The acting was surprisingly bad with unrealistic dialogues and little body language. There was a lack of continuity of dates, ranks, and signage. It seems the producer was too cheap to hire technical advisors. The film abruptly stops before what should have been the climax of the plot. I wasted $5.99 on this pay-per-view.
61 Reviews
Got to be a Spoof right? Wish I could leave a -10
steven-8348016 November 2020
I cannot believe that this movie actually made it to a television screen. As I type this, I am only 45 minutes in to the movie and I had to hit the web to check and see if maybe I was crazy. It doesn't even make good humor. When I watch movies about the Bulge or any other military event, I expect nothing but the best. This is just unbelievable. Atrocious is too good a word to describe it. Why any actor would want to be associated with this blows my mind. For all of you who gave it anything above a 1, YOU ARE CLUELESS TO MILITARY RANK AND PROCEDURE. My eyes are hurting. Painful. Germans pretending to be redneck Americans. Sweet Lord above make this one disappear.
Sadly Novice.... Great work for Minnesotans outta work during early COVID.
jim-0941214 November 2020
I was really disappointed in the acting.
Keep your eyes open and you will find
images of things that were not around
during World War II....
I just KNOW that those locals who participated
in this productions making, had fun.
Absolutely worst War Movie EVER and the 2nd worse is not even close.
rjwkvgda8 November 2020
This was a absolutely terrible film. I have a kid across the street in the 8th grade that has made better movies and has more Film festival awards!
It was terribly acted, it was terribly directed. I've seen much better acting by high school students with zero talent. A 70 year old major? 2nd LT taking charge of 1st LTs? Fight scenes were as bad as I have ever seen, poorly blocked, poorly edited, poor sound effects and editing. And don't even get me started on the photography. Or on the military tactics.
Should be embarrassing to anyone connected. Whoever greenlighted this script should be out of a job. Director should never be given the reins again. Investors should sue.
WARNING. do not waste 85 minutes of your life on this.
YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED
It was terribly acted, it was terribly directed. I've seen much better acting by high school students with zero talent. A 70 year old major? 2nd LT taking charge of 1st LTs? Fight scenes were as bad as I have ever seen, poorly blocked, poorly edited, poor sound effects and editing. And don't even get me started on the photography. Or on the military tactics.
Should be embarrassing to anyone connected. Whoever greenlighted this script should be out of a job. Director should never be given the reins again. Investors should sue.
WARNING. do not waste 85 minutes of your life on this.
YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED
Movie Watchers Remorse
ImPlatzeKatze15 November 2020
Everything negative written here by other reviewers is absolutely true.
The only positive thing I can add is; the armorer for this movie did a good job. All weapons were correct for the era. Even the German ones. Everything else was terrible.
The worst line in the movie: One guy is carrying 2 Panzerfausts, and the other guy asks him how many shots he has. (The answer is 2)
My remorse came from paying $6.99 on Dish to watch this pile. 😿
The only positive thing I can add is; the armorer for this movie did a good job. All weapons were correct for the era. Even the German ones. Everything else was terrible.
The worst line in the movie: One guy is carrying 2 Panzerfausts, and the other guy asks him how many shots he has. (The answer is 2)
My remorse came from paying $6.99 on Dish to watch this pile. 😿
Movie Credibility
hankelda7 November 2020
The basic background for the movie was sound, using the Second Infantry Division near Elsenborn Ridge, was good. My father was a company commander in the Battle of the Bulge, in the Second Infantry Division. HOWEVER, everything else about the movie was horrible. First, why use a 70 year old man actor as a Major in the military. The oldest age for a Major would be 35-40 years old. What was this Major's role? It appeared he was making decisions that persons much higher rank would be making. Also, his helmet had Lieutenant Colonel insignia, while his collar had Major rank. Then, during the movie, you had a German impersonator with Second Lieutenant rank (gold bar on helmet) giving orders to a First Lieutenant (Silver Bar on helmet). Come on Director, get your ranks straight! Then out of the blue, you have this Major talking on first name basis to a Lieutenant General (three star general) as if they're buddies or something. BTW, The highest ranking person in the Second Infantry Division is a two star general. AND, Major's don't make strategic decisions on the battlefield! They are usually Operations Officers at the battalion level (500 personnel). If he was portraying a staff officer, then a Major would be the deputy G2 for the division. Ironically, I held that position as the deputy G2 for the Second Infantry Division. So you see this is personal. What the hell was this three star doing wandering around talking to Majors in the Second Infantry Division? Please have someone who was in the military work as an advisor when you make war movies!!! YOU LOOK RIDICULES!
