T-34 is a 2018 military action adventure WW2 film, directed by Alexei Sidorov.
The film premiered in cinemas in Russia on January 1, 2019. The worldwide release took place on January 11, 2019. The television premiere of the film took place on May 9, 2019, on Victory Day, on the Russia-1 TV channel.
T-34 Movie Plot
November 1941. The Great Patriotic War is on. The advancing troops of Nazi Germany are approaching Moscow.
The young tanker of the Red Army, Nikolai Ivushkin, who had just graduated from the accelerated courses for junior lieutenants with honors, arrives at the front in the army in the area of the village of Nefyodovka near Moscow; along with a lorry driver who delivered provisions, they barely escape, nearly being targeted by a German tank.
At the location of the unit, Ivushkin is ordered to take command of the only surviving Soviet tank T-34-76, since only one tank and several soldiers remained among the survivors from the battalion.
Soon a unit of Hauptmann Klaus Jaeger from the 11th Panzer Division of the Wehrmacht arrives at the village. On November 27, 1941, a tank battle takes place, during which Ivushkin and his crew destroy the entire Yager tank company, with the first shot from an ambush – two tanks at once with one shell. At the end of the battle, the crew of Klaus Jager is left alone with the crew of Ivushkin. Opponents knock out each other’s cars. Only Yager, Ivushkin and driver Stepan Vasilyonok manage to survive. Ivushkin and Vasilyonok, being wounded, fall into Nazi captivity.
Summer 1944. Ivushkin and other prisoners of war are taken to Thuringia to the German concentration camp SIII. Nikolay, who has already escaped seven times, is kept in a special block, where he is brutally tortured to find out his name and military rank.
Jaeger, who has risen to the rank of SS Standartenführer, meets with SS Reichsführer Himmler and offers him his new strategy for training German cadets on “live” targets – mobile Soviet tanks manned by crews from among prisoners of war. Having received the training ground and permission to operate, Klaus heads to Camp SIII. In the card index of prisoners, he discovers his former enemy. Jaeger summons Nikolai for questioning. Threatening the death of Ostarbeiter -translator Anya Yartseva, a German officer forces Ivushkin to accept an offer to become a tank commander, which, without shells, will go to the training ground and come under fire “Panther”, staffed by German cadets. The life of the crew will depend only on their skill, and if they survive, they will continue to participate in such training.
Ivushkin recruits a team from among the prisoners of the camp, which includes Volchok, Vasilyonok and Ionov. The newest Soviet tank T-34-85, captured and brought from the front, is at their disposal. During the inspection of the tank, the heroes find the corpses of the crew and six miraculously undamaged live shells in it. Ivushkin asks permission to bury the crew of the tank and hides the shells in the grave. Ivushkin comes up with a plan: to escape from the training ground during training in order to reach the border of occupied Czechoslovakia (Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia), which is approximately 300 kilometers away.
Panther in T-34 Movie
After the repair, the tank is shown to the German command, admiring the skill of the crew, Jager orders to mine the surroundings around the camp. The interpreter Anna informs Nikolai about the mines and is ready to flee with Ivushkin. After stealing a map from the Standartenführer’s office, she leaves the camp. A number of German command officials arrive at the Jager test site for testing. The crew of the T-34-85 creates a smokescreen and knocks out one of the “Panthers” of the 12th SS Panzer Division “Hitler Youth”, fires a high-explosive fragmentation projectile at the command post of observation (while Jaeger and several officers manage to escape). Germans with machine guns and anti-personnel grenade they try in vain to stop the “thirty-four”, and Jager shoots at him with a pistol, but also in vain. T-34 breaks out of the range through the main gate. On the way, at the appointed place, Ivushkin picks up Anya.
The combat vehicle moves towards the border of the protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia, stocking up on supplies, fuel and weapons along the way. Jaeger pursues them with a group of tanks. The roads are blocked by anti-tank guns, Ivushkin’s crew manages to avoid traps. Further, after a halt, Ivushkin sends Anya to the Czech border on foot, and the crew is preparing to join the battle.
