Rating of
3/4
Not your typical war movie
The M.O.W. - wrote on 09/17/09
Survivors of a military massacre during World War II are in the worse case scenario; no rations, behind enemy lines, exhausted and starved.
The four (Corbin Allred, Peter Asle Holden, Larry Bagby and Alexander Polinsky) come close to being captured many times while trying to get into allied territory. They finally arrive at a home where the owner lets them have some refuge, after coming across a British soldier (Kirby Hayborne). She also allows a German soldier, who happened to have met one of the Americans before the war.
Now the soldiers, one of which is carrying vital information, have to get back to allied territory or die.
This is not your typical war movie. Mostly because the story focuses on the relationships between the soldiers. There are battle scenes in this movie, but they're spread out through out the movie.
The battle scenes are pretty authentic. Loud, with lots of action. The blood shed is fairly tame, and there's nothing gory. One of the main characters is a medic, and has to deal with some bad wounds. However, the wounds are not graphic.
The strongest aspect of this movie is the performances of the main cast. The main cast is simply fantastic. You actually feel as if you are looking at people who have bonded after a long time, under intense circumstances. Their on-screen chemistry is one of the best I've seen recently. I can't say that one of the actors stood out from the rest, only because they are all great in their roles. Not one of them were unbelieveable.
The clothing was very authentic looking. In fact, the clothing, as well as weaponry and vehicles were provided by WWII collectors. Also, re-enactors were used in many battle scenes.
Music in this movie is used nicely. Many musical pieces are used nicely to enhance the scene. I can't remember any musical pieces though.
Some people may have a problem with the cast being a group of unknowns. This movie is a low-budget independent film, so a big name star was unatainable. However, this cast is fantastic in this film, and you quickly forget that you don't know these actors.
I would suggest that parents not allow younger children see this movie. There is some violence, and one character is suffering from battle fatigue which kids may not comprehend. There is no swearing in this film, with the exception of an era racial slur against Germans.
I watched this movie over on Hulu, where you could check it out on as well. However, if your connection is too slow to stream video, and happen across this film, check it out -- if your first couple of choices are not available. I wouldn't Netflix this, only because of the wait if you already have a long list for the company to choose from.
