Panfilov's 28 Men (2016) User Reviews

Great film, underrated due to heavy anti-nationalist sentiment

[charmaments · 8/10 · 4 January 2017]

I usually prefer to talk about the a film, what's on the screen and not about what's going and what's being said around it, but I'll make a slight exception.

Russia churns out a lot of war films and a lot of films with patriotism as the key (sometimes only) ingredient. There is an understandable fatigue of these films (just like some are tired of comic book or superhero films) so people are now giving low scores to any war film, regardless of its merits.

Russia also has a lot of people that love to see Russian films fail. Russia produces a lot of trash and cash-grab (popsa) films so you have people that call everything that comes from Russia as popsa and want to see it fail.

No, this film is not a box office failure nor a financial failure. Yes, the budget is underreported, (which is strange considering people want to see bigger budget films) but it seems to have made its money back already. One cannot compare it to American films with bigger budgets, star power, the advantage of English, etc.

Without going into spoilers, this film is about a battle, or series of battles, between a Nazi Germany Panzer division and Soviet (Russian and Kazakh) defensive positions. If you want a love story, you've come to the wrong place. If you want a superhero, you've come to the wrong place. Rambo doing it all by himself, taking down the Wehrmacht and killing Hitler himself? Wrong place.

This film has been de-Sovietized, reducing references to Stalin, red flags, Marxism, Communism, etc. People seem to take issue with that and feel that this point makes this film a 1/10 film.

The fact is defending a trench is defending a trench. It makes no difference if one does it for the union of republics (USSR) or for a particular republic (RSFSR). In this case, the soldiers were defending (the road to) Moscow and it was not inaccurate that they were defending Russia. Yugoslav WW2 films also have people talking about taking/defending particular regions (Slavonia, Vojvodina, Kosovo, Serbia, etc.) and that does not necessarily mean they denied the existence of Yugoslavia.

Not that this film has not been de-Sovietized. It has, but it's not such a big deal. People still referred to each other as comrade, and yes, there were not a lot of flags and hammer-and- sickle stuff, but this was an undersupplied unit, lacking both men, guns, ammo and supplies.

The production values are quite high and this film lacks the TV-cheesiness of many Russian films and shows.

The Russians are not presented as good people, nor are the Nazis presented as evil. There is no need for that. We know who's who. This was like two boxers in the ring - "this is where we are now. Let's settle this."

It's dark, without being gloomy and depressing. It's violent without being disgusting.

It has professional acting, professional camera work, professional lighting, sound and CGI.

The script is not very deep because this is a film about men defending a trench. It sets out to do one thing and does it very, very well.

8/10.

Excellent war film, all action without gore/snuff; beautiful images, dialogues, music

[weirdedout67 · 8/10 · 15 December 2016]

This is an excellent war film about a very straightforward story. Hold your position. That's it.

The protagonists are a group of Soviet soldiers from the Russian and -stan republics (Kazakhstan and co.) Not much importance is given to the characters (there's 28 of them, after all) but they have some very interesting discussions about nationhood, war, life and death, quite philosophical for a trench, without being unrealistic or preachy.

The bad guys don't need a lot of presentation. We've seen them before in other films, they're Nazis.

We are not given more, neither reasons to hate the Nazis (no preaching to a choir) or chest-thumping nationalism or an unsubtle "hidden" anti-Soviet message. The Nazis are advancing to Moscow. These guys want to stop them. It's black and white.

Many Russian movies take an opportunity to take a dig at Communism/Stalin at the same time, showing indifference from the state towards its soldiers or pure incompetence. There's none of that here. Politics are not present in this film and other than the usage of tovarishch (comrade) when addressing officers, one would not know that it was the Soviet Union, a communist state, in this battle.

There are no Soviet flags, no red anything really. It doesn't change the story either way. It was 28 men against a large group of tanks and infantry. It wasn't empire vs empire.