Upon reaching the evacuated city, they are confronted by five Panther-type tanks led by Jaeger. The fugitives deal with four of them: the first is knocked out by a ricochet on the paving stones in the lower part of the tank; the second is dealt with by Volchok, who destroyed his crew and captured the tank, but was injured at the same time, the third is neutralized by a sniper hit under the tower, and the fourth is destroyed at the last moment by Volchok, thereby diverting Yager to himself, and he finishes off the captured tank. After the thirty-four and the last Panther fired unsuccessfully (the shells collided with each other, changing the flight vector, and the T-34 shell breaks the night vision device of the Panther ), Yager gets out of the tank and throws down his glove, which means a duel offer.
Klaus Challenges the dual
Two tanks engage in a duel on a bridge. While Ionov is reading “Our Father”, Ivushkin’s crew miraculously manages to avoid serious hits (the left caterpillar and the commander’s cupola are damaged) and accurately hit the Yager tank’s observation slot with a return shot, after which the “thirty-four” goes to ram. Yager’s tank hangs helplessly on the edge of the bridge, Ivushkin approaches the car and sees the wounded Yager. Shaking hands with Ivushkin, thus showing respect for the winner, the German falls down with his tank and dies. After the battle, Ivushkin orders the crew to flood the T-34 so that it does not hit the enemy.
The film ends with Ivushkin and his team finding Anya in a meadow, and they all make their way to the Czech border on foot.
During the closing credits, it is shown how the post-war peaceful life of each of the heroes developed: Ionov serves in the temple and paints icons, Vasilyonok works on a tractor, he has a wife and three children, Volchok walks through the forest with a gun – perhaps he became a huntsman, Ivushkin brings Anna to his parents and asks for permission to marry.
Panther vs T34/85 Battle
T-34 Movie Review: A Riveting War Drama That Brings History to Life
T-34 is a Russian war drama film directed by Aleksey Sidorov, set during World War II, which tells the story of a group of Soviet soldiers who escape from a Nazi concentration camp in their tank T-34. Released in 2018, the film has quickly become a box office success, grossing over $40 million in Russia alone. In this review, we’ll take a closer look at what makes T-34 a must-watch movie for war film enthusiasts.
Panther on Testing Ground
One of the most impressive aspects of T-34 is its realistic and authentic portrayal of the war. The film captures the brutality and chaos of the Eastern Front, with stunning visuals and expertly choreographed battle scenes. The tank battles, in particular, are intense and visceral, with the T-34 and German tanks exchanging fire and maneuvering for position in a deadly game of cat-and-mouse. The sound design is also excellent, with the roar of the tanks and the explosions adding to the sense of immersion.
Another strong point of T-34 is its ensemble cast, with Alexander Petrov delivering a standout performance as Ivushkin. Petrov brings a sense of vulnerability and humanity to his character, making him a relatable and sympathetic protagonist. Other members of the crew, such as Artyom Bystrov’s mechanic Stepan Vasilyonok and Vinzenz Kiefer’s German soldier Klaus Jäger, also make a strong impression and add depth to the story.
The film’s pacing is also noteworthy, with Sidorov balancing action-packed sequences with quieter moments of character development and introspection. The film’s 139-minute runtime flies by, and the audience is left on the edge of their seats until the very end.
