Looks pretty good. The trailer looks kind oOo: I dunno. It might be better.
Reviews:
[quote:c0e85]Martin Lewison (
milst1@yahoo.com)
Jersey City, NJ
Date: 25 July 2004
Summary: Why Mormons Don't Belong In Hollywood
This is what happens when Mormons are allowed to make feature films. What should be a great war story is completely ruined by an idiotic and heavy-handed religious message, a message filled with absurdity, arrogance, and hypocrisy, just like the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. What should have been a great war movie (and the production values are high, I readily admit) is totally ruined by an annoying preachiness and an implied superiority of the religious characters. The main character tells of his certainty of the existence of a life after death and then freely shoots German soldiers (presumably to send them to that "better place") while feeling guilty about innocent civilians he's killed. The Germans are portrayed as two-dimensionally evil -- except for the one *Christian* German! He's got a heart of gold and betrays his country by saving the Americans' lives! Of course, the one character who is a skeptic of religion is portrayed as fundamentally unhappy and flawed (we learn that he tried to run away from the draft) and in the end he "comes around" to becoming a believer. The upshot is that this movie is a twisted piece of Christian religious propaganda. Don't feel bad if you miss it. [/quote:c0e85]
[quote:c0e85]Brian Bagnall
Canada
Date: 26 July 2004
Summary: Good beginning, average middle, powerful ending
This movie starts with the Malmedy massacre, which has always been controversial because researchers have had a difficult time trying to produce an accurate picture of what really occurred. The film manages to stage it fairly accurately, given the testimony from the soldiers at the time. It's worth noting under the Geneva convention, captors are allowed to shoot fleeing POW's, so technically the German's did nothing wrong and hence all who were brought to trial were eventually released.
There are times when the movie seems to create damning scenarios for the Germans that are not backed up by the historical record, such as the escapees finding a destroyed ambulance with the occupants dead. In reality, Germans did not destroy ambulances in WWII unless they were part of a larger convoy and accidentally taken out. Furthermore, some Germans in uniform behave barbarous, like when a peasant woman offers one bread and he throws it down. In reality, a German soldier would have been quite welcoming of non-ration food. So in may ways, the human motivations just seem skewed in order establish "evil".
Later in the film, four allied soldiers manage to take on ten to twenty heavily equipped German soldiers. German soldiers do things like walk into bullets, catch bullets with their heads, forget how to use their guns, and blow each other up with their own grenades. It just didn't seem realistic, though it was well filmed.
There are some surprisingly powerful moments in the film which add up to an ending more meaningful than anything Hollywood has ever managed. One character, a British pilot who meets up with the allies, is a real prick when they first meet him. At first, this put me off and it seemed like anti-British sentiment. However, Kirby Heyborne, who plays the British Oberon Winley, develops as a character, making the ending much more powerful for him having started as a nasty guy. I was surprised and moved by this redeeming outcome.
I was disappointed they chose to present a German soldier who betrays his own men as a good person. Sure, he knew one of the allies before the war, but treason is not a virtue! These Germans were fighting for their country, much of which was robbed post WWI and given to Poland and Czechoslovakia. A movie should not present a traitor as a role model in my opinion, even if he is on the enemy side.
Overall, it is great to see a film of such quality produced outside Hollywood. Diversity of ideas is a good thing, and this is just one more take on the war from a Mormon point of view, which is welcomed. As a materialist and an atheist, any religious message in the film was pretty much meaningless to me. Through the middle of the film, much like Saving Private Ryan, the soldiers have their soliloquies which belies the truth of how real soldiers would talk to one another. This movie had a great start, subdued middle, and a powerful finish which makes it worth watching. [/quote:c0e85]
[quote:c0e85]Summary: Just saw this movie...
...and it was fantastic. We went to a pre-screening last night in Salt Lake City where the producer, writer, and director answered questions afterward. I thought the film was very well-handled and definitely has a general audience appeal. Granted, it's hard to compete with big budget war films when you make a movie for just under a million dollars (read: This is not Schindler's List), but I agree with the director when he said it could easily compete with movies in the 15-20 million dollar range.
While I noticed my self critiquing the movie at first and almost looking for signs of amateurity, I soon forgot about that and was drawn into the story and moral dilemmas involved. The cinematography and editing both proved good, and the director proved his abilities quiet handily. While some the scenes do get pretty intense, the main focus here is more the personal effects of war than the number of bodies. Along with perhaps The Other Side of Heaven, definitely the most professional film from any Mormon director to date.[/quote:c0e85]
[quote:c0e85]kipluck
Provo, UT
Date: 17 July 2004
Summary: Surprisingly Good!
Maybe I shouldn't have been surprised, but I admit I am a bit cynical about "churchy" movies. But this was excellent. The "Mormon" aspect was tastefully done. Anyone could go and not feel as if it is didactic... it wasn't pushed on you, in fact, some may not even notice aside from a reference to being a missionary. This blows "Other Side of Heaven" away, and if that got mainstream play, this one had better as well. Granted, if you hate war movies you won't like this. But if you are interested in the history you will be pleased with the quality. Corbin Alred did better than I have ever seen him do, and other cast was also fantastic. I didn't love Kirby Heyborne, but even he pulled it off. It was sad... WAR is sad. Anyway, marvelous. [/quote:c0e85]
