Stalingrad vs Cross of Iron [War movies part 1]

Last night I rewatched both Stalingrad and Cross of Iron - both movies were among the first in my DVD collection many years ago , and I had not seen them in a while. Coincidently both movies are about the Eastern front, and takes place roughly a couple of months apart during 1943.

I had not planned on doing this but after last night I think I'll have to make a comparison between German movies about WW2 and the Hollywood version of the subject. So this will be a 3 part weekly deal where I compare movies that are similar to each other.

Stalingrad compared to Cross of Iron
Das Boot compared to U-571
Der Untergang compared to.... well Inglorious Basterds (I will explain why in part 3).

Before I go on, these comparisons and reviews will be done from the heart - meaning there will be slight spoilers and my honest opinion expressed in its raw form. Should you be offended by it or think otherwise - this is only what I think.

I do hope however that after you have seen all these movies you will pretty much agree with me on that the Germans are exceptional filmmakers when it comes to capturing the madness of war in a realistic and gritty way.

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Stalingrad vs Cross of Iron

I was pretty much overwhelmed last night after having finished watching both movies. Overwhelmed by the fantastic movie that was Stalingrad and what garbage Cross of Iron was. It had been a couple of years since I had watched either so I did not remember much of the plot beyond the general framework.

Stalingrad is about a German Sturmbattalion sent to Stalingrad and chronicles the final days of their suffering in the freezing cold, with dirt, starvation, madness and suffering going on all around them.

Cross of Iron is a movie that is all over the place, but I guess it centers around corporal Steiner and his reconnaissance  platoon but the main plot is also about captain Stransky who voluntarily transferred to the Eastern front in order to earn himself a Iron Cross.

So while Stalingrad has a strong theme of anti war without being on the nose every 4 seconds and being about the wish of going home in one piece as the front collapses - Cross of Iron is about a douchebag who whines about a medal which he must earn or else he will be ridiculed at home by his upper class family and friends.

What really triggered me to do this review was the IMDB score of 7.5 which both movies share and the ignorant comments and descriptions on the Cross of Iron board calling it a fantastic movie and one of the best war movies EVER!

I’m a firm believer of the idea that if you have an opening theme song and credits sequence the quality of that will reflect upon the remainder of the movie. It tells you what kind of thing you’re about to watch. Stalingrad opens with a haunting tune, which carries a seriousness and melancholy. Cross of Iron opens up with an artsy freeze frame montage of WW2 material showing happy Nazis and some kind of cheery Hitler Youth song being sung by children. And of course even the goddamn intro credits for Cross of Iron got to have an explosion in them. It’s like a failed Sergio Leone intro sequence made by amateur copycats.

Furthermore you instantly notice one other important difference – Stalingrad is a German movie, so they speak German. Cross of Iron is filled with “Germans” speaking the queen’s English – and normally I don’t care what language a movie is in but English speaking German soldiers is the most silly thing  on film, and it rarely works well. And neither do the actors in Cross of Iron look especially German either. They look like dirty bums, even when covered in dirt and freezing their asses off swept in blankets the soldiers in Stalingrad look like Germans. It’s also about the details such as haircuts.  Stalingrad gets it, whereas Cross of Iron is populated by officers who look like a Oasis cover band members stuck in a trench without soap and water for 4 months. And you might think “hey man, knock it off – those guys have been in those muddy trenches and that look is authentic!”, well why is it that only a FEW of the Germans in  Cross of Iron insist upon looking like dirty hobos while the majority retains some sort of realistic cleanliness. If you are going to make the staff officers look as if they’ve been partying on crack cocaine for 4 days straight and have slept in their own vomit – then surely that look should apply to the entire company?

Another thing that makes Cross of Iron a matinee style of adventure is the silly ricochet sound when machineguns fire. You know, that stock sound from hell that sounds like it should belong in the Cayote & The Road runner cartoon. Way to break the illusion of a firing MG42. So, the haircuts, the language, looks and sounds are shit in Cross of Iron. Surely it has to have some redeeming qualities? That is true, and you can see traces of it in various short scenes. There is a scene where corporal Steiner ends up in a German army hospital and a German General or something comes for a visit and wants to shake the hand of one of the patients – who is missing both hands.  The actor playing corporal Steiner is also good, and so is the cast of his platoon. It’s not their fault the movie sucks, it the screenplay.

Because this movie does not know what it wants to be. It opens up with a ridiculous sequence where Steiner is described as some sort of legend by the high ranking officers, “he does what he wants but my God is he good or what?!” kind a deal. The movie also uses slow motion effects for some reason, and the sequences that are used for the slow motion does not even warrant the use of that effect. Steiner empties his MP40 into a bunch of Russian soldier * slow motion effect of him throwing an empty clip at the ground *. Leaves you wondering what the purpose of that was, it also mixes comedy, tired and weak anti-war messages, typical Hollywood WW2 heroics and lame story.

The main villain on Cross of Iron, captain Stransky is supposed to be the main villain but comes of like a twerp and is used for comic relief – he even looks funny when he’s just standing around. There is one scene where he hides under a small table when the Soviets are shelling his position, another scene he runs around doing nonsensical shit which takes the seriousness out of the fact that men around him are being blown to pieces by Soviet artillery. And the movie ending, don’t even get me started. My reaction was literally “What the fuck kind of ending is that?!” , not only does it not make any sense but it also feels as if there was 5-10 minutes missing? And of course that silly Hitler Youth song at the end, God forbid if you had repressed it in your memory that you forget about it altogether.

Stalingrad, it is a far superior movie. Recap on the good score, accurate language and haircuts – the movie also has a more realistic tone. There is no one giving you moral stories that are on the nose, when soldiers are tired and get mental breakdowns because of the war and the slaughter going on around them it is believable. In Cross of Iron you have pretty much everyone whining and nagging all the time but it feels forced, fake and corny most of the time. The characters in Stalingrad are also more believable, and you can feel their panic during firefights and the cold when they later start freezing to death. The main villain if you like is unlike Stransky in Cross of Iron a proper asshole without any comical qualities to his person.

Even the action sequences feel authentic and not that old fashioned Hollywood style “this is the main character so he won’t die”-heroics.  The movie does a fantastic job of capturing the freezing cold winter of Soviet Russia and features many scenes during the second half that does a great job of capturing that total defeat and death of the 6th army. And the ending, I won’t spoil it or hype it – let’s just say it is better than the Cross of Iron ending.

If you want to see an “OK” Hollywood style war movie as they were used to be made, then watch Cross of Iron. If you want to see a really good movie about WW2 from the German perspective I really recommend Stalingrad. I hope you can tell the movies apart from the pictures attached to this post.

I would rate Cross of Iron 6/10, it has entertainment value. But a lot of flaws.
Stalingrad is a solid 8.5/10 in my opinion.



Next week, Das Boot vs U-571