The action is beautifully done and very realistic. There is no unnecessary gore, blood, scalping, decapitation, etc. I don't know how realistic or unrealistic that is. I've seen movies that overdo it (a bullet to the chest causing a waterfall of blood), and although the depiction of gore doesn't bother me, overdoing anything gets boring quickly. In all cases, when people wearing layer upon layer of heavy winter coats get shot, you won't see a lot of blood.

The added bonus of not seeing blood is not knowing who is dead and who isn't, who is covered in earth and who is buried alive, who is mortally injured and who is just knocked out. The Russians can feign death and the Germans would not know it, but the Russians could also really be dead and their own men won't know it.

It adds a bit of mystery, unpredictability and suspense to the story.

The soundtrack is amazing, but let me qualify that. Most of this film is action, so it has action scene music with loud and low (bass) instruments, trumpets and so on. But they still found a way to add three unbelievably beautiful pieces: Rodina (Motherland), Vechnyy Ogon' (The Eternal Flame) and Zimnyy Vals' (Winter Waltz). They're worth buying the soundtrack for. They made me almost cry (at home. The film is not sad at all, at least not for me.)

Overall, a very entertaining, even if straightforward film. Best to watch it in the cinema as the experience there is better for such big films. This may not be a film one would want to watch multiple times, but it's really worth seeing, don't miss it.

Excellent homage to memories of fallen heroes (minor spoilers, don't worry ;D)

[hinglemccringleberry · 8/10 · 18 March 2017]

I finally saw this movie online w/English subtitles, as I could not find it anywhere else... PM me if you want the link, or just go to WatchCorn. Anyway, as an American viewer, I was deeply impressed with how accurate and time-specific everything seemed to be. The details definitely went noticed by me, an amateur military historian, yet the story itself was superb and the acting was great.

It seems to me many big budget films have lukewarm scripts and a lot of production value. This had a great story, partly because it is based on real events, and excellent production value. For such a small budget (crowdfunding) it looks like a Fury, or a Hacksaw Ridge, but without the gore. (on a side note, I find it interesting that many Russian war films have little graphic violence, while American films are bathed it gore and blood.)

Throughout much of the exposition, the viewer gets to know the men in Panfilov's company and prepares for the battle. Then the rest of the film is action, which is highly realistic; maybe a little too much. Several times the Germans attack, and eventually things get a little confusing and the pacing may seem slow/off, but that is the point. The nature of such an battle seen in the film would create confusion and chaos, and if it seems improbable that 28 men could hold off 50men + 24 tanks, it isn't. Things are shown from the different perspectives of the 28 men, making the battle seem longer, or shorter depending on how fast-paced you like things.

Big credit goes to the director and those involved in producing the film, since they stay (mostly Im assuming, since this the reality battle is debated) true to history, and go to great lengths in recreating the lives of the soldiers. Soundtrack is also good.

It's time to take a peek behind the iron curtain. Is this World War 2 motion picture worth watching? Somewhat comrade.

[ironhorse_iv · 7/10 · 20 June 2019]

