The Second Front

I'm struggling to see if there is any justification to having spent the money to rent and watch this. I can't find any unless it's to stop others from falling victim as I did. Be forewarned. I can't believe Ron Perlman has sunk this low. I wish IMDb didn't have the ten line minimum, because now I'm spending even more time trying to warn you, dear reader, not to do what I have done. As I look back on my life, I'll remember with regret the evening I wasted on this film. If, by these words, I can help one person -- just one person -- avoid this experience, I'll earn some atonement and find peace. Perhaps I can convince Blockbuster to return my money or even pay me compensation, but I can't get back my time.

What a disappointment of a movie. I love a good war movie because of the valor, the bravery, the action, the love of country and dedication to a cause greater than one's self. Unfortunately, this movie was more like a watching military version of "The Great Race" where people are scurrying all over the world for uncertain reasons and competing in disjointed activities. The general story line has potential, but frankly, a group of ten-year old boys playing Army in the backyard could have come up with a more realistic plot and better consistency across scenes.

Another contributor to this board mentioned the lack of special effects, like outtakes or deleted scenes. The absence of those is a blessing to the viewer, in my mind. The scenes that made it to the movie were so tepid and predictable that I can't imagine what those on the cutting room floor must be like.

Save your time and your money. Watch "Band of Brothers", "Saving Private Ryan", or any number of other war movies that employ props and dialog consistent the era, credible story lines, and plots that don't require the viewer to keep telling themselves that the movie will surely be getting better any minute now.

Nobody involved in this rubbish should ever be allowed to work in the industry again! The plot is ridiculous from the start and so many holes appear in the telling of the story that you have to remind yourself that these people are serious and are not trying to make you laugh. The idea that some of the "actors" were paid for this is the one laughable thing about the movie. The director should be Allan Smithee, as Dmitri Fiks (if that is his real name) should be ashamed for the waste of money he is responsible for. Retire Dmitri, retire! Why oh why are talentless clowns like these people given access to finance to make unredeemable crap like this!

"The Second Front" is a Russian-made film about a 1942 attempt by the Nazis to kidnap a German scientist who had fled to England. That part of the plot is just slightly far-fetched, and could have been the fodder for a decent wartime thriller. But in this case, the scientist happens to be Jewish. Germany had many top scientists at work in the war effort, inventing new weapons, etc. And, knowing the vile hatred within the Nazi party of the Jewish people, the idea that they would want to kidnap a Jewish scientist to help them is unbelievable. To the mind of a Nazi, that would be admitting inferiority to a Jew. A more plausible plot might have been one to try to assassinate the Jewish scientist.

So, the preposterous theme of the plot aside, this still might have been a decent thriller of sorts. An interesting thing that I noticed was the unusual aircraft used as the German Red Cross plane. And, the plot of American and Soviet efforts to either kidnap or kill the scientist was a little interesting. This seems to be a post-Soviet era project by Russians to give one example of some coordination and cooperation among the Allied forces in WW II. The Soviet Union was among the Allies fighting Nazi Germany, but the war was barely over when it enclosed most of eastern Europe behind its iron curtain.

As for the acting, at best it is so-so, but there are many instances when it's either wooden or stagy. The production is also quite rudimentary with total breaks between scenes. This is an example on film when research was lacking or ignored about some simple things. For instance, the Russian commando's weapons. They never seem to run out of ammo, and we don't see them carrying any extra. Scenes show Veklich alone (Aleksey Serebryakov) firing what must be about 100 rounds from something like a Tommy gun. Then there is the huge number of German soldiers who supposedly flew on the Red Cross plane. Nowhere before the final battle scene is there any inkling of so many German soldiers. And, even though the inside of the plane looked much larger than it did from the outside, it didn't look like it could hold that many soldiers with their equipment.

This is a weak action thriller of WW II.

I am a woman who appreciates war movies. Good war movies, that is. What I consider to be well-made war movie traits are an adherence to fact, correct use of language (e.g., Italian characters speaking in Italian and, bonus points, acted by Italians), a compelling story, and lack of jingoism. Oh yes, and NO "LOVE TRIANGLES" (note to movie makers: not all women need romantic subplots to watch a war movie. I mean, really, a "love triangle?" Millions of people were being slaughtered. Doesn't that fact make any stupid "love triangles" utterly irrelevant? If you really want to attract women, perhaps have war movies that focus on women who made a difference.)

A few war movies that I've appreciated that utilize some or all of these traits are "The Longest Day" (my entrance into war movies), "Band of Brothers," "The Tuskegee Airmen," "Kelly's Heroes" (Donald Sutherland. Priceless.), "Life is Beautiful," and "Breaker Morant." This movie, unfortunately, did not have any of these traits, save for the use of native language. Utterly pointless story and annoying characters. I can even make an argument for blatant false advertising - if you watched the movie, did you see the tanks or spitfires that are depicted on the DVD cover? Yeah, me neither. Although the sea plane was cool....

Save your time. Save your money. There are countless other movies that are much more deserving. "Kagemusha," for example....