Only because of the name watched it. Those who all are going to watch it with lots of expectations be sure you are going to be disappointed.
39 Reviews
Poor show
julkar-328432 July 2020
The Russians and Germans have both British and American Accents
OzMovieWatcher19 June 2020
This movie is just entertainment. It is not based on any actual event except a band of Germans soldiers retreating from the Russian offensive.
The opening minutes I found immediately off-putting, to have the Germans and Russians speaking "the Queens English", but when the commanding officer speaks revealing an American accent.... that sets the distraction for the rest of the movie. The "Lieutenant" as he appears throughout the movies (unsure which actor that is) has an accent that in opening scenes sounds American and then as the movie progresses, seems to fluctuate between Welsh, British and American. While movies such as "Enemy at the Gates", where the actors spoke in their own country of origin accents, the accents were not off-putting as throughout their lines, words of the characters language are mixed in their speech. For example, in this movie, the Germans are saying "$hit" while if they said the German, "$cheissen", this would give the viewer the impression "I am German". Neal Ward who plays Sergeant Bruno Guize has a quite profound northern English accent. The Russians again had English accents and not even the term "Comrade" was used to indicate "I am Russian". I think even a poor attempt at a German accent would have been an improvement so as not have the strong and varied English accents so distracting.
As the Germans retreat in this movie, the obvious lush grassland and heavily wooded forests show that this is not the geography of the real German retreat which was in reality, mass destruction and "scorched earth". This movie does not indicate where they are retreating from, but given the apparent decimation of the Germans, this would have actually been in Winter of 1943/44. There is no snow in this movie nor indication of cold weather. Clearly the vegetation shows Spring or Summer. I am confident this was actually filmed in rural UK somewhere.
Visual Authenticity is strong in this movie. Genuine restored vehicles from the era, correct weapons and the uniforms are correct... except that the Russians are wearing winter uniforms and the Germans standard summer uniforms.
Tactical authenticity is lacking.... many times we see the Germans in close formation while a threat is imminent or while under attack... They should be spread out thinner as would have been the case in reality. The other is bunching up together and lighting up cigarettes while the scout/point member checks out something unusual. That would never have happened in reality. Just one well placed grenade or mortar would have killed the lot, not withstanding the cigarettes to give away their position. As these Germans are in retreat of the portrayed advancing enemy, watch them amble along in the forest at a slow pace is akin to a family taking a casual stroll after a picnic.
My Overall Opinion of the movie - I feel that the interaction of characters in the actual catastrophic retreat and defeat of the Germans is not at all portrayed in this movie. I would say it is "hinted at" but not depicting. I felt that the hostile interactions between the Germans as they retreated were not amplified sufficiently to show that they were falling apart as was the case in actual history. The quality of acting I would not say was bad, but maybe refer to it as very ordinary. I did not think much at all of the camera work... seemed more akin to walking around holding hand-held digital cameras. I thought the script and dialogue overall could have been much better. Overall, I watched in through the end and would not at all say it was a bad movie and not disappointed for having sat through it. An Award Winning movie it is not, but I would not be quick to call it a B-grade movie. If you want to kill an hour or so with not much else to do, this won't disappoint you, but I would not recommend that you go out of your way to watch it. I give it 4 stars, but maybe a bit generous.
The opening minutes I found immediately off-putting, to have the Germans and Russians speaking "the Queens English", but when the commanding officer speaks revealing an American accent.... that sets the distraction for the rest of the movie. The "Lieutenant" as he appears throughout the movies (unsure which actor that is) has an accent that in opening scenes sounds American and then as the movie progresses, seems to fluctuate between Welsh, British and American. While movies such as "Enemy at the Gates", where the actors spoke in their own country of origin accents, the accents were not off-putting as throughout their lines, words of the characters language are mixed in their speech. For example, in this movie, the Germans are saying "$hit" while if they said the German, "$cheissen", this would give the viewer the impression "I am German". Neal Ward who plays Sergeant Bruno Guize has a quite profound northern English accent. The Russians again had English accents and not even the term "Comrade" was used to indicate "I am Russian". I think even a poor attempt at a German accent would have been an improvement so as not have the strong and varied English accents so distracting.