However, there is abundantly doubt within some audience that the heroic story of the Panfilov Division's Twenty-Eight Guardsmen defending Moscow from Nazi troops was even true. According to official Soviet history, they were all killed in action on 16 November 1941, after destroying 18 German tanks and stopping the enemy attack. Yet, some historians believe this story was all fabrication for propaganda reasons, in order to boost morale and patriotism within the Soviet people during wartime. They point out the many inaccuracy inconsistencies within the story such as the original reporter Vasily Koroteev not mentioning a date or place of the battle, nor the exact size of the group defending the grounds. To add onto this confusement, within German and Soviet operational documents, no mention of losses were ever marked during that period of supposed time. Plus, senior commanders within the Red Army could not identify the Commissars there nor figure out what company, the soldiers were from. In spite of that, later publications add to the story, stating out that 28 men fought there and they were from the 4th company rather than the 5th as first believe without confirming the information. It wasn't until 1948 after the Great Patriotic War that some real knowledge about them, started to spill out. One of those was the fact that the men weren't all killed in the battle. Five of them were forced to retreat along with the other members of the Red Army after three days of fighting in the outskirts of Moscow with another one voluntarily surrendering to German's troops. It wasn't until December 1941 that the Red Army were able to drive the German's back. Even with that knowledge, the weather conditions and supply lines thinning is the true reason why the Wehrmacht's advancing slow down gradually into a standstill. This was awful news for the Soviet government whom invested great amount of money on memorials including five 12-meter tall statues near the site of the battle and the Twenty-Eight Guardsmen Park in Alma Ata. So those findings were kept secret by the Stalinists and later, the stagnation era of the Ministry of Culture until the declassified within the end of the Cold War. After all, they want to keep those soldier's image pure, in order to recruit people on the bases to help defend the country on a nationalist level rather than pushing extreme cultural revolutions communism down people's throats after the reform of the 1960s. Despite that, even today in modern day contemporary Russia believing, otherwise of that Twenty-Eight Guardsmen not being national heroes can led you into hot water. After all, the news is still control by the Ministry of Culture and they can dictate what can and cannot be said. Because of that, from an outsider perspective, I don't believe this movie produced by Gaijin Entertainment game development company is as accurate as it could had been. Apart from its crowdfunding budget, the motion picture was also produced with backing from the culture ministries of Russia and Kazakhstan, so you can tell what parts of the story will be omitted or not explore too much. One such example is not reporting too much of the incompetence within the Red Army. They never talk about the many failures, they went through, before the battle nor how many soldiers were shot by their own hands. Regardless, the foreign film does have some cleverly nods with the aged old newspapers. However this motion picture doesn't dig too deep into it. As for the acting. It was fine. I like how the movie has humor & charm. It makes the soldiers here seem like real-life people rather than lifeless pegs in the propaganda machines. Seeing ethnicities along them was also pretty neat. However, even with that, I really couldn't them tell apart individually. There were too many characters for this 105 minute film. Because of that, I couldn't really get too invested in their struggles. As for the villains, the German troops were a little too faceless for my taste as well. I really couldn't tell the different between them. Still, even with the lack of blood and gore, the action scenes were very compelling. The stunt work was outstanding. As for the effects, the high detailed model work combined with outdoor footage, really stood out. Everything look very realistic. I like how little CGI, they used. As for the music, composer Mikhail Kostylev did a hell of a job. It really does sound epic and emotional. In the end, while this movie directed and written by Andrey Shalopa does seem somewhat over jingoism, agitprop & anti perestroika at times. It's still worth checking out. No vodka drinking needed.

Cinematography great, everything else not so much.

[chris-90682 · 7 December 2020]

This film is beautifully shot. That makes up for the fact that the pacing, dialogue, and most other aspects of a good movie aren't really there. I seriously had to skip over whole conversations because the first half of the movie is full of irrelevant and gratuitous dialogue. There's also way too many characters and it's almost impossible to keep track of everyone.

The battle scene was nicely done, but I had no real emotional involvement in the characters because of the aforementioned issues. Had they focused in on one or two key individuals it could have been much more effective.

Also, the English voice acting wasn't bad.

On the Budget Epic

[monsieurfairfax · 7/10 · 20 May 2020]

'Panfilov's 28' is based on Soviet propaganda legend about a small group of soldiers who stopped German tanks headed to Moscow. Let's put the historical inaccuracies aside and concentrate on the artistic values of this movie. Legends are legends, and they have always been good source material for cinema. With 'Panfilov's 28' Russians are making Hollywood, but still the Russian soul is shining through. The film is well put together. It takes a while for a battle, but with colorful characters and great acting, the first half-hour doesn't drag. Lighthearted banter between the fighters is quite amusing, but then the film shifts the tone a little bit. When Russians are preparing for the battle, and they wait in the trenches for the enemy attack, you can almost cut the tension with the knife. That there is good filmmaking - if you have a small budget, then create the atmosphere. But the battle scenes are not less remarkable. Depends on how much attention you put on the screen, you might not even notice that the tanks were 1:16 scale models. The authenticity is helped by keeping CGI effects to the minimum. Fantastic old-school craftsmanship. It is clear that the filmmakers put their hearts into the project and the result is a captivating war epic that gives the big-budgeted Hollywood movies the run for their money.

