Age of Heroes

I am always up for a good World War II "men on a mission" movie. Emphasis on "good". This British production is quite lacking in a number of areas that at the end make the movie overall unsatisfying. The first flaw is the budget. I realize that this didn't have a Hollywood budget, and I did see that the production squeezed every last penny they had, but much of the movie looks kind of skimpy. But the movie could still have worked had it not been for the next problem - much of the movie is not exciting. After the opening action sequence, it takes forever for the next true action scene to come along. And the footage between is not very interesting - it's lacking a sense of humor, colorful characters, and original situations. Things do pick up a little in the second half of the movie due to some nice scenery and some okay action, but this material is too little and too late. While the movie isn't actively bad, it's more often than not bland, and even Brits in the audience with an interest in World War II will likely grow weary with the movie some time before the end credits start rolling.

The motion picture's opening title card reads: "France - May 1940" in Dunkirk , there takes place a sad retreat . This true story of the formation of Ian Fleming's 30 Commando unit, a precursor for the elite forces in the U.K. , as our protagonists undertake risked feats from the edge of defeat on the beaches of Dunkirk to the mountains of Norway on a perilous mission behind enemy lines . It is set in 1940 , it concerns about a misfit team led by Major Jones : Sean Bean is assigned by Ian Fleming : James D'Arcy to assemble an 8-men commando team to travel to Norway , as Sean Bean and his squad have to carry out a suicide mission in Norway . The leader forges them into a two-fisted fighting unit by training in the Scotland outdoors and leads them on a deadly assignment into Nazi territory . The powerful group is formed by Rains : Danny Dyer , Aksel Hennie : Steinar , William Houston : Mac , Brightling : Stephen Walters , Riley : Guy Burnet and with specialist Roger Rollright : John Dagleish . This is a story which takes our heroes into a deadly assignment , if successful, could modify the course of the war . They are parachuted in Norwegian landscapes to meet the agent Beowulf (Izabella Miko) and destroy the German Freyo Station and rob German state-of-the-art technology of Radio Direction Finding (RDF) in Operation Grendel that bears remarkable resemblance to the real-life "Bruneval Raid" which was officially also known as "Operation Biting".

This moving film packs frantic thrills, perilous adventures , 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 on the snowy scenarios , including some spectacular shootouts and bombing . Based on the real-life events of Ian Fleming's 30 Commando during WWII , the first half of the film allows the colorful cast of character actors to have their fun as they get their tails whipped into shape and develop shaky relationship with their leader. The final part is all action, as the valiant commando wreck havoc and then run for their lives. Despite the fact that few of the "heroes" survive the bloodbath, the message here is that war is hell. Apart from the values of team spirit , cudgeled by Major Jones/Sean Bean into his brave group , the film is full of feats , intrigue , noisy acting , suspense , and thrills . The crew was supported by actual commandos, real British commandos, worked on this project. They helped and they played members of the SS. They were all ex-military men who have worked in Iraq and Afghanistan and have seen real action. They included every single detail in the finished edit. They educated them in the workings of warfare. This is is a wartime typical vehicle and into the ¨warlike commando sub-genre¨ , a theme very popular in the sixties , including classic titles , such as : Dirty Dozen (Robert Aldrich) , Navarone Guns (J. Lee Thompson) , Where eagles dare(Brian G. Hutton) , Kelly's heroes(Hutton ) , Tobruk (Arthur Hiller), Devil's Brigade (Andrew V McLagen) and many others . Sean Bean is good as leader of the motley pack together thwart the Nazi schemes, as well as the largely secondary cast with special mention for Aksel Hennie , Stephen Walters ,William Houston , Izabella Miko and James D'Arcy as Ian Fleming . Just prior to the Second World War, Ian Fleming "- well played by James D'Arcy- whose code-name was "17F, was recruited into British Naval Intelligence where he excelled, shortly achieving the rank of Commander. The name of the the real life military outfit that 007 creator fought for which is depicted in the film was the "30 Commando Unit" which was also known as the "30 Assault Unit" and informally also known as Ian Fleming's "Red Indians . When the war ended, Fleming retired to Jamaica where he built a house called "Goldeneye," took up writing full-time and created the character that would make him famous -- British Secret Service agent James Bond, in a novel called "Casino Royale."

