Five movies about WW2 you should avoid

Recently was the 79th anniversary of the end of the Second World War in Europe. During this time, filmmakers from all over the world have made hundreds of projects dedicated to these dramatic events. But some of them have turned out to be questionable, to say the least, even if they claim to be somewhat realistic.

Euroradio has compiled its anti-rating of such unsuccessful war films.

Pearl Harbor (2001)

Michael Bay's spectacular blockbuster about the Japanese Navy's attack on American sailors at Pearl Harbor is full of historical inaccuracies. One of the most glaring is when Ben Affleck's character, an American Air Force pilot, joins the RAF Eagle Squadrons and fights alongside the British.

While the Eagle Squadrons were made up of American pilots, they were volunteers, not members of the U.S. Army. Since America had not yet entered the war, active military personnel simply could not join.

Better watch this: Tora! Tora! Tora! (1970)

"The Fall of Berlin (1950)

Mikhail Chiaureli's film is a vivid example of late Stalinist propaganda cinema. Not only does it mythologize the role of the Soviet tyrant in the Soviet victory in the war, but it also caricatures the Germans as operetta thieves, without a hint of morality or bravery.

Not surprisingly, after Stalin's death, the film was ridiculed even by his colleagues on the CPSU Central Committee. Nikita Khrushchev called it "nauseating" during the XX Congress.

Better watch Der Untergang (2004)

Defiance (2008)

"Defiance" is an artistic retelling of the story of the Bielski brothers. In real life, the Bielskis were a quartet of Jewish Belarusians who set up a camp in the woods to escape the Holocaust. At the same time, they engaged in sabotage and raids against the Nazis.

In some respects, the film was quite accurate - especially regarding the trials of life in the Naliboki Forest. Nevertheless, some Polish historians criticized it for "redrawing some unpleasant episodes of history," including crimes against the inhabitants of Western Belarus.

Better watch The Bielski Brothers: Jerusalem in the Woods (2006)

"Stalingrad" (2013)

The Battle of Stalingrad (now Volgograd) was one of the most brutal battles of the war, and the Soviet victory turned the tide of World War II in Europe. It is reasonable for Russia to honor the veterans of its greatest battle, but Fyodor Bondarchuk's film is a parody, not a project that should reflect the essence of the event.

"Stalingrad" is essentially a CGI attraction that says nothing about the battle, the state of its participants, or its consequences. Instead, we are told a melodramatic love story, ridiculous and outdated. Its very inclusion in the movie is proof that the filmmakers were looking for ideas to fill the viewing time.

Better watch Stalingrad (1993)

Battle of the Bulge (1965)

Even Hollywood stars Henry Fonda, Charles Bronson and Robert Shaw couldn't save this two-and-a-half-hour war drama about the Wehrmacht's failed offensive in the Ardennes in December 1944. In addition to an objectively terrible script, the film is rife with technical errors that make it hell for history buffs.

Most stunning of all is the climactic tank battle scene, shot in the bright, sunny Spanish prairie - a poor substitute for the harsh forests of wintry Belgium. The filmmakers got it so wrong in so many ways that former President Dwight Eisenhower, who commanded Allied forces in Europe during the war, specifically went to the American media to let them know how much he hated the movie.
 

Better watch: Patton (1970)