The movie barely raises above the usual war action drivel, but clever and stylish directing makes 'Panfilov's 28' worth the two hours.

Best Russian modern film about WW2

[nasstyangel · 10/10 · 30 November 2016]

This film is about ordinary heroes and simple feat. It ordinary people protect what they hold dear, in the main it the memory of ancestors, whose feat gave us life.

Many talk about the doubts about the feat, talk about the propaganda that that there is no talking teapots and assistants of the protagonist, and no hysterical howls of frightened people here warriors, soldiers came to protect your home. People have taken the path of the world's evil and safely carry out their work in the face of true death.

In conclusion to quote one of the characters: Now all the heroes, because the time is.

Outgunned troops fight heroically in this Russian propaganda piece

[Leofwine_draca · 6/10 · 14 May 2017]

PANFILOV'S 28 is very much the Russian version of a story like Hollywood's 300 or perhaps South Korea's 71 INTO THE FIRE. It's about an outgunned squad of 28 Russian soldiers who are tasked with holding up a Nazi invasion force of 55 tanks; they only have sub-standard weaponry at their disposal. The events are said to be based on a true story, but the most important thing about it is that as a WW2 movie it works very well. The film is grittily realistic, with careful character build-up before the big action spectacle hits. I found the battle scenes to be both convincing and exciting, filling the screen with explosions and gunfire and keeping the viewer gripped throughout. It's not perhaps the greatest or most inventive war film ever made, but it does the job well enough regardless.

Phenomenal movie

[ignatsavkin · 10/10 · 6 December 2016]

As the first ever crowd-funded movie it came out amazing. The story about men who stood up for their country is not new in cinematography. But the way it was presented in this movie is very special. It's at the same time very simple and keeps you emotionally tense till the very end. The story about men who had to put on the table even more than they had. Who knew that they will die and most likely still won't stop the enemy but still did their best. Main characters are played by the actors of different nationalities that corresponds to the reality of the WWII, when the whole world stepped into a fight. Filming crew did an amazing work on battle action and special effects. This movie really touches the soul.

Great addition to the war genre.

[paulclaassen · 6/10 · 26 March 2020]

Also known as 'Panfilov's 28 Men' and 'Panfilov's 28 Soldiers'. Funded by donations from over 35,000 people, it's amazing what they have accomplished for only $1.7 million. (Take note, Hollywood!)

Wow, there's a lot of dialogue here. But honestly, I found the dialogue interesting, appropriate and also very funny at times. It takes a while for the action to come, but when it does, it's awesome. The fight scenes are up close and personal. The photography, cinematography and score are very good.

This is an uncomplicated, simplistic story, easy to follow and a pleasure to watch. There are no twists. What you see is what you get and it is wonderful. The German army is the antagonist and the protagonist is a handful of Russian soldiers just trying to stay alive, or die protecting their homeland. There's some incredible tank scenes I haven't seen before in a war movie.

This is a stunning cinematic piece and a great addition to the war genre.

Mediocre war movie about a falsified legend

[hoschi2k · 3/10 · 2 November 2017]

The video game company behind "War Thunder" decided to create this one on a low budget. It depicts a legend of a small group of soldiers, which are able to stop the Wehrmachts advance to Moscow against all odds. This tale exaggerated what happened in reality, but was heavily promoted during the war for propaganda reasons. It was debunked after the war, but the legend was kept alive (for patriotic reasons?), search for "Ivan Panfilov" on Wikipedia for more background. The producers deciders decided to support the legend anyway.

The political background has some impact on the movie - expect the Russian soldiers depicted as unbelievable heroic and successful, German soldiers as dumb cannon fodder (how did they even come near Moscow?). Character development is minimal which makes the first half a bit boring. In the second half focus is on action, these parts are good for the budget. 3 out of 10, action parts are OK, but unrealistic and characters/acting are not so good. 30 years ago my reception would have been better, but the bar has been raised since. Expect a LOT of 10 star reviews from Russia.