T-34 Cast
| Actor | Role |
| Alexander Petrov | junior lieutenant Nikolai Ivushkin |
| Vincenz Kiefer | Standartenführer Klaus Jaeger |
| Irina Starshenbaum | translator Anya Yartseva |
| Viktor Dobronravov | driver, sergeant Stepan Savelyevich Vasilyonok |
| Anton Bogdanov | gunner Demyan Volchkov (Volchok) |
| Yuri Borisov | tank loader T-34-85 Serafim Ionov |
| Semyon Treskunov | lorry driver Vasily Teterin |
| Wolfgang Czerny | tank sniper Wolf Hein |
| Artyom Bystrov | Captain Mikhail Korin |
| Pyotr Skvortsov | machine gunner Andrei Lykov |
| Robinson Reichel (German: Robinson Reichel) | Reichsfuehrer SS Heinrich Himmler |
| Mike Davies / Mike Davies | General Guderian |
| Joshua Grote | SS-Hauptsturmführer Hein Tilike |
| Christoph Glaubacker (German: Christoph Glaubacker) | Weiss |
| Christoph Urban (German: Christoph Urban) | Schlozer |
| Guram Bablishvili | infantry squad leader, foreman Guram Gabulia |
| Artur Sopelnik | loader of the T-34-76 tank, Red Army soldier Ivan Kobzarenko |
| Vladimir Vinogradov | german tanker |
| Elena Drobysheva | Ivushkin’s mother |
| Michael Janibekyan | episode |
Film crew
- Stage director and scriptwriter – Alexei Sidorov
- Director of photography – Mikhail Milashin
- Set Designer: Konstantin Pakhotin
- Composers – Vadim Mayevsky, Alexander Turkunov, Ivan Burlyaev, Dmitry Noskov
- Costume designer — Ulyana Polyanskaya
- Make-up artist — Irina Lyashko
- Editing director — Dmitry Korabelnikov
- Sound engineer – Alexey Samodelko
- Creative producer – Nikolai Larionov
- Producers – Ruben Dishdishyan, Anton Zlatopolsky, Leonard Blavatnik, Mikhail Kitaev, Nelli Yaralova, Yulia Ivanova, Anatoly Akimenko with the participation of Nikita Mikhalkov and Leonid Vereshchagin
Creation
T-34 Movie Scene
On September 10, 2015, it was announced that Mars Media would be producing the high-budget military action drama T-34. Later, producer Leonard Blavatnik joined the project, an investor, owner of Amedia and Warner Music studio, who chose this film from a large number of proposals, which was also due to personal motives (victory in the Great Patriotic War is part of family history, the producer’s grandfather is a front-line soldier), and other reasons – the best young artists, a first-class film crew and the successful experience of a partner, Mars Media, and personally Ruben Dishdishyan.
Director and screenwriter Alexei Sidorov set the task “to tell the story of the war in such a way as to captivate young people and not cause controversy among those who still keep the Great Patriotic War in their memory”.
Several tanks were filmed in the film, including a real T-34, shot down during the war. For the filming of the film, the car was restored: the engine was sorted out and brought to a combat state, the camouflage was recreated, which was used in the winter in 1941 under the name “winter forest”.
The production designer of the film, Konstantin Pakhotin, built an entire village in a field near the village of Strelkovka, Kaluga Region, in a month. Although the houses in the story will be destroyed at the very beginning of the film, each has its own, special style, carved finish. Props were carefully selected, with the help of local residents.
The concentration camp was filmed in the Czech city of Terezin on the territory of the real existing concentration camp Theresienstadt, now turned into the Ghetto Museum. For the scene of the arrival of the train with prisoners, real old German steam locomotives and wagons were used. Filming of the meeting with G. Himmler was in the Rudolfinum hall, Prague. Scenes with a tank on the streets were filmed in the Czech city of Loket.
Rental
The premiere of the film “T-34” in Russian cinemas took place on January 1, 2019. On the first day of hire, box office receipts amounted to 114,635,133 rubles.
The release of the picture “T-34” in the world distribution took place on January 11, 2019.
Criticism
- The film received mixed to mixed reviews. According to the Criticism aggregator – 5.5/10 (based on 26 reviews).
- Some publications, after the publication of the trailer and the premiere of the film, wrote about the similarity of the story told with the plot of the Soviet drama film “Lark” in 1964, while noting that “T-34” cannot be considered a remake of “Lark”: both manner and method presentation, and the general outline of the narrative, and the finale of these two paintings are very different.
- According to film critic Anton Dolin, the authors made a high-budget military blockbuster, almost clearing it of the propaganda and ideological component: “the film about the Great Patriotic War successfully dispensed with patriotic propaganda”. The creators do not pretend that the “T-34” is a picture based on real events, at its core it is “pure fantasy adapted for teenagers”. The critic notes the schematism of the plot and the weak elaboration of the characters’ characters.“This exemplary fearlessness, this programmatic heroism is a little embarrassing. At first, you don’t understand what. And then you remember what the T-34 traces its genealogy to: Soviet films about the war. In the best of them, the opponents were not the Germans, as here, but the war as such. In “The Destiny of a Man”, Ivan’s Childhood, The Cranes Are Flying ”, The Ballad of a Soldier ”, Checking on the Roads“For all the differences, there was one conceptual similarity: they showed how a person retains the human in himself thanks to the desire for the world and the memory of it. The T-34 space is arranged fundamentally differently. It is given over to a total endless war, in which comforting simplicity reigns: there are ours, there are enemies, and the enemies must be beaten to the bitter end. Without pain and bitterness, with passion and frenzy of the players of the computer championship”.
