NEW from Russia with Love!

Liberation is an epic five-part film series considered the most large-scale World War II film ever made in the Soviet Union. Filmed from 1967 to 1971, the first part was released during 1970 for the 25th anniversary of Victory Day. Filmed using hundreds of T-34/85s, JS III's, real lookin mock Tigers, thousands of troops and dozens and dozens of real German & Soviet WWII support equipment and realistic uniforms.  The actors all look like their historical counter parts.  A massive production with interesting insights into the Soviet psyche and viewpoint of WWII which Western historians for decades have embraced!

The films are a dramatized account of the liberation of the Soviet Union's territory and the subsequent defeat of Nazi Germany in the Great Patriotic War, focusing on five major Eastern Front campaigns: the Battle of Kursk, the Lower Dnieper Offensive, Operation Bagration, the Vistula-Oder Offensive and the Battle of Berlin.

The series was created under the aegis of Soviet authorities, with the military and political establishment heavily involved in the production. Liberation was intended to present a heroic depiction of the Soviet role in the Second World War. Although many critics described it as an unrealistic glorification of the past, it became one the most widely recognized Soviet films dealing with the subject.

DVD109 - LIBERATION: Battle of Kursk - The Fire Bulge

Film I: The Fire Bulge

Both the Germans and the Soviets prepare for the anticipated Battle of Kursk. On 5 July, Soviet troops capture a German sapper who reveals that an all-out offensive would commence on 0300. General Konstantin Rokossovsky orders General Vasily Kazakov to launch a preemptive artillery strike. At 0310, Captain Tzvetaev, an anti-tank gun battery commander, observes his quiet sector along with Major Orlov and Major Maximov. Their commander, Lieutenant Colonel Lukin, tells them to prepare for the upcoming assault.

General Nikolai Vatutin puts General Mikhail Katukov's force on combat alert. Sergeant Dorozhkin hastens to wake up his commander, Lieutenant Vasiliev. Soon after, the Germans finally attack. In the Sachsenhausen concentration camp, General Andrei Vlasov addresses the Soviet prisoners of war, exhorting them to join the Russian Liberation Army. Yakov Dzhugashvili refuses to write to his father when Vlasov offers to exchange him for Field Marshal Friedrich Paulus.

The German tanks advance, overwhelming the Soviet defenses. Many soldiers panic. Maximov flees, but turns back when he is accused of cowardice. After being knocked unconscious, he is captured. The visiting Walter Model sets him free so he could tell of the inevitable German victory. Shocked, Maximov taunts his interrogator, who shoots him.

When General Aleksei Antonov informs Stalin about the German proposal regarding Yakov, he rejects it, saying he will not trade a Field Marshal for a soldier. In Yugoslavia, Tito's partisans break out of an encirclement.

On 11 July the Soviet counter-offensive is launched. Field Marshal Erich von Manstein commits all his forces to a final assault. Vasileev's crew are drawn into a combat between German and Soviet tank crewmen who abandoned their burning vehicles.

Vatutin begs Vasilevsky to call Stalin and convince him to send in the reserve. The 5th Tank Army and the 5th Guards Army counter-attack, repelling the Germans. The commander of the 19th Panzer Division commits suicide after failing to defeat the Soviets. The Red Army is victorious.

DVD109 - LIBERATION: Battle of Kursk - The Fire Bulge

Details: Filmed in Color and Black and White, Liberation part 1-5 is 477 minutes long, Plays on USA DVD, English subtitle.

$40.00 +s/h

DVD110

LIBERATION: Breakthrough - Lower Dnieper Offensive

Film II: Breakthrough - Lower Dnieper Offensive

After the Allied landing in Sicily, Mussolini is arrested on the King's orders. In Warsaw, The Polish Resistance bombs a German cinema. After Mussolini is rescued, Hitler tells him that the Soviets will never breach the Dnieper line.

The Red Army reaches the river. Lukin's regiment crosses it, presumably as the division's vanguard. Lukin's commander, Gromov, is told that his soldiers on the other bank are merely a ploy to mislead the enemy, and the main crossing would take place elsewhere. The regiment is cut off without reinforcements and wiped out in the fighting against the Germans and the RLA. Lukin is killed. Tzvetaev leads the surviving soldiers back to their lines.

In Moscow, Stalin orders Antonov to capture Kiev until 6 November, the eve to the anniversary of the October Revolution. General Rybalko stealthily redeploys his Tank Army to support the operation. When Zhukov doubts General Kiril Moskalenko's plan to take the city, General Yepishev assures him it would work. After a fierce fight, Kiev is liberated. In Tehran, the Allied leaders meet to discuss the future of the war.

DVD110 - LIBERATION: Breakthrough - Lower Dnieper Offensive

Details: Filmed in Color and Black and White, Liberation part 1-5 is 477 minutes long, Plays on USA DVD, English subtitle.

$40.00 +s/h

DVD111

LIBERATION: Angle of Attack - Operation Bagration

Film III: Angle of Attack - Operation Bagration

Part 1

In Tehran, Stalin declares that a Soviet offensive would take place soon after the Normandy landings. At the British embassy in Ankara, the ambassador's butler steals classified documents. In Poland, Vatutin is killed in an ambush. In the Kremlin, the Stavka decides to strike in Belarus.

Meanwhile, Orlov's battalion is engaged in heavy fighting. Zoia insists to evacuate the wounded. To save her from being captured, Orlov leads his soldiers in a charge and takes the enemy-held height.