As the Germans retreat in this movie, the obvious lush grassland and heavily wooded forests show that this is not the geography of the real German retreat which was in reality, mass destruction and "scorched earth". This movie does not indicate where they are retreating from, but given the apparent decimation of the Germans, this would have actually been in Winter of 1943/44. There is no snow in this movie nor indication of cold weather. Clearly the vegetation shows Spring or Summer. I am confident this was actually filmed in rural UK somewhere.
Visual Authenticity is strong in this movie. Genuine restored vehicles from the era, correct weapons and the uniforms are correct... except that the Russians are wearing winter uniforms and the Germans standard summer uniforms.
Tactical authenticity is lacking.... many times we see the Germans in close formation while a threat is imminent or while under attack... They should be spread out thinner as would have been the case in reality. The other is bunching up together and lighting up cigarettes while the scout/point member checks out something unusual. That would never have happened in reality. Just one well placed grenade or mortar would have killed the lot, not withstanding the cigarettes to give away their position. As these Germans are in retreat of the portrayed advancing enemy, watch them amble along in the forest at a slow pace is akin to a family taking a casual stroll after a picnic.
My Overall Opinion of the movie - I feel that the interaction of characters in the actual catastrophic retreat and defeat of the Germans is not at all portrayed in this movie. I would say it is "hinted at" but not depicting. I felt that the hostile interactions between the Germans as they retreated were not amplified sufficiently to show that they were falling apart as was the case in actual history. The quality of acting I would not say was bad, but maybe refer to it as very ordinary. I did not think much at all of the camera work... seemed more akin to walking around holding hand-held digital cameras. I thought the script and dialogue overall could have been much better. Overall, I watched in through the end and would not at all say it was a bad movie and not disappointed for having sat through it. An Award Winning movie it is not, but I would not be quick to call it a B-grade movie. If you want to kill an hour or so with not much else to do, this won't disappoint you, but I would not recommend that you go out of your way to watch it. I give it 4 stars, but maybe a bit generous.
Not worth the money
james-228605 July 2020
Those of you bored by the lack of movies out at the moment might be tempted to take a punt on this indie war film. The cover looks quite good, there's battles and tanks and loads of action.
Don't judge a movie by it's cover. Never has saying been more true. The tank on the cover? Not in the movie. The war ravaged buildings on the cover? Not in the movie. The barbed wire fences on the cover? Not in the movie. The soldiers running through battles? Not in the movie. You get the picture.
This is a disappointing movie. Instead of "this is hell on earth" the tagline should have been "a walk in the countryside".
I could go on about the bad props, the mismatching uniforms, the terrible British and American accents, the anachronisms, the fact that none of the soldiers know how to use their weapons, they have guns with infinite ammo, weak editing, poor directing, etc. but you would be as bored as I was watching the movie.
Don't judge a movie by it's cover. Never has saying been more true. The tank on the cover? Not in the movie. The war ravaged buildings on the cover? Not in the movie. The barbed wire fences on the cover? Not in the movie. The soldiers running through battles? Not in the movie. You get the picture.
This is a disappointing movie. Instead of "this is hell on earth" the tagline should have been "a walk in the countryside".
I could go on about the bad props, the mismatching uniforms, the terrible British and American accents, the anachronisms, the fact that none of the soldiers know how to use their weapons, they have guns with infinite ammo, weak editing, poor directing, etc. but you would be as bored as I was watching the movie.
Disapointing
grahamp-0945326 June 2020
Unfortunately this movie exhibits all the normal amateurish flaws that result when a movie is written, produced and directed by the same person. A lot of hard work, time and expense wasted in a final product which should never have been released in its current state.