- Novaya Gazeta columnist Larisa Malyukova reflects on the role of tanks in modern Russian cinema. Sidorov took into account the shortcomings of the “tank” films of 2018 “Indestructible” and “Tanks”: “In his picture, the propaganda itch is partly tamed by uncomplicated adventures and energetic battles, seasoned with humor, rouged with love bliss”. Just like Dolin, Malyukova compares the film with Soviet films on a military theme: “In those films, Faulkner ’sidea: you can’t come out of a war as a winner. They had an awareness of the global catastrophe that the Second World War was for our people. In the latest domestic film war, one cannot find the author’s point of view. Instead of turning to myth, there is a mythologization of history. Instead of the anti-war spirit – the motto “We can repeat!”, A call to heroism. Instead of a cruel smart enemy – solid idiots. The romanticization of the war, the feeling of lightness of victory covers the screen”.
- Critic Valery Kichin writes in Rossiyskaya Gazeta that it is impossible to form an idea of what the Great Patriotic War is in reality from the film: “According to the plot, this is a legend like “Bumbarash” or “Elusive”, in style – the scenario of a computer game called“ T-34″. That is, the spectacle is primarily spectacular and reckless”. A dashing adventurous plot, a conditional setting of the action, a peculiar beauty even in the process of destruction – “yes, this is a movie fairy tale about the feat of arms of that very folklore hero who, as you know, rides, rides, does not whistle, but runs over – will not let go. And the authors, of course, were inspired by the style of the battle quest: they use game techniques that are well known to the modern viewer, and the wonderful feeling that the heroes have several lives in reserve accompanies the entire film. And the actors here do not so much play as they play: at the moments of the most improbable plot somersaults, a crafty spark of cheerful excitement slips in their eyes. This sincerity removes all claims: military classics were filmed by people who went through a real front, now people who have combat experience in the quest have come, they have different skills and ideas about war”. Reviewer Yevgeny Bazhenov criticized the abundance of unreasonably slowed down frames and the unreliability of the picture; he also criticized the film for the fact that the victorious actions of the Russians in it are justified rather by some kind of fantastic “miracle of war”, and many important details are omitted or misrepresented. According to him, everything that happens in the film is so implausible that it would be no less surprising and quite reasonable if the main characters of the film immediately flew to Moscow in their tank.
- Maxim Sukhaguzov (“Afisha Daily”) considered that the picture creates an ideological dissonance, displaying the war in the spirit of “Fast and the Furious’ on tanks in IMAX for school age”.
Awards and nominations
| Reward | Ceremony date | Category | nominee | Result |
| Golden Eagle | January 24, 2020 | Best Feature Film | Alexei Sidorov, Anton Zlatopolsky, Ruben Dishdishian, Leonid Blavatnik, featuring Leonid Vereshchagin and Nikita Mikhalkov | Nomination |
| Best Director | Alexey Sidorov | Victory | ||
| Best Screenplay | Alexey Sidorov | Victory | ||
| Best Actor in a Motion Picture | Alexander Petrov | Nomination | ||
| Best Actress in a Motion Picture | Irina Starshenbaum | Nomination | ||
| Best Supporting Actor | Viktor Dobronravov | Nomination | ||
| Best Cinematography | Mikhail Milashin | Nomination | ||
| Best Production Design | Konstantin Pakhotin | Nomination | ||
| Best Costume Design | Ulyana Polyanskaya | Nomination | ||
| Best Film Editing | Dmitry Korabelnikov | Nomination | ||
| Best Sound Engineer | Alexey Samodelko | Nomination | ||
| Best Makeup and Plastic Effects Artist | Irina Lyashko | Nomination | ||
| Best Visual Effects | LLC “Algus-Studio” | Victory |
Recommended for you
