The Last Rescue

The last thing we needed was another low budget, badly scripted and poorly edited war film with re-enactors who can't act for toffee; but we don't always get what we want.

The plot is that it's 1944 and some American soldiers are lost behind enemy lines. One of them has a whoopsie in the trench and his Captain gets injured. This gives the makers the excuse to have some nurses in the mix too - for l'amour as it were. Then they have to get back to their lines etc etc.

Now the acting is actually OK in places so that is a break with the norm. The vehicles are all real but we have a tendency to use American materiel and drape a Swastika over the front to disguise it and fool us all into thinking it really is German. Why camouflage a vehicle then advertise it with a ruddy big red, white and black flag?

The music is a bit too dramatic - especially as there is very little action. The scenes go on far too long; this needed some vigorous editing to be honest. There is no tension and any that does build up soon evaporates in the lack of anything happening. The guns are OK in places but those with a keen eye will see some of our Nazi bods sporting a rather 'ahead of its time' AK 47. The uniforms are a bit ropey, there are too many plot holes to bother with and the cover art work is pure fantasy.

I tried to find something positive, and apart from some efforts in the acting department - there is nowt - even the plot is so dire and plain bad it is enough to make one cringe; its isn't even so bad that it is funny. If you want to waste your time you could clean your naval button fluff out instead it will be more rewarding.

The Last Rescue try's very hard to make a worthwhile B grade WWII drama/action flick and partly succeeds. The storytelling is reasonable, if predictable, and the acting is actually quite good.

Where this film falls down badly is the choice of locations. Its very obviously not Europe. Worse still its not careful in its use of what is available. Houses used in the film are clearly not European, they look American. I was not surprised to find this film was shot in the USA.

Perhaps this sounds petty but misuse of locations can really ruin the sense of atmosphere that was initially well established in the opening scenes of this drama.

The Last Rescue is a reasonable effort that could have been better again with a more considered choice of locations and buildings. Six out of ten from me.

Several months after D-Day in northern France, three soldiers and two Army Corps nurses get stuck behind enemy lines and try to make it out alive.

"The Last Rescue" (2015) is a WW2 indie that's small in budget but big in heart. The producers didn't have the resources for authentic German vehicles (tanks or Kubelwagens) or convincing CGI and so did the best they could with what was available. Yet the movie scores well in the most important department, human interest.

This is basically a survival flick focusing on a small group of people who are thrust into a life or death situation and must work together in order to survive. The characters are believable, generally speaking, and the acting is very good. Sure, there are some unlikely elements, like the soldier hiding behind an open door, but all kinds of improbable scenarios like this took place in real-life. This is not to say that the titular rescue at the climax is believable. It's not; but, then again, it IS a movie.

In regards to cast, Elizabeth Rice and Hallie Shepherd appear on the feminine front as Nancy and Vera respectively. Elizabeth starred in the excellent horror indie "From Within" (2008). She's blossomed into a beautiful, intelligent woman.

On the other side of the gender spectrum there's Brett Cullen (the hardened Captain), Cody Kasch (the naïve Pvt. Lewis), Darren Keefe Reiher (Lt. Maxwell) and Tino Struckmann (German Lt. Dittrich).

Bottom line, this is similar to "Saving Private Ryan" (1997) as far as the small band of Americans traversing through northern France and encountering German patrols here and there. The difference is that it includes two women in the main cast and is very much a 'B' movie (with hand-held cameras). So don't expect any Tiger tanks, demolished European cities or authentic French locations.

The film runs 1 hour, 46 minutes, and was shot in Alabama.

GRADE: B-

If you expect a realistic war movie skip this one. The plot is weak and the whole story very unbelievable. The surroundings are wrong for the setting and just to make sure we know they are Germans they put big flags on their cars. Sometimes even in the wrong way! And as usual all Germans speak English again. Actually they speak better German than English because I could not understand most of the so-called German. The so-called French man in the movie also speaks English, they don't even speak English there now, let alone back in 1944! And a German soldier asking them if they can speak English? Come on! No, sorry: if you really have nothing to do maybe you can have a look at it but my advise: look for something else. This one is unrealistic and above all quite predictable.

Cody Keach as the Private is not too bad, but the rest of the male actors leave a bit to be desired. Also, some of the outlandish feats of the private are not too believable. The nurses are fine, but their scripts are a bit uneven at times. The production values also leave a lot to be desired, but considering the budget, they did the best they could.

The story of nurses and soldiers caught between German and American lines after D-Day, seemed more like a Battle of the Bulge situation than D-Day. However, there is no real chemistry between the actors in the film, and ultimately, that is its downfall. Find something else to view.