"Defiance" (Blu-ray)

Synopsis

In 1941, Hitler decided to invade the Soviet Union. It was a stupid move, because it opened his war on two fronts, but he had been so successful in marching across Europe, he thought Russia would fall into his hands within a couple of months.

In Belorussia, Germans murdered 50,000 Jews before a small group of survivors, headed by Tuvia Bielsky (Craig) and his brothers Zus (Schreiber) and Asael (Bell), escaped into the Lipiczanska forest. There, they met with other survivors and formed an armed resistance, attacking German offices that were being set up, and killing the Nazis who worked there.

They eventually built a large camp in the Perelaz forest and survived for several years, continuing to fight the Nazi invaders.

Commentary

As Americans, we need to realize that Germany was already losing the war before we joined the Allied Forces by declaring war on Japan in December, 1941. Hitler's stupidity in opening a second front in the east (Russia) was the cornerstone of Germany's downfall. Yet, we were fighting on two fronts as well: one was in Europe via the Atlantic Ocean, and the other with Japan, via the Pacific. Lucky for us that the enemy was not just right next door like it was in Europe and Japan. There was never really any serious attempt to attack the US mainland.

And yet, it still took four more years for the Allies to bring down the Nazis. How the world could have allowed this one country, with its worthless piece of Nazi hundescheiße in charge, a man who didn't even graduate from high school, to ultimately cause the death of some 67,000,000 people, 40 million of whom were civilians, is a subject that keeps the History Channel, and other channels, showing program after program on various aspects of WW-II. I suspect there will be no end of documentaries that show us new aspects of this most terrible part of human history. There are several magazines on WW-II that you can subscribe to, and I just finished reading the book Auschwitz by Laurence Rees (MJF Books, New York, 2005), and if you think you know pretty much what happened in the death camps, read this treatise and discover the true depth to which humankind can sink.

Technical

The image is sharp, but there is not much use of the surrounds. A shame. War movies are perfect for the use of sound envelopment.

Extras

These include the Director's Commentary, the Making of, and other things.