This film is set on the Russian front in WWII; however, there's no snow and ice as in this case the front is in the Crimea in summer, perhaps to make filming easier. The basic story is that of a German platoon being forced out by Soviet soldiers, and what transpires. James Coburn plays the hard but fair platoon sergeant well; and Maximilian Schell does well as the cowardly captain. There are plenty of Peckinpah trademarks, in particular thousands of bullets and no shying away from nastier things, except maybe in the few scenes involving women. There's a bit of a tension, perhaps intentional, between the theme of war as a senseless game, emphasised particularly in the opening and closing credits and in scenes where Coburn is concussed and hallucinating, and on the other hand the very sentimental themes of brotherhood and honour which run through the main story. ( )