The Ascent: The Critically Revered War Movie Now Streaming on Criterion Channel

The film behind the “highest-rated war movie no one saw” headline is The Ascent (Voskhozhdenie), Larisa Shepitko’s 1977 Soviet war drama. It is not literally unknown: the film won the Golden Bear at the 1977 Berlin Film Festival and became a landmark of late Soviet cinema. But it remains underseen outside serious cinephile and repertory-film circles—and Criterion currently lists it on the Criterion Channel.

The film behind the headline

The Ascent was directed by Larisa Shepitko and produced in the Soviet Union in 1977. It is a Russian-language, black-and-white film running approximately 109 minutes. The principal cast includes Boris Plotnikov, Vladimir Gostyukhin and Sergei Yakovlev.

#	Preview	Product	Price
1		The Ascent (The Criterion Collection) [Blu-ray]	$32.28	Buy on Amazon
2		Dark Angel: The Ascent (1994) [ Blu-Ray, Reg.A/B/C Import - Germany ]	$45.98	Buy on Amazon
3		The Ascent ( Voskhozhdenie ) [ Blu-Ray, Reg.A/B/C Import - Spain ]	$32.98	Buy on Amazon
4		First Ascent - Complete Series ( 1st Ascent ) [ Blu-Ray, Reg.A/B/C Import - Germany ]	$118.23	Buy on Amazon

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Criterion’s accompanying material identifies the film as an adaptation of Vasil Bykov’s novella “Sotnikov.” The Criterion Collection also describes it as one of the finest achievements of late Soviet cinema. (Criterion Channel; Criterion Collection)

What happens in The Ascent?

Two Soviet partisans leave their beleaguered unit in winter to search for supplies in Nazi-occupied Belorussia. Their mission ends in capture, and the film’s emphasis shifts from evading enemy forces to enduring imprisonment, interrogation and coercion.

#1 Best Overall

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The Ascent (The Criterion Collection) [Blu-ray]

• The Ascent (The Criterion Collection) [Blu ray]
• Product type: PHYSICAL MOVIE
• Brand: The Criterion Collection

$32.28

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That setup makes The Ascent a wartime moral drama rather than a conventional battlefield epic. Its central question is not which side wins a tactical engagement, but what remains of a person when survival demands betrayal or compromise. The plot description above avoids major late-film revelations, but viewers should expect execution, brutality and an emotionally punishing conclusion.

Why critics regard it so highly

A war film about conscience

Shepitko treats resistance as an ethical and spiritual test. The characters are forced to decide what they will surrender, and what they will preserve, when every ordinary option has disappeared. That focus gives the film a severity that action-centered war pictures generally do not share.

Snow, silence and monochrome

The snowbound landscape is not scenic relief. It makes the characters look exposed, exhausted and almost physically erased. The stark black-and-white photography, sparse movement and long stretches of silence turn the environment into a pressure chamber before the interrogations even begin.

Rank #2

Dark Angel: The Ascent (1994) [ Blu-Ray, Reg.A/B/C Import - Germany ]

• Dark Angel: The Ascent (1994)
• Dark Angel: The Ascent (1994)

$45.98

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From survival story to spiritual allegory

Criterion presents the film as a spiritual ordeal that elevates its wartime narrative toward religious allegory. That is an influential way to read the film, particularly in its treatment of sacrifice and martyrdom, but it is an interpretation rather than a requirement for understanding every scene. The film works simultaneously as historical drama, psychological tragedy and philosophical inquiry.

Recognition stronger than a vague rating claim

The Golden Bear is a concrete measure of the film’s international standing. Its Criterion Collection release and continued curation on the Criterion Channel provide further institutional recognition. Calling it “one of the highest-rated war movies ever made,” however, implies a universal ranking that does not exist without naming a particular poll, database or publication and its date.

Why was it underseen?

“No one saw it” is headline hyperbole. A Golden Bear winner was seen by festival audiences, critics and scholars. The more accurate point is that The Ascent never became a familiar title for the broader English-speaking movie audience.

Rank #3

The Ascent ( Voskhozhdenie ) [ Blu-Ray, Reg.A/B/C Import - Spain ]

• The Ascent ( Voskhozhdenie )
• The Ascent
• Voskhozhdenie

$32.98

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• It is a Soviet, Russian-language art film rather than an English-language commercial production.
• Its black-and-white imagery, subtitles and deliberate pace offer few of the conventional hooks associated with mainstream war entertainment.
• Its setting in Nazi-occupied Belorussia is less familiar to many American viewers than the Normandy, Pacific or Vietnam stories that dominate popular war cinema.
• Its natural audience has been concentrated among festivals, repertory theaters, universities and cinephile communities rather than multiplexes.