The best Russian movie about the war from the domestic manufacturers!

[Slashing_Spartacus · 10/10 · 25 November 2016]

FOREWORD

So "28 Panfilov's" came out. Only 1.700.000$ in budget. For a start, i'm very sorry for bad English, but i trying, because never teaching in school (in my school in city - only German language), only in internet (films, games, forums, without teacher, i hope you will forgive me). I have not seen such a realistic film about the Great Patriotic War, filmed in modern Russia. But what is really there, the normal film about this war we have, in fact, and not removed. "Brest Fortress" stands out, of course, but it is not quite realistic - after all the drama and all the love stories are present there. In the "28-Panfilov," all this is not a realistic film to the limit, and this will please any fan of military history, like me. I very much awaited release of the film, and believed in him. It wanted to get it to something stirred up the people, the hope of a good movie appeared, the fact that such films can be done for little money, giving a soul into his work and solid professionalism.

Today, finally, went to the movies and after watching I can safely say - the film was a success, he came out exactly the way he expected. If you live in USA, for example, and you want to watch no Hollywood film - enjoy! Later, creators give this film for free (for all), maybe without English subtitles, but i hope somebody can to create this for you!

STORY AND ACTORS

Not by chance, these two points are together. In the film, the action and the characters are so laconic dialogues are interwoven with each other, that one and a half hour movie fly by unnoticed. Heroes - not idiots cardboard, ready to rush to recess screaming, but real, living people with their characters and points of view. Can and make a joke, and "for the tactics talking" and friend to cheer - all without screams, panic, or any other devilry, and on a normal, living language - these people believe and they are going through.

For a long time I have not seen such a lively acting. The film is not shot no one famous actor that is also likely to play into the hands. And yes, the actors are very alive in their dialogues believe, and some to pull out there do not smell.

War - a war, it is in the film is simple, no frills, pressing, breaks, clanging "tracks" of tanks and pressed into the viewer's chair in the bombings. The film takes several days and includes a piece of peace (in the context of military operations and the German offensive on Moscow) life, preparing for battle and the fight itself.

Take the example of the 28 Panfilov, Russian creators of films - that's how you need and nothing else.

In the film, no gram of pathos, a single gram. It commander for soldiers - concise and clear, the political instructor - imagine! - Not screaming, not shoot in the back, and generally behaves like a normal person who is experiencing for themselves, for their country and their homeland, for their fighters.

SOUND

The sound in the picture is gorgeous. He is not just good, it masterpiece, not afraid of the word. In the film, the sound of it, the way it should be in these paintings - or not to pass on what people feel, sitting in the trenches under artillery fire. If a shell falls - there is a clear understanding that falls something that can kill you - a large and deadly. If the bullet is beating on the surface - do you believe that this is a bullet and not a dragonfly or (sic!) Spider. If riding a tank, the roar of its engine runs through your insides. All at the highest level, bravo! Once again, thank you Gaijin.

MUSIC

She deserves a separate paragraph. For the first time in a long, long time, music from the movie I remember: it is different, it emphasizes the stage helps the narrative, makes worry about the characters. As an example cite the scene where he first showed relatively peaceful preparation for combat, heroes joke, cheer each other, the audience feels it - and then again! - There is an abrupt change of the frame, show the Germans - tanks, soldiers, artillery - the tireless German power in general, which playfully pulled down half of Europe. And at the same time frame, changing music, it comes to the viewer that it is moving to the position and what it all might end (before the Germans did not show in the frame), - no small role in this understanding has played just the same music.

In total, this is the best the best that has been written for the Russian cinema.

EFFECTS

Here help "Gaijin", the creators of online game about the war - "War Thunder" (Free-to-Play).

