Spoonatects Am i the only one who thinks........Average?

Breakinger A Brilliant Conflict

Voxitype Good films always raise compelling questions, whether the format is fiction or documentary fact.

Francene Odetta It's simply great fun, a winsome film and an occasionally over-the-top luxury fantasy that never flags.

SnoopyStyle Four American soldiers escape after the Germans massacre POW early in the Battle of the Bulge. They rescue a British flyer who has important information. The five men try to return back to the Allied lines through hostile territories.It's a pretty simple story for most of the movie. The characters are written with some interesting personalities. However the actors can't exceed what's on the page. They just don't have the power to fill the screen. Corbin Allred probably comes the closest to something great. At the end of the day, this is a low budget affair. The big action scenes in the last 15 minutes probably ate up most of the money. It would be great to see some first rate actors take up these roles instead.

Theo Robertson In December 1944 German soldiers shot 80 American POWs during the Ardennes offensive at Melmedy in Belgium . In terms of murder this was relatively minuscule compared to the crimes committed by the Nazi regime but it was widely quoted at the time because it gave the Western allies the impression the Germans weren't taking any prisoners during this offensive . It should also be remembered the Western allies hadn't come across the numerous Nazi camps on German soil such as Belsen and Dachau . On a similar note and with hindsight it's not just the victors who write history but also Hollywood and the Malmedy massacre has featured occasionally in Hollywood movies with SAINTS AND SOLDIERS being one of them The massacre at Malmedy sets up the story where four survivors escape the mass murder and find themselves on the run behind enemy lines . Made in 2003 you get the distinct impression this was produced to cash in on the massive success of BAND OF BROTHERS , That said SAINTS AND SOLDIERS holds up in its own right though are some flaws As a Briton what will rankle with a lot of compatriots is that a British pilot Flt Sgt Oberon Winley is introduced to the story who is an American-centric caricature of the British . First of all if someone in the RAF was a flight sergeant they would have been working class . Only pilot officers and very posh people would be called Oberon . It's also painfully obvious that the posh upper class character is played by someone who is obviously an American actor . It's nice to see an American film acknowledge that the Yanks didn't win the war single handed but couldn't the producers have contacted British Equity ? Mind you half of Easy company were played by British actors in BAND OF BROTHERS so I suppose the serve is returned Something that might disappoint a lot of people is the fact that there is very little in the film . After the massacre in the start of SAINTS AND SOLDIERS two thirds of the film is taken up by the characters hiding from the Germans with characters talking to one another . It is somewhat refreshing to see a war film that doesn't concern itself with spectacle and incident but anyone tuning in to see bloody big battles will be seriously disappointed since this is a more thoughtful war film

parcdelagrange I had never heard of this film, it was shown on TV on one of the lower end movie channels in the early hours. Because of the nature of the movie channel I was expecting a low budget, badly dubbed, foreign film, I could not have been more pleasantly surprised .... it was a high quality, English language film with good acting and expert directing. How historically accurate it is I would not know, and to be honest do not really care, it entertained me from beginning to end, which at the end of the day, is really all a film is supposed to do. It told a good story in an intelligent and watchable way and did not have to rely on expensive computer generated special effects or lashings violence and/or sex scenes to keep ones attention throughout.

nidaros This movie sucks in all respects: It has a dull, boring and predictable story. Its low budget becomes apparent throughout the movie and does not allow to make up the deficits of the story by means of good action.One of it's anchors is hypocritical, religious nonsense.The characters are either stereotypic or totally unrealistic in order to serve the religiously influenced storyline.It is full of errors - related to the movie itself as well as the "real events" it is supposed to be based on.Anyone, who speaks decent German, will hardly be able to stand the horrible language skills of the German figures without bursting into laughter, which isn't quite a desirable mood for a wannabe serious and emotionally moving movie.