Operation Barbarossa (Documentary)

 

Picture: C+     Sound: C+     Extras: D     Documentary: B-

 

 

One of the most important battles in World War II was Operation Barbarossa pitted The Soviets under Josef Stalin against Hitler’s Nazis.  These were the most militarized armies of the time and even since.  The United States never had (or had to have had) such vast armies.  This 1971 documentary written, produced and directed by Peter Batty runs an hour, but offers a fine array of footage showing how this would be Hitler’s downfall.

 

It is widely known that Hitler broke the non-aggression pact between the two countries and grossly underestimated how far Stalin would go to ravage his soldiers.  The “scorched earth” policy left nothing for Nazis to use as Stalin’s Communists slowly retreated, making The Nazis even more overconfident than usual.  The program wisely notes that it was a battle royal between the two biggest totalitarian governments ever known, and even though Hitler had the original Axis Of Evil on his side with Japan and Italy, this would mean nothing in the long run, especially with that Axis needing to still battle The U.S. and the other Allies.

 

Also acknowledged is that whoever won would be potentially be able to challenge the U.S. for the #1 superpower in the world, far before nuclear weapons were an issue.  That negated the argument and led to that Cold War you always hear about, but the idea was that either Fascism or Stalinism could make a better, stronger, happier, richer country, not considering all the genocide both did on record scales.  The irony is that both sides of soldiers fought for a prize that neither would get, or would be possible when conventional weapons became a joke as compared to nuclear seems like dark justice.  This work shows the banality of power drives, especially when fueled by the ultimate hatreds.  Despite its age, Operation Barbarossa is worth seeing and holds up better than you would think.

 

The 1.33 X 1 full frame image offers all kinds of footage, especially black and white, but has shots we usually do not see.  Too bad this could not have been longer to show further after-effects, as well as the fall of the U.S.S.R. in the 1980s and what lessons the battle may have taught the U.S. to do.  The Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono is adequate for this presentation, but shows its age.  There are no extras.

 

 

-   Nicholas Sheffo