It contains a thrilling and suspenseful musical score by Michael Plowman . As well as a colorful and evocative cinematography by Mark Hamilton . Being filmed on location in Ålgård, Rogaland, Vågslid, Telemark, Norway , Haukeliseter, Telemark, Norway ,Gravesend Civil Defence Bunker - Woodlands Park, Gravesend, Kent, England, Connaught Barracks, Dover, Kent, Pluckley, Kent, England, UK . The motion picture was professionally directed by Adrian Victoria , an usual director/writer of TV episodes as The Bill , Crossing the Line , Casualty , Driven and ocassionally for cinema as Capital Punishment , The crew and this Age of heroes . Rating : 6/10 . Acceptable and passable Warlike movie .

I'm not understanding all the negativity in the user reviews about this film. Sure, Sean Bean is not the world's greatest actor, but he did a fine job in this role. True, the movie shared some themes found in other WWII movies, but how can that possibly be avoided in this day and age?

The movie does lack moments of depth--for example the training camp in Scotland shows lots of yelling and little else. However, contrary to previous opinions, the mission is quite clearly explained prior to the team undertaking it--hence the need for the non-commando "specialist" who is brought along to ensure success.

This movie was entertaining, moves at a brisk pace (although too brisk in some places), and has fun moments combined with tragic and sad. I was pleasantly surprised to find that I found it enjoyable, and while not Academy Award material, I would recommend that anyone who likes Action/War movies takes a look.

In the fall of 2010, I spent a short time on the set of an independent film called "The Boarder," which was being shot in rural Nebraska. And one thing that I did learn while mingling amongst the technicians and actors was that even in something as aesthetically-driven as a motion picture, and with something passionate as a subject matter, it is still entirely possible for things to sour up and become impersonal. Movie-making is not easy, and the stress, I'm afraid, can wear out the artistic drive in some of us, especially if it's an early endeavor. That very well may have been the case, I'm afraid to say, with Adrian Vitoria's "Age of Heroes."

Again, it's hard to imagine a film based on a true story to be passionless and impersonal, but that is the case here. "Age of Heroes" is loosely based on a World War II British commando unit's mission to garner Germany intelligence. The particular mission was drawn up by Ian Fleming, who would later go on to write the James Bond novel series. So a story about men who risked and gave their lives, even in a shoestring budget film like this, is hard to imagine as soulless. But it is.

The way this movie is filmed, acted, scored, and executed, it's as if the filmmakers simply pulled the story out of a box full of potential stories and decided to roll along with it. Because it was their job, not because they particularly wanted to. Filming the battle scenes in this movie must have been very difficult, and unfortunately, the stress the directors and technicians had on them is apparent. It can be felt, and as a result, the scenes, meant to be white-hot, have a sort of staged, phony feeling to them.

There are worthy actors in the movie, headed by Sean Bean, but not one of them as a real part to act. What little personality they have is drawn straight out of previous war pictures. The key example is a tough commando sergeant, played with zest by William Houston; really just a pale imitation of the much-more-impressive gunnery sergeant from Stanley Kubrick's "Full Metal Jacket" back in 1987.

If the film can be redeemed, it is in that it does not appear to aim particularly high. It doesn't have a big goal, so it doesn't accomplish much, and the failure isn't quite as compounding as it otherwise might have been. And a brisk 94 minutes, "Age of Heroes" was already over by the time I was really starting to grow bored.

Well I love Sean Bean and follow him since Stormy Monday through Sharpes epic. I am also happy to see Miko (she's not much appreciated where I live. But regardless of those two this movie is so mediocre.

Acting is OK - if you won't laugh seeing Sean is waving dagger instead of sword. Shots are alright but don't expect to see 40s London or anything (low budget). Effects are... Yes there are some effects in this movie, not too many though, and mostly 2d.

What is totally awkward is the plot. Some strange training and preparations. Then endless shooting, evil Nazis doing snuff movies, shooting, explosions, more shooting, exploding Nazis. And then finale: quick as if they run out of tape (long walk to Sweden takes 5 secs). Some characters die obviously but we don't really know or see how.

To sum up: don't expect great entertainment. This movie is low budget or some kind of financial con. If you like shooting and explosions (or exploding Nazis) then rent it.