The Battle Scenes is a compilation of battle scenes from Downfall, categorized by Hitler Rants Parodies, originally set in five different locations in Downfall's timeline.
Waffen-SS soldiers are on the street lifting two large crates into the Reich Chancellery. They're interrupted by the sound of falling artillery and they drop both themselves and the crates to the ground. The artillery shells drop within meters of their location. Their commander orders them to get off the street quickly before two other shells drop near them.
Part two - Weidling[]
Two Wehrmacht soldiers are riding a bike under heavy artillery fire. They dismount in front of Helmuth Weidling's post and the scene shifts to Weidling. He is on the phone, being accused of treason by moving his post away. He insists that he had not moved his post, adding that they are a mere 1000 meters from the frontline. His adjutant saves him in time by grabbing him as they duck to the ground as an artillery shell crashes into the post, injuring some soldiers and breaking the communication. Seeing this, Weidling has no other choice but to report to the Führerbunker, with the possibility of being shot on the spot for treason in order to clear the record.
Part three - Mohnke[]
Set at night civilians are fleeing from the burning city, walking among the rubble and dodging artillery fire. Some soldiers are seen taking a hit from artillery shells. Wilhelm Mohnke is seen using a periscope. The Volkssturm recruits are running across the line of fire, and he wants to order them to take cover. His adjutant informs that they are under Reichsminister Joseph Goebbels' orders. He thus intends to inform Goebbels of this.
Part four - Peter Kranz[]
The scene follows Peter Kranz as he wanders around the ruined city. Dodging artillery fire, he returns to his flak post, to see Inge Dombrowski and his Hitler Youth lieutenant dead. He tries to shake Inge out of unconsciousness as he sees it, but it was in vain. He sees a line of approaching Soviet soldiers, grabs a Walther PPK used on both suicides and dashes away, dodging the enemy fire. In the theatrical version of the film, the scene ends here.
In the extended cut, after grabbing the PPK, he takes cover from the pursuing enemy in a damaged barbershop, where he sees a battle between the Soviets and the Germans. A Soviet soldier encounters him, telling him to give him the gun because the Soviets don't fight against children. Peter gets scared and shoots the soldier who falls on the ground and begins to curse. Peter drops the gun and runs away crying.
Civilians are drawing water from a well on daylight. They scramble away on the sound of falling artillery. The artillery shell hit near the well, and when the smoke clears, they see some of their family members dead. One woman breaks down crying at the side of her dead son Fritz.
Peter wakes up from sleep (or perhaps a short coma) and sees a hand buried under the rubble. He is terrified and runs away.
The first scene in this series, where SS soldiers are seen carrying crates, is useful outside the context of war, and thus is the most used of the Battle Scenes. It has been used by Untergangers to show Hitler receiving a large shipment of something. An example of this happens in Fegelein kidnaps Blondi, where soldiers are seen carrying Hitler's dog in one of the crates.
Trivia[]
Though the film doesn't make it clear, the behind-the-scenes material states that the two crates seen in the first battle scene contain the model of the Welthauptstadt Germania shown in a later scene.
Goof: In the second battle scene, you can see mounds of dirt barely camouflaging the set explosives used in filming.
BM-13 Katyushas can be heard firing their rockets after a shell explodes near Weidling.
Gallery[]
In front of the Chancellery.
A German half-track and a Tiger tank amidst artillery fire. Note the sidecar-riding soldiers.
The aforementioned soldiers under heavy artillery fire.
Weidling on the phone.
War-torn Berlin at night.
Soviets approaching the flak nest where Peter Kranz was once stationed.