Utter Dross
maverick-8492418 November 2020
Don't worry about odd accents (or lack of them), don't worry about uniforms of dubious accuracy, don't worry about much of any other complaint.
The simple fact is that this movie is, quite simply, boring. The 'dramatic' sequences would be better served in a mid-day soapie or straight to TV movie from Hallmark, such is the acting involved. The tension, drama, etc one might expect from the scenario simply isn't there and the predictable end is as worthless as the rest of it all.
Unfortunately, this movie is testament to the fact that you may own some uniforms or vehicles, you may have a bunch of friends who are keen to help you and you may own a camera, but this doesn't mean that you can act, direct or even attempt to produce something worth watching and when you attempt to do all of that on a shoe-string budget, it shows.
The simple fact is that this movie is, quite simply, boring. The 'dramatic' sequences would be better served in a mid-day soapie or straight to TV movie from Hallmark, such is the acting involved. The tension, drama, etc one might expect from the scenario simply isn't there and the predictable end is as worthless as the rest of it all.
Unfortunately, this movie is testament to the fact that you may own some uniforms or vehicles, you may have a bunch of friends who are keen to help you and you may own a camera, but this doesn't mean that you can act, direct or even attempt to produce something worth watching and when you attempt to do all of that on a shoe-string budget, it shows.
Don't waste your money
5PL1N73R1 July 2020
This movie is a mildly interesting story about some women caught up in the eastern front during WWII. Unfortunately the implementation is pretty dire. I'm assuming that the director made this as his student film, so I don't want to be too harsh, but it's hard to make a movie this weak. It looks like it was filmed in the actors mates garden with a collection of very British and American actors who made no attempt to pretend to be German. This is all well and good but the Russians in the movie all had phony Russian accents.
As expected for a very low budget film the historical accuracy isn't great; the uniforms aren't right, the guns are unlikely and the vehicles are implausible even if they are the right vintage. You really need someone who knows about guns and the army if you are going to make a war movie. There was clearly not a single person on set who knows anything about army tactics.
There is no sense of urgency throughout the film even though the characters are constantly talking about the impending Russian assault. I guess there wasn't the budget for a real battle.
If you don't have the budget to do the story justice, then maybe the film should have been about a bunch of lads on a camping trip on a golf course. Write what you know.
I hope the director got a good grade, but he really shouldn't be charging people to watch this.
As expected for a very low budget film the historical accuracy isn't great; the uniforms aren't right, the guns are unlikely and the vehicles are implausible even if they are the right vintage. You really need someone who knows about guns and the army if you are going to make a war movie. There was clearly not a single person on set who knows anything about army tactics.
There is no sense of urgency throughout the film even though the characters are constantly talking about the impending Russian assault. I guess there wasn't the budget for a real battle.
If you don't have the budget to do the story justice, then maybe the film should have been about a bunch of lads on a camping trip on a golf course. Write what you know.
I hope the director got a good grade, but he really shouldn't be charging people to watch this.
Write what you know.......