Was this a joke?
paul-rose7-246-6182330 March 2022
Worst war movie ever!
amiralia-1643210 August 2021
What the hell was that ?
Amateur actors, fake gun fires, weak scenario, boring sequences, very bad screenplay, duplicate some of scenes, screaming and roaring german soldiers in battles like stone age battles!, poor sound,... Shame on that director.
Amateur actors, fake gun fires, weak scenario, boring sequences, very bad screenplay, duplicate some of scenes, screaming and roaring german soldiers in battles like stone age battles!, poor sound,... Shame on that director.
Wtf did I just watch???
sunny_wells11 November 2020
Quite possibly the worst movie I have ever watched!! I cannot believe I paid $5.99 for this. 🤦♀️ The acting was weird at best. The dialogue was stale, the scenery looked like Michigan.. then come to find out, IT ACTUALLY WAS MICHIGAN! I'm thinking the "Brown" family must be related to the actor that played "Rudy"... that or he paid them.. not sure which. I didn't go to "movie making" school, but I have seen a ton of movies.. anyone who says this movie is anything but bad, is delusional
Farcical
samthegreencat6 March 2021
Farcical the whole film !! The weather !!! The Battle of the Bulge took place in bad weather ,heavy cloud, heavy snow! The Germans planned in that way to prevent allied air strikes hindering their advance! Many, many scenes are filmed with a clear blue sky and bright sunshine!! The buildings ,water tower and architecture in the background are clearly North American NOT 1940s France/Belgium! The jeeps with the mounted cannons on them have not one person manning them ! Ln the whole film! (except at the end in the final attack!) Pretty unlikely in a war zone with Germans everywhere! The Captain who witnessed the Germans(dressed as fake American soldiers ) murder his fellow American soldiers ,says nothing, as a warning , to the first American soldier he meets! Then doesn't even mention it on this guy's radio when he finally makes contact with his own side!!!!! Then when he finally meets a group of Americans he knows ,he only mentions it eventually when he recognises his own jeep that the fake americans soldiers stole !! Ludicrous !! Many soldiers pass through the field of fire of other soldiers when the firing starts ! Many soldiers including the LT in the first scene walk around carrying no weapons! Ridiculous in a combat zone!! Many,many other mistakes!i.
WARNING: Terrible
bzgwff7 November 2020
This is a terrible film. Grossly incompetent acting, even the so-called headliner actors are absolutely stiff. Editing is horrendously chaotic. Not chaotic in a good cinematic way such as to portray Fog of War concepts etc., but chaotic in terms being just plain bad. Camera work, script, continuity - all are junior varsity. Whom of those involved would want to use this film as reference on their resume? Who in their right mind would finance this? This should be a career ender. This is a tremendous dis-service to the real heroes of this conflict, fortunately this film likely won't be around long enough to inflict itself on too many people. I want my money back!
Two respected Hollywood actors can't save this movie
johnnymilne15 December 2020
Had to turn it off halfway through.
qormi15 January 2022
Everything was amateurish... the acting, the script... horrible. As if it was put together by a fourth grader. The part where the Germans infiltrated, speaking English and wearing American uniforms was pretty good though... this actually happened.
