Genre: Drama / War
Length: 2h 5m 0s
Director: Gregory Hoblit
Tagline: Heroes Are Measured By What They Do.
Plot outline: Fourth generation war hero Col. William McNamara is imprisoned in a brutal German POW camp. Still, as the camp's highest-ranking American officer, he commands his fellow inmates, keeping a sense of honor alive in a place where honor is easy to destroy, all under the dangerous, ever-watchful eye of SS Major Wilhelm Visser. Never giving up the fight to win the war, McNamara is silently planning, waiting for his moment to strike back at the enemy. A murder in the camp gives him the chance to set a risky plan in motion. With a court martial to keep Visser and the Germans distracted, McNamara orchestrates a cunning scheme to escape and destroy a nearby munitions plant, enlisting the unwitting help of young Lt. Tommy Hart. Together with his men, McNamara uses a hero's resolve to carry out his mission, ultimately forced to weigh the value of his life against the good of his country. Summary written by Press kit
Comment: The movie was entertaining throughout with several interesting plot twists. However, The plot seemed somewhat contrived. It almost seemed as if the writer wanted to create the most captivating situation possible. What are the most trilling stories? War? Prison? Trial by Jury? Racial conflicts? This movie has them all. "Hey, let's make a movie about one of the most infamous and pivotal war in recent history. And just to make things even more interesting, the story will take place in a Nazi prison camp. And just to make things even MORE exciting let's throw in a Military Trial. To top things off, let's throw a racial conflict into the plot." It worked for the most part. The movie was very enjoyable except for a few nagging points. The first thing that really irritates me is the willingness of the Nazi Colonel to go along with the whole Trial. Now, I was not in WWII, nor any other war for that matter, but it seems a little suspicious that the leader of a prison camp would allow any power to be taken from him and given to the prisoners. This just screams stupidity. Also, there is the minor "coincidence" that both Ltd. Hart and the Colonel both went to Yale. I'm not saying that it is impossible, but highly improbable. The last is the little plot twist at the end. I'm not going to give it away, but it reeked of selfless sacrifice that is all warm and fuzzy, but it seemed completely unrealistic. The movie was for the most part an edge-of-your seat thriller, but It is by no means a classic movie, nor even a classic war movie. rating: 6/10
IMDB Rating: 6.4
Country: USA
Language:
Subtitels: No ()
| Actors: | ||
| Bruce Willis | as | Col. William A. McNamara |
| Colin Farrell (I) | as | Lt. Thomas W. Hart |
| Terrence Dashon Howard | as | Lt. Lincoln A. Scott (as Terrence Howard) |
| Cole Hauser | as | Staff Sgt. Vic W. Bedford |