Those factors explain relative obscurity without requiring an unsupported story about total disappearance, suppression or a single Cold War cause.

Is it really one of the highest-rated war movies ever made?

There is no official all-time ranking of war films. “Highly acclaimed,” “widely regarded as a masterpiece” and “a major work of war cinema” are defensible descriptions when tied to the film’s awards, critical history and Criterion status. An unexplained superlative such as “highest-rated ever” is promotional language, not a verifiable statistic.

Rotten Tomatoes lists the film as a war drama and records its critical reputation, but the available listing does not establish a reliable current Tomatometer figure to quote. (Rotten Tomatoes)

Rank #4

First Ascent - Complete Series ( 1st Ascent ) [ Blu-Ray, Reg.A/B/C Import - Germany ]

• First Ascent - Complete Series ( 1st Ascent )
• First Ascent - Complete Series
• 1st Ascent

$118.23

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What to expect before watching

• Subtitles: The film is in Russian, so reading dialogue is part of the experience.
• Pacing: At about 109 minutes it is not long by modern standards, but its slow-burn structure and austere pauses can feel demanding.
• Content: Captivity, interrogation, execution and wartime brutality are central, not incidental.
• Tone: This is bleak, contemplative and spiritually intense, not a light movie-night adventure.
• Focus: Psychological and moral pressure matter more than battlefield spectacle or military strategy.

Where to watch The Ascent

Criterion Channel

For U.S. viewers, the confirmed streaming destination is the Criterion Channel film page. Criterion also lists contextual programs, including material comparing the film with Bykov’s “Sotnikov,” discussions of Shepitko’s artistic approach, and a program about Shepitko and her husband, filmmaker Elem Klimov. Catalog availability can vary by country and change over time, so check the playable listing for your location.

The service is a practical way to encounter both the film and its surrounding critical context. A subscription is not necessarily the best value for someone who wants to watch only this one film.

Other listings

Criterion has a physical-media edition for viewers who prefer permanent ownership and disc-based extras: Criterion Collection. Apple TV also has a U.S. listing, but the available listing does not establish whether the current option is a rental, purchase or directory entry; verify the transaction details before relying on it: Apple TV.

Who should watch it?

Watch it if you want

• A serious international war film built around moral compromise.
• Psychological tension instead of large-scale combat.
• Bleak historical drama, spiritual themes and demanding performances.
• To explore a major director whose work remains less familiar than its reputation deserves.

Skip it or save it for the right mood if you want

• Action set pieces, military strategy or an uplifting adventure.
• A casual, easygoing movie-night recommendation.
• To avoid stories centered on imprisonment, execution and moral despair.
• Fast pacing or a literal, non-symbolic treatment of wartime history.

The accurate verdict on the headline

The Ascent was never literally unseen, and its Criterion availability is not the first time it has been legally accessible. The better description is a critically revered but underseen 1977 Soviet war film that is currently streamable on the Criterion Channel. Its reputation rests on a major festival prize, enduring critical esteem and an unusually rigorous depiction of what war does to conscience.

Quick Recap

SaleBestseller No. 1

The Ascent (The Criterion Collection) [Blu-ray]

The Ascent (The Criterion Collection) [Blu ray]; Product type: PHYSICAL MOVIE; Brand: The Criterion Collection

$32.28

Bestseller No. 2

Dark Angel: The Ascent (1994) [ Blu-Ray, Reg.A/B/C Import - Germany ]

Dark Angel: The Ascent (1994); Dark Angel: The Ascent (1994)

$45.98

Bestseller No. 3

The Ascent ( Voskhozhdenie ) [ Blu-Ray, Reg.A/B/C Import - Spain ]

The Ascent ( Voskhozhdenie ); The Ascent; Voskhozhdenie

$32.98

Bestseller No. 4

First Ascent - Complete Series ( 1st Ascent ) [ Blu-Ray, Reg.A/B/C Import - Germany ]

First Ascent - Complete Series ( 1st Ascent ); First Ascent - Complete Series; 1st Ascent

$118.23

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Criterion ChannelLarisa ShepitkoSoviet cinemastreamingThe AscentWar Movies