Allies

I find myself being burned quite frequently these days by the review scores on IMDb. I guess it is a testament to the sites popularity that efforts are obviously made these days to drive up scores.

Personally when I see an above average score I double check on rotten tomatoes, where Allies doesn't even have a score - IE it's gone completely unnoticed into the world.

Anyhoo, I won't waste your time with the plot which has been covered in other reviews. Nor will I dwell on the diabolical script / camera work etc.

I'm a WW2 buff so gave this a punt, but much as I love the genre I do require a bit of realism from battle scenes and I got none of that here.

For example, British para's - I was one - do NOT wear red berets in combat (for reasons I'd hope would be obvious). The soldiers in the film did, whilst they stood around in bunched groups trading pot shots with the Germans. The para who poked his up over the grass verge to take a quick peek wearing what was effectively a red lantern on his head deserved what happened, sniped of all things by a machine gunner.

Whilst still under fire squaddies do not take a break to run back to a fallen comrade and squat by him - in the open - to bemoan the tragedies of war.

Give this one a miss.

I watched ten minutes of this movie then had to leave it.

The opening battle was implausible. As another reviewer noted there were groups standing and firing at each other - like a civil war movie more than a WWII one. Senior officer commanding a Platoon level action while wearing his gorget patches in the field. Refers to his subordinate leaders as Company Captains. British troops had Company Commanders who were Majors. US command companies with Captains.

Then onto a briefing about the coming mission. The SGT comes to attention like a kid would if playing at soldiers. Servicemen will understand what I mean. Briefing was light on detail and delivered by a senior officer who sounded like a voice over man. Then the British soldiers all salute like recruits with no head dress on.

I figured it wasn't going up hill from here so I decided to spend my time on something that didn't make me want to shout at the TV.

Might sound picky but these were glaring issue that set the scene for for a poor movie.

I love low budget films and will happily make allowances for realism flaws. But the flaws in this weren't due to cost except maybe the fee for an adviser.

Similar to others before me I was registering to IMDb right now to help correct the over-ratings of this title.

This movie is really awful. Not one full minute is enjoyable. It has no relation to WWII, military or history. Not even to common sense.

I would not say you should avoid this movie. Take as a parody! But in this category Top Secret is better...

The only positive thing to mention is that the makers tried to collect historically correct equipment - and they mostly succeeded. Although utilizing the items and the reenactment personnel is just a big mess, lacking any logic.

There is an action scene about half way through this movie which is one of the most exciting I've seen in recent memory! I obviously don't want to put up any spoilers but the minefield chase scene with the German tank is worth watching this movie for even if you don't like another frame, which you will because it's great. I can't tell you how refreshing it is to see the British fighting in World War Two in a movie because I was beginning to think the Americans were attempting to write us out of history! But forgetting all that, this movie has a real soul, you certainly care about the actors and if you're not careful it'll draw a tear or two as well! Don't get me wrong, it's no to the standard as Saving Private Ryan, then again, what films are, but the fact that I even dare say Allies in the same breath as Ryan, says a lot about this film. If you're a war film fan, this is an absolute must, if you're not, it might just surprise you.

Allies begins with a good premise, the rivalry between the Yanks and the Brits. On a personal level, having written a book called Zepka's War, parts of which take place in the hedgerows of France, I enjoyed watching the Germans get mowed down in what could have been some of those same hedgerows. But back to the movie. It's understandable that we will likely never see authentic WWII tanks in war movies these days, and that the uniforms will be questionable as to authenticity, but what I will never get used to, and for which there is no excuse, the need for injecting current terms such as "are we good?" are we good to go?" and "Roger that," into WWII films being made today. Are producers and directors really that stupid?