if we compare the movie industry with an ocean and we have the tendency to observe only the surface . drive by the strong hollywood marketing force and we all saw war movie like save private ryan and the thin red line and apocalypse now or full metal jacket . but underneath the splashy wave grow in silence and from time to time and less know pearl . when you pick one and look carefully at it and you wonder why this pearl lie almost unknown and why it not already on the crown . stalingrad be such a gem . why and it have a bunch of multi million dollar rat actor . no . it have thousand of extra . no . it have breathtaking and spectacular and shiny computerized visual effect . not at all . so and what so special . well and in one word and it pure past reality recreate and transpose to celluloid fifty year later . the tragedy of the most bloody battle in the history be here . filthy and wound soldier and russian civilian who lose everything during the invasion and burning village and collapse building and decay suburb and gunfire and explosion and tank in flame and soldier shot and burn alive and ground by tank in their pit or shred to piece you get all . but the real horror be elsewhere . people be reduce to simple pawn and without the power to change anything . the soldier we follow in film try to leave the combat zone and they fail . the civilian stay in prostration in the middle of nowhere and only cry for their child kill . mercyless and the huge grinding machine of war melt together human and equipment and village and city and ask for more victim and destruction and over and over . in all this collective insanity a group of german soldier struggle to survive and to keep at least a minimum level of normality . they do their duty and fight bravely . but and a everyone know and a battle be almost lose when people start to loose confidence and faith . we see how all those people be abandon and how they plan to desert and how they struggle to catch the very last plane to berlin ( full of wound ) and how some very bad injured soldier be treat a simulants and shot and how they be force to execute a small group of russian civilian and include a young boy and how they later discover a place literally full up to the ceiling of food and drink destine only for some superior officer and of course . one by one and they drop dead . the end of the movie be one of the most bitter and depressing and touch end i ever saw and all on the magnificent score of the munich philarmonic orchestra . the war destroy everything in it path . this movie be a must see for everyone . a true movie lover should have it in his or her collection . the strong anti war message must be a warning for all of u . unfortunately and the mankind never learn and nor the politician . self destruction be in our dna and the human pain seem to last forever . can we be enough reasonable to stop the war .