rasbenek-9061030 June 2020
There are far too many examples of writers putting pen to paper on subjects out of their comfort zone and failing to find the necessary 'heart' because they either don't have a real interest in what they're writing about but feel it is 'current' and they should, or they have no idea how to research and find the authenticity that is needed. Added to that producers who haven't a clue on the subject either and are not discerning enough to pull the script apart, and you are doomed to a very particular kind of failure. Of the 'we really didn't care enough' kind. Writers should write what they know, or are confident in researching. Neither occurred in this instance. There are many much more accomplished films, even short ones, than this where the filmmakers found the required passion in the short narratives they were trying to tell. Camera work in this overly long effort too is pointless - cameras express an observation, or a motivation, or something narratively that audiences are supposed to focus on. The use of the camera here was pretty aimless. Something down to both the director and the cinematographer. And the accents?! Well less said here the better. Completely pulled out of the viewing experience from minute one. World War 2 was the setting for so many exciting and mindblowingly brave stories the filmmakers could have chosen any number to tell utilising British actors and their distinctly British accents. Especially if going out to make a film with your mates. But no, they chose to represent Germans in the mid winter of retreat on the Eastern Front, without snow or landscape that was particularly European yet alone with the cold, bleak tones of winter and desolation. One only has to watch Stalingrad to get a real feel of what it was like for the ordinary German soldier. This felt like a story made for the sake of making a movie. Little or no script development, filmmakers without the necessary experience or knowledge to pull off a war-driven movie, a director who doesn't know how to elicit performance or to generate excitement through camera shot choices, and a cast just going through the motions of what they imagined they should be doing. This feels like a film school project Year 1 assignment piece drawn out to feature length. The Director really needs to hone his craft on shorter pieces, and the Screenwriter really should go back to basics and learn how to research properly, and then to tightly structure a purposeful story for a pleasing, focused, and multi-layered audience experience. War films by their very nature are pretty budget hefty affairs. It's impossible to do one any sort of justice on a short film budget or worse. And certainly not without the proper preparation, research, and development. For a job well done check out Sean Ellis's 'Anthropoid' - a story told at least four times cinematically over the decades, and here told well, even as a remake, with flair and a certain eye on narrative intensity, even though the outcome is known to all. And as tight as that was in terms of locations, set pieces are the production's biggest asset. Lessons needed here, are easily found elsewhere.
Why are these English and American soldiers wearing German uniforms?
peterinfrankfurt-207-8474725 June 2020
Maybe I wasn't paying attention from the beginning, but for the first half of the movie I couldn't understand why these English and American soldiers were wearing German uniforms. Were they in disguise? Then I realised they're supposed to be German!
Well, I can understand them not speaking German as some of the audience may not understand. And I can understand them not speaking English with a German accent as this may be comical, as in 'Allo Allo'. But these soldiers are not saying the sort of things a German would say. And they are not behaving like Germans. I suspect the writers have never lived in Germany and perhaps never even met a German. The movie would have had more authenticity if the actors were replaced be glove puppets - German ones of course.
Well, I can understand them not speaking German as some of the audience may not understand. And I can understand them not speaking English with a German accent as this may be comical, as in 'Allo Allo'. But these soldiers are not saying the sort of things a German would say. And they are not behaving like Germans. I suspect the writers have never lived in Germany and perhaps never even met a German. The movie would have had more authenticity if the actors were replaced be glove puppets - German ones of course.
No suspense, no truth, no... Just nothing.
prokopievwriter24 July 2020
I can't say I am an expert in WWII overview and detailed scrutiny of the events our grandparents witnessed. Yet I can say I've gone through enough literature to claim this film has nothing to do with either WWII or dramatic interpretation of it at least. It seems like men who shot the film do not have an understanding of what they are portraying.
Atmosphere. As many noted it is just a walk by countryside landscapes. It is not like that at war. The war is about the thought you could die next second. Is about endless tension wrenching out your guts. It is about disgust and nauseating feeling gripping you unrestrainedly. What we have here is debates over what we do next and how it would feel like when we do.
Behavior of characters. Let me think...From odd to sometimes foolish. German soldiers are polite, gentle and even nice at their actions. Good guys ended up in a wrong time and place. Just read what was happening at the front from chronicles. Russian female soldiers are gentle, sympathetic yet witty. The scene they convince their enemy to spare their lives in exchange for nursing a wounded German the truthfulness of the film events is questioned firmly. The seen a fragile medic easily shoots a combat German thug carelessly strolling out - kills the film instead of a character.
War. Where is it? We see a group of men in uniform and it doesn't mean the war is happening somewhere around.
Plot. I am a hater of low-budget Russian series devoted to WWII, yet watching this movie I had no other option but to redeem my point of view to a better, much better level.
Total - disappointment. Not recommended for watching.
Atmosphere. As many noted it is just a walk by countryside landscapes. It is not like that at war. The war is about the thought you could die next second. Is about endless tension wrenching out your guts. It is about disgust and nauseating feeling gripping you unrestrainedly. What we have here is debates over what we do next and how it would feel like when we do.
