Spoils of War

When I was young I bought my first car which was very inexpensive. The purpose of this car was to get me to my destination. On my journey I didn't have much money for food, gas and motels. I ate cheap and slept cheap and certainly didn't drive a Cadillac, but I did get where I wanted to go.

The same can be said of this picture. With a limited budget, there were not the magnificent sets as seen in 'Saving Private Ryan' or mega star actors like Brad Pitt or Tom Hanks, and certainly the script could have been better written.

Having said that, the film maker did arrive at his destination also. No, not in the style to which we are accustomed. We should evaluate each film based on the story and budget and not base our criticisms on comparisons to benchmark mega-budget films.

This artist painted a fair portrait given a limited pallet of colors.

Most of what I would say has been said by other members in their comments.

Only thing I would add is the huge oversights in the sets. The barracks high in the Austrian alps in 1940's have metal frame windows.... possibly aluminium. I would imagine that they would have been wood frame back then.

In one scene, you can see two large propane tanks in the background. I am betting the barracks set is a summer camp, resort, or roadside motel.

In one scene, a barrack has a #2 on the door. In another scene, presumably at a cabin at a distance from the barracks, there is a #3 on the door. Again, indication of a resort or motel.

There is also in the cabin scene, what appears to be a steel-insulated door commonly used in residential construction in the modern day... the standard 6-panel design. Would a cabin in the alps have such a thing?

Effects were so incredibly weak.

Do yourself a favour, skip this one. I don't know what the producers were thinking.

This is one of the most disappointing war drama which I have seen in the last few years. I saw 'Counterfeit' last year which I think was nominated for Oscar 2009; this is not anywhere in the same league as that.

Besides all that, the sleeve of the DVD is entirely misleading, talking about Operation Bernhard and Major Falconer involved in a love affair with the young wife of Count Maldorais in the Adriennes Forest.

There are NO women in this movie at all and the sole concentration of the movie is on a group of soldiers crossing German lines and doing a lot of shooting, a little bit like cowboy and Indians with the Germans. If it was made on a low budget, the overall production reflects that.

this is essentially a movie about a soldiers greed for money when he realises that there is chance for the 'spoils of war' while in the course of doing his duty on a somewhat bizarre mission.

The dialogue throughout, although informative, seemed extremely contrived and I felt the acting was below average standard for a movie of this kind, perhaps not a reflection on the actors involved but on the production direction and screenplay.

Very little to commend though the real life shots at the beginning and end of the film almost gave the film some meaning.

Sorry folks, this just didn't deliver!

I have no words for describe this movie....

The actors are very bad, the script is awful, the music was made with a Bontempi keyboard and recorded in the toilet.. Not or very bad special effect made with a Commodore 64...

Historically, this absolutely does not hold the road, they are supposed to be SS soldiers and to them uniforms are a mixture of Wermacht and of anything, the leader carries shoulder pads of Russian uniforms..

The German Soldiers are stupid and fat, not very the type of the Aryan Race..

the movie is stuffed with useless stock shoot, put only to fill and give a semblance of realism..

if you want to waste your time and your money, it is the film which you need..

The film director would better make to go back on the benches of a school of cinema before taking out another horror of this type. How is possible it to spend 500'000 dollars to make such a bad film, it is really to do the money by the window..

This film is a complete s***...

Greeting of Fulci

This has to be the "Cr*p" (not even going to call it a film!) that you use to judge a films ratings when your getting near the bottom....this is the very bottom!! Man I watched it for free and even then after the first few moments I was looking for the off switch. I'm just so glad I'd not eaten prior to watching otherwise ....well you can guess! The few props used must have been borrowed from some WW2 club which had insisted they not get dirty or damaged....and the uniforms, well looked to me like the wardrobe had hit the local Jumble sales..awful! I don't know any of the actors personally or what work they've been doing previous to this but all I can assume is they were all skint and needed the money (if there was any??)... I am serious now, I really have seen better acting from 10 year olds with spud guns down the woods!!! I have tried so hard to find even the smallest thing about this film that could merit anything near 1 star and all I could come up with was the trees in the landscape, they were the only thing living in this mess. So Best actor go's to the Oak tree behind the cabin and best supporting go's to the pine by the track, well done guys! How you stood for so long while this was going on around you God knows!!