SERIOUSLY. This is what the crap Hollywood still puts out?

Too much about the plot just didn't add up, the writing was bad, some of the scenes were cringey and awkward,

It was OK. I don't see why everyone loves it so much. It wasn't very smart or deep or well-directed.

Great example of an old-fashioned, pure-at-heart escapist event movie that doesn't pretend to be anything that it's not and has boat loads of fun being its own ludicrous self.

1944 (2015) This Estonian made war film takes place during July to November 1944. It starts with the battle of the Tannenberg Line where German and their Allied forces try to hold back the advancing Soviet Red Army.The film follows a small detachment of Estonian troops who are fighting for the Germans. The battle is hard fought and results in massive losses to the Red Army. The Red Forces are however far too great and the Germans and Estonians are forced to retreat towards the coast. The first 45 minutes or so follows this group during the battle and retreat.The film then shifts gear and follows another group of Estonians, this time the men are part of the Red Army. There is a brief fight between the two groups that ends once they realize they are all Estonian. The group fighting with the Germans withdraws leaving the field to the Red Army side. Now the film follows the Estonians who are fighting with the Reds as they advance.The politics in play here are the same for both sides. In 1940 the U.S.S.R. annexed Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia all at the same time. (The Soviets received a bloody nose when they tried the same move on Finland) The Soviet occupation had been brutal with many killed or shipped off to camps. When the Germans swept through during their 1941 attack on the USSR, they were looked upon as liberators by many.When the Germans put out a call for men to join an all Estonian unit to fight several thousand men signed up. (Several thousand more were drafted) Most join to get some payback on the USSR. The men fighting for the Reds were men drafted into the Red Army in 1941, or offered freedom from the camps if they fought for the Red Army. Both sides just wanted the war to end.The film is quite well made with excellent attention to weapons, uniforms etc. The battle scenes are all well handled with plenty of pyrotechnics on display.The film is a look at a rather unknown (in the west) story of World War Two and is worth the time imo.

The idea to focus on the tragedy of the Estonians in this war is a good possibility to show how war destroys humanity. But focusing can also cause a wrong picture. Focusing on destroyed German cities like Dresden, could portray simply all Germans as innocent victims of the British bombardments.A lot of Soviet WW2 war movies have a deficit in not showing that not everybody wanted to fight for their ideas. But they all have one thing in common. The defeat of the Nazis is the core objective that unites Eastern Europe. This movie instead focuses on the reverse perspective as if none Estonian wanted to fight against the Nazis and all who fought were forced to by the Red Army.Somehow I get the feeling the writer tries to tell us, it would have been better if the soviets didn't advance back in 1944. A short research about the writer confirmed this thought a bit with his justified antipathy of the soviet system. The interesting question is, could the Nazis have been defeated without the Soviets? And if not, what would Europe and Estonia look like? Would there be more human rights till 1991 or could it have been even worse? Additionally, his often advocating for a stronger Nato in the Baltics to defend it against the Russians completed the picture for me. Sad to see this looks like a promoting for a new cold war.For those who watched the movie already: Just imagine, you would cut 2 minutes of this film, where the soldiers didn't want to salute to the Nazi. Without this 2 minutes this whole movie could have been shown by the Nazi propaganda to rise the fighting spirit by showing how cruel the communists were. There is simply no more disapproving of the Nazis than this 2 minutes. I would even go further, that this movie would be close to be banned in a lot of countries without this 2 minutes. Following the arguments of 2 other reviews I think victorious fighting soldiers in Nazi uniforms followed by 90min of soviet cruelties is not an anti-war movie! If the Soviet Union still existed, it would be a call to fight against the soviets! I strongly disagree with any building up of a bogeyman nowadays, 70 years after WW2, no matter if against Germans or Russians! Today's Germans and Russians are not responsible for WW2!

A WW2 movie coming from Estonia. A part in that war many westerners forget about and even more so those not 'into' world war history. Originally Estonia declared neutrality in the war but was occupied by the Soviet Union in 1940. Mass political arrests,deportations, and executions followed. Many Estonians were force into the Red army. During the German Operation Barbarossa in 1941 Estonia was occupied by Germany. As a result many Estonians were conscripted to the Nazi German forces and also many became SS Volunteers, recognizable by the 'Blue, Black & White' Estonian flag on the sleeve of their SS uniform and Divisional insignia on their collars. This movie focuses on fighting in the year 1944. The Red Army advanced back into Estonia. Estonians are fighting on both sides, inevitably opposing each other. Without revealing too much about the plot, we all know how WW2 ended. Estonia was occupied by the Soviets and became part of the USSR until August 20, 1991. As an anti-war movie this movie succeeds in a marvelous way. It's insane how another man's war can bring such confusion and destruction to a small country like Estonia. Death can come any moment, but so can luck. No main character in the movie can be considered all good or all bad in that childish Disney kind of way. The pace of the movie is solid and speeds up where it is needed and takes time to dive deeper into the developing storyline(s) and characters of the movie. For those interested in larger battle scenes, the Battle of Tannenberg Line is impressive!For those that are fed up by American or Russian made movies about world war 2 making their side look like holier-than-thou victorious heroes, here's a real bleak and more realistic view on the war without that tedious black&white lens the big ColdWar contenders tend to put over it.

"1944" is a milestone in estonian movie-making. From start to end titles there is hard to find something to complain about. On the contrary: This movie can stand beside the other great movies from this genre with head held high. The characters and how the movie is build up was amazing. The diversity of characters and how they are making impact with a short time is incredible. Very emotional movie with great war scenes. The topic is something that I have not come across previously in same genre. This is why I think this movie is not must see just for people living in estonia, but also for international audience.