Behavior of characters. Let me think...From odd to sometimes foolish. German soldiers are polite, gentle and even nice at their actions. Good guys ended up in a wrong time and place. Just read what was happening at the front from chronicles. Russian female soldiers are gentle, sympathetic yet witty. The scene they convince their enemy to spare their lives in exchange for nursing a wounded German the truthfulness of the film events is questioned firmly. The seen a fragile medic easily shoots a combat German thug carelessly strolling out - kills the film instead of a character.
War. Where is it? We see a group of men in uniform and it doesn't mean the war is happening somewhere around.
Plot. I am a hater of low-budget Russian series devoted to WWII, yet watching this movie I had no other option but to redeem my point of view to a better, much better level.
Total - disappointment. Not recommended for watching.
A solid, character-driven WWII story
petebakewell1 July 2020
If you're after an epic, action-packed war movie, then this low-budget Brit flick, filmed in Sussex, might not be what you're after - but this well-made, character-driven movie certainly has plenty to offer the viewer.
It tells the story of a rag-tag group of German soldiers, trying to make their way back from the Russian front to re-join their lines, with two female Russian prisoners and the Officer-in-Command's girlfriend, a Ukranian 'collaborator', in tow.
Some reviewers seem rather put-off that the German soldiers speak English and don't put on any accents. This might be slightly jarring for a few moments, but hardly spoils the film and you soon accept this approach (which seems quite OK for the likes of Sean Connery, I might add).
The two Russian soldiers, Rosa & Nina (really well played by Brit actresses Laura Jean Marsh and Bethany Slater) have to constantly keep their captors on-side and prove their value, nursing one of the wounded men, while all the time waiting for an opportunity to try and escape.
The Germans themselves are not all depicted as pure evil - with some being sympathetic towards the women - but there are one or two nasty pieces of work that you just know they need to be especially wary of. There is a flashback scene, showing a previous trauma endured by one of the women at the hands of a Nazi commander, that is especially harrowing.
Scottish actress Mhairi Calvey is extremely impressive as Aliya, the love-interest of the lead German officer. The character could have been just another stereotype, but is very believable and sympathetic and there are some great scenes between her and the Russian women - plus, the nastiest German Sergeant (played with relish, by Neal Ward) also has his eye on her.
Although not 'action-packed', there are some very effective small-scale, battle scenes and there is one sequence, where the group come across a massacred German unit, (complete with bodies hanging from the trees) that is particularly effective.
The SFX/Pyrotechnics team do a great job on a tiny budget, and the whole thing is very well filmed with a strong, orchestral score.
Writer/Director/Producer Rick Roberts is not a name I'd previously heard of, but he's done a good job here, and I'll certainly keep an eye on his future projects.
It tells the story of a rag-tag group of German soldiers, trying to make their way back from the Russian front to re-join their lines, with two female Russian prisoners and the Officer-in-Command's girlfriend, a Ukranian 'collaborator', in tow.
Some reviewers seem rather put-off that the German soldiers speak English and don't put on any accents. This might be slightly jarring for a few moments, but hardly spoils the film and you soon accept this approach (which seems quite OK for the likes of Sean Connery, I might add).
The two Russian soldiers, Rosa & Nina (really well played by Brit actresses Laura Jean Marsh and Bethany Slater) have to constantly keep their captors on-side and prove their value, nursing one of the wounded men, while all the time waiting for an opportunity to try and escape.
The Germans themselves are not all depicted as pure evil - with some being sympathetic towards the women - but there are one or two nasty pieces of work that you just know they need to be especially wary of. There is a flashback scene, showing a previous trauma endured by one of the women at the hands of a Nazi commander, that is especially harrowing.
Scottish actress Mhairi Calvey is extremely impressive as Aliya, the love-interest of the lead German officer. The character could have been just another stereotype, but is very believable and sympathetic and there are some great scenes between her and the Russian women - plus, the nastiest German Sergeant (played with relish, by Neal Ward) also has his eye on her.