After concluding that the Belarus marshes are passable, Rokossovsky demands that the main effort will be directed towards Bobruisk and insists on it until Stalin approves. Zhukov suggests sending the four Tank Armies to Ukraine. The German High Command is convinced that the offensive would be in that direction. Panteleimon Ponomarenko orders the Belorussian partisans to attack all railways. Operation Bagration is launched. When his plane crashes, the Normandie-Niemen pilot Jacques is rescued by Soviet pilot Zaitsev. After Zaitsev takes off, they are both shot down by Flak.

Part 2

The Soviets march on Bobruisk, destroying General Hamann's forces. Outside the city, Tzvetaev tells Zoia that in spite of the war, he is happy to have met her. The Belorussian partisans and the Red Army liberate Minsk. 50,000 German prisoners are paraded in Moscow. A group of German officers tries to assassinate Hitler and take power, but fails. Churchill is pleased to hear of this, telling that the resulting peace would have left the Allies in Normandy while Stalin is at the gates of Europe. Hitler appoints Guderian as the new chief of the OKH.

In Poland, Zawadzki and Berling watch the Bug River. Zawadzki says he will never forget the day in which they returned home. Rokossovsky joins them, adding in Polish that he will never forget it either. The Polish 1st Army crosses the river, waved to by the Red Army soldiers.

DVD111 - LIBERATION: Angle of Attack - Operation Bagration

Details: Filmed in Color and Black and White, Liberation part 1-5 is 477 minutes long, Plays on USA DVD, English subtitle.

$40.00 +s/h

DVD112

LIBERATION: Battle of Berlin - Bistula Order Offensive

Film IV: Battle of Berlin - Bistula Order Offensive

In late 1944, Stalin orders to hasten the Vistula-Oder offensive in order to relieve the Allies, who are threatened by the Ardennes Offensive. In Poland, Zhukov appoints Orlov to a regiment commander. Karl Wolff is sent to negotiate with the Americans at Geneva.

Zhukov rejects Stavka's order to take Berlin, assessing that the Germans would strike his flank in Pomerania and redeploying his forces accordingly. In Yalta, Stalin notifies Churchill and Roosevelt that he knows of their secret dealings with the enemy. Saying that the mutual trust between them is of the highest value, he tears apart the picture showing Allen Dulles and Wolff.

The German attempt to counter-attack fails. Dorozhkin and the Polish sergeant Pelka liberate a group of concentration camps' prisoners, among them the German communist Wilnie. Zhukov orders to cross the Oder with searchlights directed at the opposite bank, to dazzle the Germans. Hitler appoints Hans Krebs as the new chief of the OKH, instead of Guderian.

The Red Army crosses the Oder and the Neisse rivers, scattering the German defenders and approaching Berlin. General Lelyushenko's soldiers capture a fifteen-year-old Hitlerjugend sniper; the General sends him to his mother.

Vasilev's tank crushes into a house. He and Dorozhkin have a pleasant meal with the German owner and his family while their Kyrgyz driver repairs the vehicle. The Soviets and the Poles storm the Tiergarten, avoiding causing harm to the animals.

DVD112 - LIBERATION: Battle of Berlin - Bistula Order Offensive

Details: Filmed in Color and Black and White, Liberation part 1-5 is 477 minutes long, Plays on USA DVD, English subtitle.

$40.00 +s/h

DVD113

LIBERATION: The Last Battle - Battle in Berlin

Film V: The Last Battle

In Berlin, Lt. Yartsev's men fight their way into a house where they meet Tzvetaev. They are welcomed by the old woman who owns the home. Afterwards, while fighting in the U-Bahn, Tzvetaev captures a German soldier who is certain the Soviets would execute him, but is sent free. Hitler orders to flood the U-Bahn tunnels. Tzvetaev drowns while rescuing civilians.

Colonel Zhenchik, commander of the 150th Rifle Division's 756th Regiment, selects Yegorov and Kantaria to carry the Victory Banner when Captain Neustroev's soldiers would attack the Reichstag. Dorozhkin is assigned to Neustroev's company as a radio operator. In the Führerbunker, after marrying Eva Braun, Hitler murders her and commits suicide. At the Reichstag, Dorozhkin is killed in the fighting. The Victory Banner is unfurled on the dome. On 2 May, after negotiations, the Berlin garrison surrenders unconditionally.

Outside the Reichstag, Vasiliev - who failed to find Dorozhkin - asks the crying Zoia why is she mourning when they have won. Next to them, Orlov, Yartsev and an immense crowd of Red Army soldiers celebrate victory. In the last scene, the question What has Fascism brought to the world? is answered with the death toll of World War II by country. The film ends with a shot of the inscription on the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier: Your Name Unknown, Your Deed Immortal.

DVD113 - LIBERATION: The Last Battle - Battle in Berlin

Details: Filmed in Color and Black and White, Liberation part 1-5 is 477 minutes long, Plays on USA DVD, English subtitle.

$40.00 +s/h

DVD109 - DVD113 - LIBERATION 5 DVD SET

DVD109 - DVD113 - LIBERATION 5 DVD SET

GET ALL 5 LIBERATION DVD'S & SAVE $20 ON THE SET

Details: Filmed in Color and Black and White, Liberation part 1-5 is 477 minutes long, Plays on USA DVD, English subtitle.

$180.00 +s/h