I don't care if this is a known propaganda film used for recruiting in the United States during WWII... it simply has no social context sixty years later. Shouldn't we be concerned with the facts of the Nazi siege and the Soviet repulsion as they relate to a deeper understanding about the two nations of the 20th century that produced the worst dictators (Hitler and Stalin)? Consider the following facts: 1) There was a major event in the 20th century, commonly referred to as "World War II", when most of the nations of the world were at war. 2) During that event Nazi Germany terrorized all of Europe (and especially the Soviet Union), through their military might and demonic plans (the Holocaust). 3) The Nazi's invaded the Soviet Union in 1941. 4) The Soviet Union repulsed the Nazi invasion. I would guess that the mentally ill and the recently born make up the vast majority of the population that isn't aware of the above-mentioned facts. This movie is for them.
Rating: 
Summary: Battle of Russia. 1943 documentary film.
Review: The Battle of Russia is a documentary film covering the Soviet war with Germany from 1941 to early 1943. It was produced during the world war two, hence the cut off date at 1943. Having been made with the taxpayer dollar it is now in the public domain, and many companies are reproducing it and selling in VHS and DVD form. My review will look first at this particular version of the movie with its physical reproduction of the film, later at the film's contents.
I will start with the packaging. The box front has photos of a US soldier with frost on his face, US troops marching, and another American soldier having a chow. On the back - a British AA gun being manned by British soldiers. That is right - all photos that are not consistent with the contents of the movie - Soviet German war. This foreshadowed the effort put in by "Goodtimes" into its product.
Special Features: none. Scene index is present, however.
Reproduction quality: At the beginning of the film there is a note by "Goodtimes" about how they carefully restored the original. Unfortunately, this ended up being an ironic statement. Frames are darker. This is an issue as in a number of places the details are deteriorated because of this. The sides and the bottom of the movie are truncated. It was noticeable as I played my VHS simultaneously with the DVD to compare the two. This was a disappointment, as I wanted to upgrade my VHS copy of this film. Overall, the VHS version, recorded in EP mode, outstripped this DVD in quality. I will be looking for another DVD version of this film.
Movie's contents: The film covers battles of the Eastern Front in chronological order, incorporating into the script social and political topics. A little observation I made through the years is that documentary movies during the cold war relied heavily on this film's footage along with the German newsreels when covering the Eastern Front. Peter Batty's "German Invasion of the Soviet Union" went as far as taking the animated maps from this movie wholesale.
The footage used in Battle for Russia is not raw, but rather tape cut into segments most of which are less than five seconds. This is an unfortunate, yet common practice in documentary films. The documentary has scenes of prewar Soviet films, namely Ivan Grozny, Aleksandr Nevsky, Man with a Movie Camera (documentary), and the parade and maneuvers footage (documentary). Wartime footage presented in the film is good. It can be complemented, with some overlapping, by "Soviet Secret Archives: The Russian Front"(3 parts), Russia: "Blood Upon the Snow", or "War of the Century: When Hitler Fought Stalin" film series.
Some reviewers referred to this film as outdated; with a notion that now, we know the truth. I respectfully disagree with this. We still have a lot of appeasement in World War II history. There seems to be a lot of material out on the Soviet German Front, but if we filter for primary sources such as diaries, journals, and wartime operative documents, not that much is left. I find that facts happen at lower level, and pompous numbers and "facts" mean nothing we do not know (or care) how they were compiled/where they are coming from. This movie is the pro-Allies American view circa world war two. I keep this film on my bookshelf and enjoy the footage analysis it presents.
Four stars for the movie contents.
One star for this version of the DVD.
Rating:
Summary: WW2 propaganda
Review: This documentary was made before the end of WW2 and it shows. It seems made to convinced the audience that their allies of the time (USSR and China) are good, free countries and Nazi Germany is the devil incarnate. For exemple, they go into great details explaining that the USSR is a great democracy and the Stalin is a good ruler. Interesting for seing how can our 'good' western countries can ally itself with an horrible dictator such as Stalin and try to convince its people he's not so bad after all. But that's about it.
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