First Squad (2009/Anchor Bay Blu-ray + DVD)
Picture:
B/B- Sound: B-/C Extras: D Film: B+
It is
WWII and the German offensive has reached Russia and will do anything to turn
the tides of war, including occult and sorcery. German wizards plan to resurrect Baron Von
Wolfe, an ancient bloody war lord 700 years ago along with his undead army. To the normal human Von Wolfe would be
invisible, untouchable and invincible, the only line of defence falls onto the First Squad of the Red Army's psychic
soldiers, Nadya, a young girl who lost her memory in traveling circus, she has
the ability to see the unseen, to know what can't be possibly known and even glimpses
into the future ...and she sees Baron Von Wolfe.
She soon
discovers/realize she is the only surviving member of 'First Squad', special
psychic soldier trained to fight against the German supernatural forces. Along with spirits of her four dead friends
they must stop the prophecy of resurrection of Baron Von Wolfe and his army.
This animated film is based on the idea of German (particularly Nazi
fascination with and) love of the occult during WWII and Russian folklore and
legends. That there were two wars going
on in WWII, not only the physical battle between the soldiers and troops, but
another secret war between the psychics and supernatural. That the fate of the Red Army rest on the
shoulders of a young girl that would never be known, but this tells the tail
how she became a psychic and met her friends, how she journeyed to the
underworld to resurrect her friends to stop resurrection of another evil force.
Trailers are the only extra.
- Ricky Chiang
