This film begins in World War 2 with a young Russian officer by the name of "Semyon Konovalov" (Andrey Chernyshov) scanning the area with his binoculars and to his horror finding a German panzer aiming its gun directly at the tank he is on. When the shell hits it he is thrown out into a field and all but one member of his crew is killed. Thinking that everyone is dead the German panzer then moves on to another Russian tank stuck in the mud leaving both Russian soldiers to be picked up afterward and taken to a surgical hospital for life-saving treatment. Once recovered Semyon is assigned to a military school as an instructor to train new tankers on Russian tactics. Eventually, after much insistence on his part, he is then sent back to the field where he is given a KV-1 heavy tank to command and it's at this time that the film really takes off. Now rather than reveal any more I will just say that this was a very good "tank film" which incorporates a realistic military background, good drama and some excellent special effects and action. It was only after reading that it was inspired by true events that I did some research and found some very noticeable embellishments that were totally unnecessary and led to a slightly lower score than I had originally given. For example, the entire situation with Semyon's wife "Pavla Chumak" (Olga Pogodina) was rather difficult to accept once I had finished my research. There were other minor issues here and there but that particular one aside, this was still a good film for the most part and I have rated it accordingly. Above average.