From a technical point of view, the film is based on the level of the American cult films about the war, or the eerie "Purgatory" Nevzorov. Fighting, shelling, the technique itself - all realistic, nowhere reproach. Fantastic light, traces of great tracks, great smoke, everything is done on a professional level, and it is for so little money that the guys spent on film! Here, nothing to complain about, with commuter graphics all in the end became even more realistic.

Without Russophobia, no propaganda, no policy, no desecration of the Soviet or Hitler regime. Everything that you feel - this is how simple guys, men, faced with such a choice, never for a moment doubted that it be done.

Sub par directing and writing, but action packed war movie

[drystyx · 7/10 · 27 February 2022]

This war movie is written and directed with the sole purpose of feeling good about confusing the viewer.

Plenty of action, and the action is well filmed, but the story is obscure.

We don't know which character is which as they go from playful banter to foxhole fighting. It's very disjointed. And that's got to be on purpose, but it's stupid directing.

The sort of characterizations are the same we've seen in every war movie ever.

The one thing that does stick out is how the soldiers play general in the movie, or want to play general, and think they know all the answers.

And that's how soldiers are. That's how people are in life and death situations, because people rely on whatever training and research and lore and schooling and experience they have had.

But that could have been done a lot better with better writing.

Shallow brained Nazis as cannon fodder for Russian heroes...

[rosinm-1 · 1/10 · 1 September 2021]

... and the headline actually already outlines the whole plot. The rather one-dimensional plot may give some satisfaction to the still deeply wounded Russian soul even 80 years after the end of WWII- or at least to its reactionary part.

In terms of plot and dramaturgy, this film is a bore in its purest form. Characters are not developed at all on the Russian side, the enemy side remains completely faceless and dehumanized - cannon fodder. Has this been deliberate stylistic device on the part of the filmmakers or some politburo?

Whatever, the plot and the dialogues on the side of the victors are limited to little more than prayer mill-like slogans of perseverance and sheer endless material and human slaughter.

It may be that the film is a somewhat authentic representation of the historical events - that is beyond my judgement - but to me the whole thing seems too propagandistically dressed up and backwards oriented in its way of conveying the message.

Best greetings from Germany.

How did these incredible people

[ignatgavrilovgavrilov · 7/10 · 19 January 2022]

How did these incredible people manage to stop the enemy at the last line? Whether there were twenty-eight of them, as it was said in the well-known article of the Krasnaya Zvezda newspaper, or a whole company, whether they all died, or one of them survived, but they did it. So that we, their descendants, could not die, but live for our Motherland.

I feel no shame before my ancestors for this film

[totservis · 10/10 · 5 December 2016]

A very strong film made with great respect to our ancestors who fought for life, for people, for Motherland. It is about simple people who contribute themselves to collective - and as positive feedback it helps them find right motivation, do better than they could and become real heroes. This film is about Heroes who faced the most horrific human evil and crushed it with their will. My great-fathers and great-mothers too stood before fascists and stopped them before Moscow. I feel no shame before them for this film, for it is truly brilliant. I wish all modern films about the Great Patriotic War were made with such soul, love and attention to details.

My thanks to all who created the film and to all who helped!

Amazing piece of cinematography

[michroz · 10/10 · 27 November 2016]

Amazing movie! The story is simple, close to ascetic. It might be not what you used to hear/see, but it is served to you marvelously! Every single scene is a piece of cinematography art. The preparation work is extraordinary. Attention to every detail is exceptional, though this is not merely a reconstruction, but a full war drama, based on real events. Visual impression is extremely engaging. Simply put, You will be one of them. Sound is convincing, giving the audience the effect of being right there on the spot. Though in this case you wouldn't have heard the music, which is excellent too. I am not sure if all the dialogues in the movie will be (or could be) interpreted into English (or other language in your Country) adequately, but I hope so. Wish you enjoy this masterpiece like I did.

