Saints and Soldiers

Every once in a while a little movie will come along totally unheralded, unexpected, under budget, under promoted, but which really shouldn't be missed.

Saints and Soldiers is such a movie. If you like lots of big budget special effect -loud explosions, -crashing airplanes, -panoramic scenes with thousands of extras slogging through the mud, -if that's what you want in a war movie, skip this one. It doesn't have any of those things.

What it does have, however, is a very effective ensemble cast telling a very compelling story, -a true story, of the Battle of the Bulge. From the utter confusion and tragic consequences of the "Malmedy Masacre", depicted in this movie as more an accident of the fog of war rather than a cold calculated act, to the final climactic battle scenes, this movie shows world war II as it most likely really was. A very personal war for each soldier involved.

My uncle was a soldier who lost a leg in Europe during that time and as he related experiences of battle, he always made it perfectly clear that war was always a very personal thing. You were doing everything to survive. Your enemy was doing the same thing, and somehow battles were eventually won or lost. The average G.I. didn't know, or much care what was going on over the hill, or on a grand scale. He only knew he and a few of his buddies were being shot at by a few of the enemy and they had to shoot back or perish. It's all about living another day.

This movie conveys those sentiments very clearly. It is about daily survival without the grandiose trappings. You really wind up caring about each of these characters. It is well worth seeing. Especially if you were a soldier -or know a soldier, -or just want to know more about being a soldier. In my opinion it will go down in history as one of the more realistic war movies ever made.

The award-winning "Saints and Soldiers" results to be a nice Wartime movie about a group of escaped American soldiers behind enemy lines and one of them has information enough that could save thousands of allied lives . Apart from the values of team spirit , cudgeled by the protagonists into his unfortunate team , the film is full of feats , suspense , battles and thrills . And set after D-Day , the 6th of June 1944 , when Western allied forces landed in Nazi-occupied France on a quest to liberate Europe by executing an enormous launch an all-out assault . Based on real events about the Malmedy massacre , it was a war crime committed by members of Kampfgruppe Peiper (part of the SS Division Leibstandarte), a German Waffen-SS unit led by Joachim Peiper, at Baugnez crossroads near Malmedy, Belgium, on 17 December 1944, during the Battle of the Bulge. Eighty-four American prisoners of war were massacred by their German captors . The prisoners were assembled in a field and shot with machine guns ; those still alive were killed by close-range shots to the head. The term Malmedy massacre also applies generally to the series of massacres committed by the same unit on the same day and following days, which were the subject of the Malmedy massacre trial, part of the Dachau Trials of 1946 . There is a time for heroes .Nothing's ever easy . Victory is the only option . Trapped behind enemy lines. All they have is their hope.

This is a competently conceived WWII with action filled , brief studio character , drama and moving fights . Action-filled movie set at end WWII , it follows the reckless adventures of five valiant soldiers , some courageous men who ran way from a Nazi slaughter during WWII in France . Based on actual WWII events, tells the dramatic story of a small band of Allied soldiers trapped behind enemy lines in mid-December 1944, when Hitler's Army charges through the Ardennes Forest in Belgium, initiating the offensive that will come to be known as the Battle of the Bulge . Medium budget European war film that packs frantic thrills , perilous as well as relentless feats , and buck-loads of explosive action and violence . The noisy action is uniformly well-made , especially deserving of mention the rip-roaring final scenes in which the motley group is really besieged , including some spectacular shootouts and pursuits when the Jeep is mercilessly chased by Nazis . This is a war movie in which predominates the stories and situations of the protagonists on the war itself made , so although there are moments of action and struggle there are also thought-provoking events. The picture is pretty well with actors giving acceptable acting , but being marred by an unknown cast as Corbin Allred ,Alexander Polinsky, Kirby Heyborne, Peter Holden , and Ethan Vincent . The motion picture was compellingly directed by Ryan Little . Ryan was presented with a Student Emmy at the 1999 Academy of Television Arts & Science College Television Awards, for "Best Dramatic Film": The Last Good War . Little has directed a few but decent movies such as ¨Outlaw Trail: The Treasure of Butch Cassidy¨ , ¨House of fears¨ , ¨Forever strong¨, ¨Age of the dragons¨ and ¨"Saints and Soldiers : Airbone creed" that is the sequel to the award-winning ¨Saints and soldiers¨ and the third part titled ¨Saints and soldiers : the void¨ .

