TeenzTen An action-packed slog

Breakinger A Brilliant Conflict

Senteur As somebody who had not heard any of this before, it became a curious phenomenon to sit and watch a film and slowly have the realities begin to click into place.

Myron Clemons A film of deceptively outspoken contemporary relevance, this is cinema at its most alert, alarming and alive.

gordonl56 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.

Theo Robertson 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

Claudio Carvalho In November, 1942, near the Volga, Stanlingrad is under siege of Commander Friederich Paulus and his 330,000 men. The Russian high command unleashes an operation to protect the Mishkova River to avoid that about four hundred tanks join Paulus' army. The Soviet artillery soldiers protect their position with their lives in a bloodshed with few survivors. "Goryachiy Sneg" a.k.a. "Burning Snow" is a is a Soviet war movie based on one of the bloodiest battles ever. The screenplay is irregular with good battle scenes but a little confused regarding the motivations of the characters specially the leaders of the operation. The romance between Lt. Nikolai Kuznetsov and Nurse Tanya is kind of silly and only a diversion in the lead story. My vote is seven.Title (Brazil): "Neve Ardente" ("Ardent Snow")

Michael A. Martinez These Soviet war epics tend to get awfully frustrating after a while. While the filmmakers have huge, almost limitless resources at their disposal, like lots of vintage tanks, equipment, Red Army personnel, and government cooperation (providing it's propaganda) - narratively, they fail to adhere to basic practices. Usually a good movie does not play all its good cards at once, but these Russian war films tend to run out of steam before the climax even comes, which ends up being either glossed over or over-shadowed by bigger and better battles earlier in the film! This film is a little more patriotic than Sergei Bondarchuk's "They Fought for their Motherland" (1975), which was set a few months prior to this film in essentially the same theater of war. The big difference is this one is set in the winter and follows a much larger division of younger Anti-tankers, these ones armed with artillery instead of just PTRD rifles. While there's more action and less emphasis on mid-battle philosophizing and humanizing, and some laughable attempts to make the Political Commissars look heroic, trust and beloved by their units, this one is surprisingly short and straight-forward.The Germans attempt the near-hopeless 'Operation Winter Storm' to break out the beleaguered Sixth Army at Stalingrad. Somehow, we're asked to sympathize with the relatively well-armed Russians who are pre-ordained to win no matter what, especially since their resistance was nullified by Zhukov's 'Operation Little Saturn' which hit the German / Italian flanks and forced them to break off the attack (see the movie ATTACK AND RETREAT) which pretty much ended any hope of German victory. The soldiers pretty much just do their job as instructed besides a young lieutenant who goes through a lot of romantic angst with his girlfriend assigned to his command. A few of the main characters are killed by the anonymous Germans, who are never clearly seen save for a P.O.W.The German tanks however, with fine mock-ups of Panzer IV's, STUG III's, and even a few Tigers, are well-done and numerous, but where's the air suppport?