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War Raiders is standard WWII fare: a group of rag-tag G. I.'s are sent on a mission deep into Nazi Germany, resulting in a montage of them walking through the woods, reading maps, radioing back to HQ, etc. They are presented with obstacles to overcome by working together through our group of G. I.'s going through the Forming > Storming > Norming > Performing cycle you often see anytime the protagonists are described as a "rag-tag bunch."

Mark Polonia gets what makes a war movie good, and knows the beats he needs to hit. His usual actors are there doing their usual thing, which is fine. We also get the usual shots of the college Mark works at doubling as Allied HQ and the Pennsylvania woods near Mark's house as rural Germany.

However, Mark's basement, which fans have grown to know and love throughout his films, is not present here. If you're a fan like me you can draw his basement floor plan from memory. You know which shelf the Tide sits on, and if there's only a single jug left you consider emailing Mark to remind him to pick some more up on way home.

Sadly, this film just didn't do anything for me. Where it stumbles is in the lack of budget. It's hard to make a big-concept historical war film without spending a lot of money on historically accurate sets, weapons, and uniforms. And he tried, he really did, but it just doesn't work out.

Let's say you have a hankering for some good old fashion no budget trash/schlock, but you have a bunch of kids running around the house. And as fully formed functioning adult, you have the cognitive development to recognize that the hookers getting stabbed in their vaginas flick (your standard viewing fare) isn't very appropriate. Well the Polonia Bros. Productions are usually a pretty safe bet. Empire of the Apes is basically family fare, outside the constant overwhelming never ending threat of inter-species rape, but worry not, once the kiddos get one look at the apes' mask, they'll find something better to do with their time than stick around for ruminations.

This is a pretty forgettable movie from the start, really. The movie tries to make them threatening through their brutality, but it just didn't really work for me. I'm not exactly sure why, but it might have something to do with the performances.

The movie has a surprising amount of plot to it, and the story continues beyond the point where you might expect it to end. Again, it doesn't really work for me. It's just not all that interesting.

This movie is definitely watchable, but it is very forgettable. Its attempts at becoming sort of a legal thriller really don't work. And the actual ending is embarrassing; there's no way around that.