4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
A heroic war story that captures the patriotic spirit of Poland, August 10, 2008
This review is from: Major Hubal (DVD)
Hubal takes us back in history to the early part of World War II. It is the courageous story of Polish soldiers that fight despite the overwhelming odds. The movie opens with black and white news footage with an announcer that says even if the odds are against Poland they will take some of the enemy down with them. This statement foretells the fate of Major Hubal and is the theme of the film.
Within a month of the outbreak of the war much of Poland was devastated; its army crushed and scattered. This story shows us the exploits of the soldiers under Major Hubal who refuse to quit even though they fight against an overwhelming adversary. In the months that follow, they struggle to keep hidden and ambush the Germans at every opportunity they have. Hubal's exploits give hope to the people and he has a line of recruits that want to join them in every village (they even recruit a young woman and a priest).
Hubal is a heroic war story that captures the patriotic spirit of Poland. Each month for them is a hard, up-hill struggle but they fight on. If you are into older war films, Hubal delivers action and heroics that keep the suspense tense and provides great entertainment.
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3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
One of the most heroic stories of all time, August 29, 2008
This review is from: Major Hubal (DVD)
When Germany attacked Poland on September 1, 1939, thousands of young Polish men went to fight for their homeland. Many did not return. Many were scattered to the wind, either to end the war in POW camps, or fighting on the behalf of other nations. A few remained. "Major Hubal" is the courageous story of Henryk Dobrzanski, and his small unit. Dobrzanski and his men were, as he says in the movie, " a visible resistance" by wearing their uniforms. More than that, they were a sign of hope for the oppressed people of Poland. Hubal and his unit's exploits are extraordinary. This movie tells a story of heroism, patriotism, Lies, deceit, betrayal, and culminates in the death of one of Poland's national heroes. This is a fantastic movie for someone who enjoys war films. A must have for any collection.
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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
The Inspiring True story of an Unknown Struggle during World War 2, March 23, 2011
This review is from: Major Hubal (DVD)
MAJOR HUBAL (1973) Directed by Bohdan Poreba.
Starring Ryszard Filipski as Major Henryk Dobrzanski and a cast of
impossible names to spell let alone pronounce.
The film tells the true......and highly inspiring story of Major
Henryk Dobrzanski who, after the fall of Warsaw in 1939, refuses to
surrender to the Third Reich or join the nascent Polish underground but
rather opts to take his calvary force into the forests and keep
fighting as the Independent Polish Army. Remarkably the small
outnumbered calvary force manages for seven months to harass and defeat
the Germans until, as National Socialist Germany begins its drive west,
the Wehrmacht reaches out its steel hand and makes a fist.
About as different a film from the other Polish film about the 1939
invasion of Poland by Nazi Germany LOTNA as can be imagined. Where the
Poles in that film spent most of their time struggling against
symbolism and the problems of the meaning of life, Major Hubal--the
alias Dobrzanski takes to protect his loved one from German
retaliation----only cares about fighting the Germans and the liberation
of his country. In fact this film even takes a swipe at LOTNA in
that--like that film, the Polish calvary encounters a wondeful White
Stallion--but here, instead of the horse representing something or
other, Hubal simply mounts it and rides off to attack the Germans for
the glory of Poland.
The film is marred by the typical jarring editing that European
films of the era suffered from or chose as a style. Many of the lesser
characters are not as well delinated as they might be. The battle
scenes are both effective and ineffective--sometimes at the same time.
The film has a smaller budget than LOTNA and could not afford to show a
Messerschmidt strafing the Poles and there are no tanks......but
presumably they would all be in the Ardenne at this time rather than
being used to fight a small band of Polish horsemen.
The film is absolutely unigue in that it dramatizes a theater of
operations during the Second World War---called in the West the Phony
War--but was hardly that in Poland covering the period of Sept, 1939 to
April, 1940 that has---to my knowledge--never been touched before. As
per the year the film was made, there is constant criticism of Britain
and France---as "betraying Poland" but nary a word about Communist
Russia whose alliance with the Nazis allowed what was a combined
German/Russian invasion of the country to take place. Hubal never
attacks any Red Army units only Wehrmacht.
The film is not perfect but generally exciting, interesting and
rather dashing. This could easily have been something Erroll Flynn
might have done in his heyday. Sort of a cross between THE EDGE OF
DARKNESS and THE CHARGE OF THE LIGHT BRIGADE.
Long live Poland.
Recommended.
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