But whoever wrote the script was incompetent..like I said, like a 4th grader. The acting was so bad, it was really bad... very noticeable. Really stilted conversations.... the 3 women portraying the nurses, displayed not an ounce of acting ability as they conversed with one another... and it seemed like an SNL sketch.
A couple of big name actors who needed the money lent their names to this garbage, but they could not salvage anything.
Bad directing, too.
But whoever wrote the script was incompetent..like I said, like a 4th grader. The acting was so bad, it was really bad... very noticeable. Really stilted conversations.... the 3 women portraying the nurses, displayed not an ounce of acting ability as they conversed with one another... and it seemed like an SNL sketch.
A couple of big name actors who needed the money lent their names to this garbage, but they could not salvage anything.
Bad directing, too.
Do not watch film
dannyduggan-424541 December 2020
Don't watch
ofcjoeroberts15 November 2020
Worst War movie ever
jthorn-039857 November 2020
The director should go back to directing school. The acting was terrible and the plot was hard to follow. I couldn't tell which group were the Germans and which group were the Americans. Then when there is a fight scene and soldiers are firing point blank range nobody dies. Please give me my money back I feel like I was robbed.
Dreadful B movie rubbish of a major WW2 Event
banjofred-414-798733 January 2021
The 2005 Battle of the Bulge with Robert Shaw,Henry Fonda and other stars was excellent. Whilst the senior offices might have been a tad older than in fact, non were Tom Beringers 70 year old operating from a money saving tent (everything was in the tent), asking for General Omar Bradley saying christian and surname as a history lesson for the viewer. the weather was good considering the reality was in mid winter.Uniofrm facts already covered by other reviewer with more knowledge than I. There have been some great WW2 movies. Patton lust for glory scores 10 for me. It had this battle in it.The Longest Day, whilst a starkest, as was A Bridge too far, was excellent. Even the 1950s Combat black and white movie on this subject was better. All in all this may have provided mister bringers pension, but its not for me.
I fell asleep.....
sch-812095 November 2021
This movie was soooooo bad. I fell asleep during during it. When I woke up I just ignored it and wrote this review. If you ever have trouble falling asleep put this movie on and you'll be sleeping in no time. Guaranteed!
Awful
igruenthal7 November 2020
As a 12 year veteran whose grandfather fought in the Battle of the Bulge, I can say with confidence this was one of the worst war movies I've ever seen! So many inaccuracies, anachronisms, and just plain unrealistic content that I can't believe this movie didn't go straight to the 99¢ bin. Better off watching A-Team reruns!
cheap B-movie
SnoopyStyle26 December 2020
It's December 1944. The Germans have thrown much of their reserves into a risky attempt to turn the tides of the war. Small groups of American soldiers fend off the overwhelming opponent which includes Germans dressed as American GIs. Major McCulley (Tom Berenger) desperately struggles to organize resistance with General Omar Bradly (Billy Zane).
The action staging is bad. The pyrotechnics are lacking. The dialogue is clunky. I don't like Berenger and Zane. The story material is warmed-over bits from better movies. Non of this is any good but I'm not angry at it. It's a cheap B-movie and it's over its head. It has a couple of vehicles which is nice but it's not nearly enough.
The action staging is bad. The pyrotechnics are lacking. The dialogue is clunky. I don't like Berenger and Zane. The story material is warmed-over bits from better movies. Non of this is any good but I'm not angry at it. It's a cheap B-movie and it's over its head. It has a couple of vehicles which is nice but it's not nearly enough.
Missing the old days
calmirio19 December 2020
A World War II movie without the feel of being a war movie...
paul_haakonsen12 December 2020
Right, well the rather low rating of the 2020 movie "Battle of the Bulge Winter War" should have been a warning right then and there to make me stop and take heed. Yet, I figured, a war movie that had both Tom Berenger and Billy Zane on the cast list might actually have some worth to it.
And turned out that both Tom Berenger and Billy Zane were not even in the movie all that much, support cast at the best, and just billed on the movie's cover/poster to lure in the audience. And secondly, this 2020 war movie from writer and director Steven Luke just wasn't worth the effort.