Although not 'action-packed', there are some very effective small-scale, battle scenes and there is one sequence, where the group come across a massacred German unit, (complete with bodies hanging from the trees) that is particularly effective.
The SFX/Pyrotechnics team do a great job on a tiny budget, and the whole thing is very well filmed with a strong, orchestral score.
Writer/Director/Producer Rick Roberts is not a name I'd previously heard of, but he's done a good job here, and I'll certainly keep an eye on his future projects.
Killed time that's all
waynegregory-1214622 July 2020
Warning: Spoilers
I agree with all the negatives that have said about the movie previous.
The pyrotechnics were very good. Anyone with any military experience will rip it apart. What got me was the scene of the Russians assaulting the trench. It shows the German machine gun firing and then the camera zooms into the empty cases ejecting, which were blank rounds, I had to do a double take. Blank cartridge cases are totally different to live cases, oh dear 😂
A "Woke" Film
bob-berg23 June 2020
A horribly "woke" film where Russian women easily kill combat hardened German soldiers and outsmart them at every turn. The Germans are portrayed as fractured and divided This movie has no resemblance to the actual happenings on the Eastern Front. Pure liberal fantasy.
Don't bother
paul-rose7-246-6182317 March 2021
oh dear...
Richard-767168 February 2021
Where do I start... ( and I want to be fair here).
First the positives: some of the actors really try to do their best with the material given. Some of them stands out like actress playing Aliya (Mhairi Calvey).
Now I did struggle to watch the whole film (I managed tho), the writing was atrocious (cliche after cliche after cliche) hence why the actors might have found it hard to pull it off. Whoever produced this made it look like a group of cosplayers (if you don't believed me, just watch the trailer), just a quick google search will give any filmmaker a good reference how the characters would look like in real life.
And I reckon the director needs to re-think his career choice, I'm trying not to be too harsh here, but I was trying to wrap my head around about the constant choices from one scene to the other, like really I was trying hard to get on board until I was exhausted. Unfortunately this is film not is so bad is good.. it's just mediocre.
I'll give it 3 stars and I'm sure there were people trying to make it work in any capacity (especially the actors), but probably they were fighting against the current of poor writing, bad direction and mediocre production.
First the positives: some of the actors really try to do their best with the material given. Some of them stands out like actress playing Aliya (Mhairi Calvey).
Now I did struggle to watch the whole film (I managed tho), the writing was atrocious (cliche after cliche after cliche) hence why the actors might have found it hard to pull it off. Whoever produced this made it look like a group of cosplayers (if you don't believed me, just watch the trailer), just a quick google search will give any filmmaker a good reference how the characters would look like in real life.
And I reckon the director needs to re-think his career choice, I'm trying not to be too harsh here, but I was trying to wrap my head around about the constant choices from one scene to the other, like really I was trying hard to get on board until I was exhausted. Unfortunately this is film not is so bad is good.. it's just mediocre.
I'll give it 3 stars and I'm sure there were people trying to make it work in any capacity (especially the actors), but probably they were fighting against the current of poor writing, bad direction and mediocre production.
Another worst war film! Too many boring conversation, and annoying overuse scene! Not recommended!
kwenchow18 July 2020
Warning: Spoilers
This film start with a series of explosion occur, and a soldier "Theo" save by a bunch of soldiers into a truck scene! As turnout, this film is about a bunch of German soldiers taken a bunch of Russian nurses as the hostages to save their soldiers, and the Russian nurses eventually planning to escape from the German soldiers! Entire film full of boring conversation, and annoying overuse scene! Such as, overuse of the slow motion walking scene, and overuse of the blackout scene! Make the film unwatchable! The shooting scene have blood at certain point, but overall portray by sideways! Quite frustrated to watch! The explosion scene in the film also, overall just saw the smoke, never show hitting the opponent! Barely intense scene is, a Russian nurse's father shot on the head by a German soldier! At the end, Theo save by the escape Russian nurse! That's it! Wasting time to watch!
