Jithin K Mohan Clearly a propaganda film against Germany, Teutonic Knights stands for the Nazis in this jingoistic portrayal. But Eisenstein doesn't simply make a propaganda film, he revolutionized cinema through another propaganda film Battleship Potemkin but here there were co-directors and writers who specifically tried to keep him from going experimental and give a proper narrative. That may have affected a bit negatively but still, he made one of the most epic war films that have only aged a little by now. The cinematography and background score is absolutely terrific. The score and many of the sequences have been copied throughout the history of films where many of them have been hailed later as classics. Aside from the technical side even though the story and the characters are plain the film always pushed the propaganda to its margins. For a propaganda film, the amount of brutality of war and human suffering showed is quite much. The inclusion of all kinds of people in war, their bravery and showing a woman as the bravest soldier etc in that time is quite remarkable.

Hitchcoc Here we have thirteenth century view of a cold, harsh Russia that is about to be decimated. As the peasants await an attack a stone like hero emerges in Alexander Nevsky. This is an uplifting film in many ways because of the bleakness of existence. It was forged during a time when Stalin was trying to build bridges with the Nazis (how did that all work out). It is filled with anti-religious symbols and a secular plot. There is the great battle on the ice with the amazing Prokofiev score making it more and more provocative. The use of montage was Eisenstein's gift to the world of cinema here as there are cuts back and forth. The deaths of soldiers and the contorted faces show the sacrifice they make. Yes, it is propaganda. Yes, Stalin got his nose in this. But the individual scenes are masterworks of cinema, growing in intensity, a crescendo of jingoism and Russian salesmanship.

maxsharun I'd read several negative reviews. It authors - people who are not familiar with the history of the Battle of the Ice. Alexander Nevsky is a great Russian general and a prince. Alexander Nevsky is not a fictional character of the Ice was really in 1242. This film was propaganda, I agree. But this film does not take off anyway. This is not a Hollywood story, the characters are real, the troops of the Teutonic Order really fell through the ice. This true story was shown in patriotic style. How else in Russia should make films about his great military victories? I really did not like the way shown by German soldiers, just such bots from a computer game. But the film is in the tradition of '30s cinema, technically revolutionary for its time. The film was shot in Russia, where everyone knows who is Alexander Nevsky and what the Battle of the Ice. We must remember that a serious war loomed, the Great Patriotic War of 1941-1945. German troops had occupied my city too, the war had cost the lives of millions of my countrymen, and touched everyone in our country, the dead were in each family. Our country needs a film like this then perhaps needs now. Probably English subtitles and poor sound spoiled the view of the film. It would have been nice if the story about the ice carnage took European director. My recommendation is "wikipedia "The Battle of the Ice""

drystyx A celebrated director is tough to critique, as we'll be too tough or too lenient. I think it's best to just forget who directs this.This has all the makings of epic propaganda, of high adventure.Alexander is a war hero, and is called upon to fight the Tuetonic knights of Germany, who invade their land.The chief plot here becomes the subplot of a comic romantic triangle, however, and the interweaving of this is probably the only thing that saves this movie from fairly heavy ennui.We don't mind the Teutonic knights being evil, or Germans being the bad guys, but they are portrayed in a way that makes no sense. For some reason a papal court leads the knights in evil. Not only did the papacy have nothing to do with Hitler, and not only did Hitler persecute all theists, but this had nothing to do with the propaganda needs at the time. The best guess here is that Russia didn't want to offend the rest of the East.Aside from the propaganda, some things work. Alexander is well photographed throughout. Eisenstein's bright spot is in highlighting his hero.The rest of the movie is fairly dull, a struggle to get through. This was made in days of movie houses, so it is understandable that much of the movie is filler space for people to go to the lobby and buy popcorn and soda. This movie must have sold tons of popcorn and soda, because 50% of it is "walk out and buy popcorn and soda" time.Eisenstein doesn't flair as a director, but does have a knack for cameras. Use of cameras seems to be his forte.