It was the total lack of intensity that is present in the good World War II movies that was keeping this movie down. It never felt like I was watching a war movie, but more like watching low budget attempts at capturing the spirit of World War II, but never really succeeding. That special spark that drives the good World War II movies was just not present in "Battle of the Bulge: Winter War", so writer and director Steven Luke swung wide and missed wider.
Well, it should be said that the people they had cast for the various roles were actually doing good enough jobs with the limitations imposed upon them by the script and production values. So that has to count for something, at least.
While the acting was adequate, I must admit that the characters were rather bland and mundane, sort of making it difficulty - if not pointless - to clearly see where one character ended and the next started. The writers just failed to give the characters distinctive personalities, traits, quirks and other individual mannerisms and such. It made for a rather faceless mass of soldiers milling about in a war movie that didn't feel like a war movie.
It was as if everything in the plot and storyline was just glanced over and touched only briefly, giving the audience only a shallow glimpse into what it could have been. And that made for a rather anti-climatic war movie.
If you enjoy World War II movies, then there are far better choices readily available in an abundance out there, and "Battle of the Bulge: Winter War" is a movie that you should just stroll past and not bother picking up. My rating of this 2020 movie lands on a mere three out of ten stars.
And turned out that both Tom Berenger and Billy Zane were not even in the movie all that much, support cast at the best, and just billed on the movie's cover/poster to lure in the audience. And secondly, this 2020 war movie from writer and director Steven Luke just wasn't worth the effort.
It was the total lack of intensity that is present in the good World War II movies that was keeping this movie down. It never felt like I was watching a war movie, but more like watching low budget attempts at capturing the spirit of World War II, but never really succeeding. That special spark that drives the good World War II movies was just not present in "Battle of the Bulge: Winter War", so writer and director Steven Luke swung wide and missed wider.
Well, it should be said that the people they had cast for the various roles were actually doing good enough jobs with the limitations imposed upon them by the script and production values. So that has to count for something, at least.
While the acting was adequate, I must admit that the characters were rather bland and mundane, sort of making it difficulty - if not pointless - to clearly see where one character ended and the next started. The writers just failed to give the characters distinctive personalities, traits, quirks and other individual mannerisms and such. It made for a rather faceless mass of soldiers milling about in a war movie that didn't feel like a war movie.
It was as if everything in the plot and storyline was just glanced over and touched only briefly, giving the audience only a shallow glimpse into what it could have been. And that made for a rather anti-climatic war movie.
If you enjoy World War II movies, then there are far better choices readily available in an abundance out there, and "Battle of the Bulge: Winter War" is a movie that you should just stroll past and not bother picking up. My rating of this 2020 movie lands on a mere three out of ten stars.
Tom Berenger should immediately fire his agent
wdrxxwaps10 March 2021
So many layers of disappointment it's hard to know where to begin.....absolutely zero plot/character development, horrendous special effects and a sad attempt at being historically accurate, this movie struggled. I'm a 20 year Army veteran and it always amazes me when a "war" movie can't get simple rank correct. Berenger had two different ranks on his helmet and collar, he was chatting it up with 3 star Omar Bradley and the fake German LT was ordering around a real US LT despite them being the same rank. Anyway, woeful and I can't believe I lost more time off my life writing this review. I can only hope I save someone else from suffering through like I have.
I KNEW THIS MOVIE WAS CRAP WHEN ....
brians-1654919 December 2021
I saw the trailer. Tom Berringer has got to be way to old to make a movie.
The rest of it was wrong because they had the wrong people doing the fighting in this movie. We all know who was doing the fighting and who was not anywhere near the action. Shame on you for trying to re-write history.
The rest of it was wrong because they had the wrong people doing the fighting in this movie. We all know who was doing the fighting and who was not anywhere near the action. Shame on you for trying to re-write history.
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