Saints and Soldiers

I really enjoyed the film and it gave a different slant to the Malmedy massacre which took place in 1944. The snow scenes gave the film a great atmosphere. Most of the actors played excellent parts, the plot involving a group of American GIs coming across an English (RAF) pilot. One problem was Kirby Heyborne. If I came across Kirby Heyborne's as "Englishman" during World War II I would be tempted to shoot him as a German spy. His accent is dreadful and certainly not English. At times he was a comic opera Englishman and next an American. Was an English actor, living in the United States, not available to play this important part? It would have made a big difference to the film.

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.

A very rewarding payoff comes to those willing to slog through the cold winter of 1944 with these soldiers. Like any march in the military, there's some "hurry up and wait" moments that tend to slow the plot down a little bit. And the "character" scenes aren't as professionally rendered as perhaps they could have been. Quibbles, though, because the story reaches a generally unexpected and very emotional payoff, and the trek is more than worthwhile. Film should play well on DVD, given decent but not spectacular use of big screen. Utah stands in pretty well for the Ardennes, but that winter was Europe's worst in 50 years and the dry cold of the US West doesn't really seem to convey the real misery the climate brought to the GIs. Acting generally strong all around with the squad leader, a kind of heavier Jeff Daniels type, particularly good and really evocative of a GI sixty years ago. Fine, moving film.

Saints and Soldiers is a quite powerful movie. It has a very human side, although the idea is not very unique.

A movie about 5 brave allied soldiers fighting their way back to base from behind enemy lines, during WW II.

Each of the characters embodies a different human typology. There is a subtle religious side, also.

The movie has a good visual narrative construction. It is worth being seen.

The main idea is that, behind the soldier uniform there is a human being.

In my own opinion, this is a triumph for war movies. It's just as intense as any war movie, but doesn't contain all the blood and guts our society today gives us. It has enough to convince the audience that it's all real and then brings you into the atmosphere by the fantastic acting. (Kudos to all actors involved) This is also a low-budget film, which helps you appreciate it even more because there are no signs of that small budget. This is just as intense as pretty much any war movie you will ever see, but you don't have to worry about it being too violent or bloody. It's just as compelling because it puts you inside the eyes of the soldiers themselves. I hope that all who have access to see this movie take advantage of it because this is a side of cinema that isn't seen often.