Fictional history brought to life

[vshnay1 · 4/10 · 2 April 2017]

With any war history movie you have to start with the history of it first and only then the movie quality itself, and this is especially important for this movie. The movie is about a functional 28 solders of Panfilov 316th Rifle Division who took part in the defense of Moscow during World War II. The story is about a group of solders (28 solders) that stood to their death to defend one of the roads leading to Moscow. This story was Soviet version of 300 Spartans, ironically enough one of the solders of in the movie does talk about this historical fact in the movie itself. Unfortunately for the movie this comparison is inaccurate, the story of 28 Panfilov's is a fabrication of a newspaper - Krasnaya Zvezda. Link to the wiki page - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Panfilov%27s_Twenty- Eight_Guardsmen

Now about the movie. The movie is rather simple war flick, nothing special. The solders are fighting an advancing Nazi tank division and bravely die to stop it. The characters are not well developed since we do not have enough background history to get attached to any of them, there is plenty of characters to keep track of. The enemy is shown as technology advanced and faceless that just keeps on going.

Over all the movie will be and is judge on historical levels and fails short on that.

Awesomeness 28/10

[amirkhay · 10/10 · 25 November 2016]

You won't believe that movie with the budget of 5 million dollars (by the time it was produced, now with the current currency value it is lower) can look like a 100 million dollars blockbuster. In the cinema it hits your brain like a truck. No CG-rendering of tanks, all those models of Pz-III, Pz-IV were scratch-built or borrowed from museums, though some models were smaller than real (like 1:1,5) and put after combined view processing. Guns shooting real bullets (experts of WWII might prove that), that's why sounds are real. All the blasts are real as well. Also the details of clothes, ammunition and tactics from both sides are perfectly given and approved by team of historical experts helping the director. The only woman in the movie takes like 16 seconds of your attention, all the 2 hours are about War. All in all, if you didn't understand earlier how Nazis lost 80% of their total armies in the East Front, that is a quite an example of real battle happened 16th November 1941 under Moscow near Dubosekovo (Petelino).

Propaganda

[Phatsta · 2/10 · 3 January 2022]

Read the real story of Panfilovs 28, they were no heroes as painted out to be. As usual with Russians, it's all about glorious cover stories, an extension of the propaganda of WW2.

As far as cinematics go it's okay, but directing not so much. Too many speeches and tough-talk about saving the motherland, kicking the Germans and saving the world, and too little reality. The Germans are painted out to be weak, while the fact is in 1941 they were stronger than ever. But then again Russians never had a problem rewriting history, which in my opinion is a disgrace of the millions of men who sacrificed their lives in the real battles. It's a shame, honestly.

Well-done Russian war movie based on fine Soviet traditions

[fieldmarshall1917 · 10/10 · 7 December 2016]

First of all - a little story about the creation of that picture and it's difference from most of another recent Russian war movies.

Since Perestroika in Russian military cinema has began the era of "unmasking". All the directors and screenwriters were tried to make a WWII movie, where Soviet soldiers are portrayed as criminals and idiots and all the Soviet officials are pictured as drunks and butchers. Such a movies were "Shtrafbat", "Burnt by the Sun - 2" and many other. At the same time the creators of such movies has blamed all the Soviet WWII movie classics for it's "propaganda".

But most of the citizens of former USSR haven't pay respect for that modern pictures. Soviet classic movies about WWII like "Only "old men" are going into battle", "They have fought for the Motherlad" or "The burning snow" are still considering by millions of Russian, Belorussian, Ukrainian, Kazakh and other people of former USSR as irresistible classics which cannot be replaced by the modern "truth". In addition that old movies are also appreciated for it's soul, great actors performances and respect for the veterans.

Finally even the people who creates movies in Russia are got tired of such a disgusting performances as "Shtrafbat". That has happened around 2009 when Andrey Shaliopa has came up with the idea of "The Panfilov's 28 men" - a movie based on a well-known Soviet era legend.

Around 2011 (when the crowd-funding campaign of that movie has just begun) the screenwriter and director of "The Panfilov's 28 men" - Andrey Shaliopa - has promised all the people who has funded his picture, that it will be a new attempt to create a Soviet military movie classics. Five years later I can say that he completely fulfill his promise.

