The Star (2002)

ZVEZDA– aka : The Star : 2002The time is summer 1944 and the place is the Eastern Front. The Soviet summer offencive has bulled its way to the border with Poland. The Soviets have stopped to bring up supplies etc for the next series of attacks. In order to have a better idea of the opposing German forces, Soviet headquarters has sent out several recon squads. These squads have failed to return. Headquarters decides they really need the info, so out goes another patrol of recon scouts. The patrol sneaks through the German lines at night under cover of a Soviet artillery barrage. They keep off the roads and cut across country. There main objective is a railway station 30 miles behind the lines. The Soviets works its way towards the station, but are spotted by a German patrol. The chase is now on, the Soviets to gather information, and the German's to kill or capture them. There are several clashes with German troops and the patrol starts to lose members. They do however discover that the Germans are hiding forces in the deep forest for a counter attack. They are also setting up fake tanks etc near the rail station to fool Soviet aerial reconnaissance.They have the info needed, but have lost their radio in a clash with some SS troopers. They pull a raid on a German outpost and steal a German radio. While holed up in a barn, they manage to contact headquarters. They pass on the needed intelligence just before the Germans show with a large force. There is a bloody firefight with the Soviet patrol being wiped out to the last man. This is a pretty decent war film, with some nice looking cinematography and good attention to military detail. The German Tiger tanks are of course not real, but they do make an effort to make them look real. Same with the German half-tracks, they are really post war Czech built items. When the war ended, the Czechs just continued to build the Sd.Kfz 251 for their use. All in all, the film is well worth a look.

I seen this movie about 10 times, its always damn nice 2 see it. Its the favourite movie of my cousin and in the way 4 people who likes seeing war movies its a pure god's gift 4 them, cause with this movie the russians could shows the world that there are always even exist good regiseurs and actors who can make such a hearttouching and interesting good movie. This movie has a typical russian movie-end like movies in the perestroika time(1986-1991).Because typical is the tragic end without happy end. Other russian movies like avaria-doch menta(1989), pomiluj i prosti(1988), katala(1989), kamyshovyj raj(1989), igla(1988)....have such a typical end, too.But it means not that the movie is bad, the movies are still good movies.

Russians always knew how to make a film about the World War II. This war is a large and deep scar on the hearts of all Russians, they suffered that war and they won it with the sacrifice of a whole nation.In the former USSR and now Russian Federation there is a lot of young filmmakers who probably have grandfathers or fathers who are war veterans or lost their lives in the most fierce battles in 1941-1943...That's why the memories are still alive and the pain is still fresh... It is needful to feel all this pain if you'd like to produce a film, which is able to make you understand even with just a tiny bit of your heart the meaning of the word "war" and what it's like to have no way back...

Just a very good movie about WW II. A true story about a small scout group with radio sign "The Star" (Zvezda) which got a task to find place of German tanks concentration. Two previous groups were lost and nobody knew where and how. The third group is completed by scouts from different fronts. "The Star" goes in both dark of night and obscurity understanding that enemy waits them leaving no chances to return. The movie stays in line with famous US movies like "Private Ryane" and "Thin Red Line". Very good battle scenes and music.