Immediately after an extremely hard-fought battle, the Soviet Army comes across a number of destroyed tanks with one in particular standing out because the driver is found to be still alive after suffering from severe burns encompassing 90% of his body. Surprisingly, after being taken to a field hospital, he manages to recover and is deemed fit for duty not long afterward. He does, however, suffer from memory loss and as a result he is given the name of "Ivan Naydenov" (Aleksey Vertkov). It's also during this time that he tells them of a special German tank he has seen known as the "White Tiger" that completely destroyed all of the tanks in his company. Although the senior leaders in the Soviet military have doubts about the existence of such a tank, to be on the safe side they put Navdenov in charge of a special prototype and order him to destroy the White Tiger. But what the Soviet leadership doesn't realize, however, is that the White Tiger isn't the only unusual aspect of this particular war and destroying it is not going to be that easy. Now, rather than reveal any more, I will just say that this was a rather odd film which had some good action scenes but, unfortunately, suffered somewhat from a weak ending. To that effect, although I was a little disappointed due to my initial high expectations, this was still a good movie for the most part and I have rated it accordingly. Slightly above average.

The Eastern Front, 1943. After a fierce battle, a young Russian tank driver is hauled out of his burned out tank, more dead than alive. Miraculously he survives and is made the commander of an elite tank crew. Their mission: destroy the mysterious German tank that is wreaking havoc in the sector, and which was responsible for the death of the tankman's crew: the White Tiger.

The movie started very well: had a gritty, realistic feel to it: no gung ho heroics and graphically shows the grim reality of war. Unlike many war movies, equipment was spot-on: T-34s were played by T-34s, for example. Good production values.

Plot looked like it was shaping up to be an interesting one: what is this mysterious German tank and how will the Russians defeat it? Will the Russian plan work?

Unfortunately, that's about the last time it was compelling viewing, as the plot starts to develop holes. The first sign was when the T-34-85 that is sent to tackle the White Tiger only has a 3-man crew - no commander, no assistant driver. I understand why this was done: the writers wanted the main character to be the commander of the tank, while still being the driver (because he was so good at that). So, commander = driver.

The military inaccuracies then start to mount and the movie starts to resemble a supernatural horror movie, rather than a war movie. Plot becomes more and more implausible as it goes on.

It just gets worse and worse. The final act is a total write-off, as the plot goes in a random, tangential direction. Incredibly weak and anti-climactic ending.

Very disappointing.

This is a uniquely different war film without constant battle scenes and war gore. In fact, this is more of a mystery, supernatural drama film, and very interesting, too! I found the film's color very clear and realistic, and the acting very natural - especially Aleksey Vertkov as Naydenov. Naydenov himself is as mysterious as the White Tiger and added another dimension to the mystery. The village battle scene when he finally came face to face with the White Tiger was awesome! It was refreshing to see the fight scenes without overbearing music. Spoiler: the film does leave you hanging, though, having to decide for yourself what happened to the White Tiger and Naydenov, and the meaning of Hitler at the end, and how to interpret and connect the loose ends.