A few of weeks ago I was watching one of my favorite YouTube shows where visual effects artists watch, react, and critique visual effects from various films and television shows. During that episode that had a couple of sequences from recent Russian films one of which was T-34 a World War II story about a Russian tank crew.

The story takes place in two period, the first during the German invasion of the Soviet Union as the NAZI forces approach Moscow when our lead character Ivushkin is part of a desperate effort to blunt the threat to his county. The second and majority of the film take place four years later when Ivushkin and others escape a POW/Concentration camp, thing seem a little mixed up in the movie but it is not one you’d watch for any form of historical accuracy, with a repaired T-34 tank and half a dozen rounds of ammunition making a desperate drive for freedom.

Sadly, the edition available on Amazon Prime is dubbed and there is no Russian language version for streaming. While the voice actors did what they could I and my sweetie-wife prefer subtitled movies to dubbed ones. She likes listening to the foreign languages and I find that the vocal performances tend to be better.

There are quite a few technical errors in the movie but this is not the sort of story where you want gritty, depressing realism. It is a story of heroism against an evil foe. (Set aside that the Soviet unions murdered millions this is their mythology and everyone is the hero of their own myths.) The use of elaborate visual effects through the tank battle sequences that follow fired rounds in exaggerated slow motions provided a lot of engaging moments.

The film was a smashing success at the Russian box office and it is easy to see why. The stars are engaging, the story never really pauses, and it celebrates a heroism that everyone can imagine. This is a perfect streaming choice of a Saturday matinee.