The actual deeds are the following ones : Hitler's main objective for the Battle of the Bulge was for the 6th SS Panzer Army commanded by SS General Sepp Dietrich to break through the Allied front between Monschau and Losheimergraben, cross the Meuse River, and capture Antwerp.Kampfgruppe Peiper, named after and under the command of SS-Obersturmbannführer Joachim Peiper, was composed of armoured and motorised elements and was the spearhead of the left wing of the 6th SS Panzer Army. Once the infantry had breached the American lines, Peiper's role was to advance via Ligneuville, Stavelot, Trois-Ponts, and Werbomont and seize and secure the Meuse bridges around Huy.The best roads were reserved for the bulk of the SS Division Leibstandarte. Peiper was to use secondary roads, but these proved unsuitable for heavy armoured vehicles, especially the Tiger II tanks attached to the Kampfgruppen. The success of the operation depended on the swift capture of the bridges over the Meuse. This required a rapid advance through US positions, circumventing any points of resistance whenever possible. Another factor Peiper had to consider was the shortage of fuel.Hitler ordered the battle to be carried out with a brutality more common on the Eastern Front, in order to frighten the enemy.Sepp Dietrich confirmed this during the war crimes trial after the war ended. According to one source, during the briefings before the operation, Peiper stated that no quarter was to be granted, no prisoners taken, and no pity shown towards Belgian civilian.Between noon and 1 pm, the German spearhead approached the Baugnez crossroads, two miles south-east of Malmedy. An American convoy of about thirty vehicles, mainly elements of B Battery of the American 285th Field Artillery Observation Battalion, was negotiating the crossroads and turning right toward Ligneuville and St. Vith, where it had been ordered to join the 7th Armored Division. The spearhead of Peiper's group spotted the American convoy and opened fire, immobilising the first and last vehicles of the column and forcing it to halt. Armed with only rifles and other small arms, the Americans surrendered to the German tank force.The armoured column led by Peiper continued west toward Ligneuville. The German troops left behind assembled the American prisoners in a field along with other prisoners captured earlier in the day. Many of the survivors testified that about 120 troops were standing in the field when, for unknown reasons, the SS troops suddenly opened fire with machine guns on the prisoners.There was a first massacre at Büllingen and later Massacre at Baugnez crossroads . As soon as the SS machine gunners opened fire, the POWs panicked. Some tried to flee, but most were shot where they stood. Some dropped to the ground and pretended to be dead.SS troops walked among the bodies and shot any who appeared to be alive. A few sought shelter in a café at the crossroads. The SS soldiers set fire to the building and shot any who tried to escape.

My wife and I go out to see a movie every Friday night. Some nights, I'll tell you, the Picken's Is Slim, as they were when we saw this film about six months ago (if memory serves). I'd never heard of it. She didn't want to see any more war films since that miserable, over-hyped "Pearl Harbor" with the lame love story thrown into the mix. (Cuba Gooding was the only good part in the movie, and, shock! His character's part really happened, too! Hollywood take note!) To tell you the truth, we nearly went to rent something to watch at home, but as we left, we heard a guy in line talking excitedly about how he'd seen it three times, and loved it. What the heck. We got back in line. Their popcorn is better than ours. We went in, not expecting much of anything.

I'll tell you, we were blown away. I came on this site tonight because I've been meaning to write and tell everybody to go see this little film that only ran a week in our local theater. (Buy the DVD!) I have read every comment on this site, and have to LOL at the comments about Mormons. What Mormons? I never even knew it was Mormons until I read it tonight on this site! And so what? It happened to a Mormon guy. It was his story. You expect Catholics to tell it? The other complaints about the story being predictable...what? It sure got us! It was a true story. Don't you get it? If it's true, you can't change what really happened--and what happened was humanity showing it's face. It was right winning out over allegiance.

I'm looking forward to the DVD coming out. I'm getting it and showing it to all my friends. This is film-making the way it should be done. We want to see it more of it.

This movie is worthy of the 14 "Best Picture" awards it has already won...I hope that it gets a bigger national release.

I live in the San Diego area and I just took my family to see this film tonight, and I have to say that this is one of the most moving films I have seen.

I felt like this was an appropriate movie for my 13 yr old daughter to view (I would not recommend for any younger). The story was told so well that I felt she understood the underlying messages. We were able to have a very long discussion afterward about war and accountability of those who unjustly cause wars. We talked about recognizing the humanity behind the "enemy" soldiers who are, for the most part, just doing their duty to country. These men have wives, children, fathers and mothers who love them just as much as the families of the soldiers on "our" side.

I literally was speechless at the end of the film. The "surprise" ending caught me a little off-guard with its VERY poignant and thought provoking message.

The characters were well developed and I really felt that i could empathize with each man's approach to the situation they were in.

The impact of the movie far exceeded its budget. I was very impressed with the actors (for example, the beautiful French woman...who WAS that?).

I think I was most impressed with the acting of the Medic (The exchange of looks between him and the German prisoner at the end of the movie was classic!).

I read a lot of the reviews prior to watching this film, so I had somewhat of a biased opinion about what I might see. I have to admit, I found myself feeling like the movie exceeded my expectations and was VERY much worth it. I don't buy many movies...this is one I definitely will buy for my private library.

Many films succeed outside the context of Hollywood hype. This one provides several messages competently executed by new talent, and without the special effects so commonly packaged by Tinseltown. Dialog and talent hold one's attention in a real-world interpretation of the Malmedy massacre and it's aftermath in WW2 Belgium. The tagline, 'A Time For Heroes' says much and it's more than appropriate for our time since the definition of 'hero' has been broadened by current events and uncommon courage. Lighting, sound, location, editing, and inventive writing make this a weekend wonder if you're seeking a story of principled men in desperate circumstances. Not unlike John Sturges' films.