"The Panfilov's 28 men" is a well-done modern Russian film that is not blaming Soviet WWII movies but revise them in a contemporary technical way with necessary piece of respect.

The historical part of the movie is outstanding - all the weapons, guns, tanks are pictured correct. That is a great step forward for a Russian cinema.

The actors performances are great, considering there are not many familiar actors in that movie. But all the characters of the soldiers are portrayed trustfully. You can almost believe that one of that soldier is your own grandfather.

As resume I highly recommend "The Panfilov's 28 men" for all who likes war movies with fine technical part and plain but realistic plot.

Best Russian war movie since last 25 years

[dr_noise-723-407242 · 9/10 · 29 November 2016]

First off, don't pay attention to frostvortex's review since he/she is a troll spreading lies.

Panfilov's 28 battle is not a myth and is documentally proved by both Russian and German sources, the only inconsistency is the number 28 which is not correct. There were more than 100 fighters, and the movie also reflects that.

The movie is very dry but unique in its language. Don't expect anything Hollywood-like. It does not depict complex plots, flashbacks or tear-filled love story, no bursts of emotions, it does not have a main hero. It is almost documental since the viewer is indifferently thrown into one day of Panfilov's men life without being much prepared for it. No one cares about being introduced or explained to the viewer as everyone are busy preparing to fight the Nazi tanks. But each character's individuality can be recognized though the dialogs.

Next comes the battle which is just great. You have to hear that sound. You have to see it. No gibs, no gore, but it is really scary ang gives great impression of what Red Army soldiers have gone through. It literally puts you into their trench. Also, no super-heroes. Just the ordinary people who modestly gave their lives to stop the Nazis.

The level of realism and historical details is very high. You will see proper explosions, proper guns, proper tanks, proper uniforms and other things from that exact time.

Go and watch it.

pathetic - patriotic nonsense

[alexandersizikov · 1/10 · 23 March 2020]

The screenplay is absolutely not sane ! Shalopa, return money to people !

Must see war masterpiece, but read "Volokolamsk highway" to see through anti-soviet blinds in it

[or_bag · 10/10 · 7 December 2016]

You wouldn't believe that the budget of 28 Panfilovtsev is so laughable (1.7 millon $) compared to best Hollywood war movies, because it beats them all hands down. Combat scenes are so beautiful and realistic and gritty, the pace is just amazing and sound is insane. All of it together makes a masterpiece of battle cinematography.

Absolutely must see, even if you don't know the language - the combat would move you all the same.

But there's another thing you must do in order to understand what these heroes where fighting for. You must read a book from year 1944 called "Volokolamsk highway" by A.Bek which describes the war path of a single battalion in Red Army general Panfilov's (hence the name of the movie) division. The reason you need this book is not because you'll have a great time reading it (especially if you liked this movie), but because the director decided to remove almost every single thing that makes you understand that these are soviet people protecting their soviet motherland (except for insignia and uniform).

A good example would be that there is a pronounced depiction of a religious soldier saying a prayer, but there is no communist soldier talking about what a soviet man is with his comrades, or proudly accepting an order with "I Serve Soviet Union!" (analog of "Sir, yes Sir"), or shouting a battle cry "For Stalin! For Motherland!" before leading an attack against nazists - which is actually what people were usually saying in communist Red Army back then. But I think director figured it would be bad for his film to go against the flow of current rampant anti-soviet propaganda in Russia, so this side of the movie turned out to be hypocritically castrated.

And to compensate for this I recommend to read "Volokolamsk highway" either before or after watching this nevertheless great movie.

Another cheap budget ww2 movie

[dolcetugs · 1/10 · 13 May 2021]

First, this is not a Russian WW2 war movie.

It is a cheap budget, state propoganda from Kazakhstan, for 70th anniversary of the day of Glory. Nursultan Nazarbaev was 1st respectful visitor leader on that day. I have heard Kazakhstan was most helpful country during WW2.

For the movie, it was usual cheap propoganda, with stupid comrade dialogues and smoke grenades.