Pure utter rubbish
moritzike9 February 2021
The storyline is nonsense and the acting is no even on pat with how the event must have happened. I wouldn't recommend this movie for anyone who studied ww2 history. The only bravery here is who thought about releasing this load of crap to the public.
Good WW2 film. Don't expect Saving Private Ryan
movieeffects10 July 2020
I really enjoyed this film. Interesting character arcs. Attention to detail regarding uniforms, vehicles and equipment. Amazing to see the wilds of the UK pass for Ukraine. Nice to see a Geman officer carrying a Papasha Russion Submachine gun. German soldiers often carried these weapons when they could find them on the battlefield due to there reliability. Great job on movie with a low budget.
Mediocre film
jtboyleuob2 September 2020
As someone who knew a number of the reenactors who were extras in this film, initially I was excited. Seeing the BTS and promo photos, the final battle scene looked promising. However the finished film was mediocre at best.
Being on the eastern front it was a refreshing look at the second world war, and being an English speaking film about the eastern front, it sounded promising. However the story was not influenced at all by its setting or the unique challenges posed by the eastern front. The film could have been set anytime, any theatre, any place and it still would have been the same story.
The actors accents were jarring to listen to as they couldn't seem to decide whether they were English, American or some strange Eastern European hybrid accent.
The combat scenes were well executed.
One redeeming feature was the uniforms, which were possibly amongst the most accurate I've seen.
Being on the eastern front it was a refreshing look at the second world war, and being an English speaking film about the eastern front, it sounded promising. However the story was not influenced at all by its setting or the unique challenges posed by the eastern front. The film could have been set anytime, any theatre, any place and it still would have been the same story.
The actors accents were jarring to listen to as they couldn't seem to decide whether they were English, American or some strange Eastern European hybrid accent.
The combat scenes were well executed.
One redeeming feature was the uniforms, which were possibly amongst the most accurate I've seen.
More East coast than Eastern front
johnjames-0927520 February 2023
Really poor on all levels . Script is poor ,the acting dreadful and there is nothing I found in this awful film to recommend wasting almost two hours of your life on. Set in dense woodland in Summer surprisingly given they are supposed to be retreating which would point to winter but that aside with the Germans speaking in strange American/English and the Russians even worse there is a total disconnect between what is known about the German retreat and this extremely poor take on it
The soldiers appear to be the most inept bunch possible and it's no wonder Germany lost the war if this was the standard they aspired too! The dialogue is abysmal and this low budget tripe is worth no more than a cursory glance just to see how really bad it is.
An underrated film
vinniemac-5711226 September 2020
I cant understand all the negative comments, people just like to be critical for the sake of it. Ok, it is a low budget film, Ok, it has lots of flaws, but take it for what it is, a bit of fictional entertainment that takes you out of it for an hour or so.
I didnt mind the accents, they were there to show the men were just ordinary working class people, and anyone could understand they were supposed to be Germans and Russians, come on it didnt take a lot of brain cells to work it out. I preferred it like it was rather than having to read a lot of subtitles. Your mind fills in the blanks and you understand they are meant to be speaking different languages, but it makes it simple to understand what is going on.
I thought the story was original and it kept me wondering how it was going to pan out, but I guessed the ending.
I liked it, and if you accept it is no Private Ryan it is watchable and entertains. I have seen a lot worse coming out of hollywood.
Low budget war films rarely work out
Reephaman26 March 2021
......and this proves the point. While the uniforms and equipment are authentic, the dynamic between the characters is unrealistic with the differences between ranks being far too informal for the German army of WW2. The setting throughout looks like a peaceful national park with little hint that it's a war zone except for the occasional artillery shell. A poor script, the odd unrealistic plot event, and slightly hamfisted acting skills contribute further to the lack of enjoyment. The inclusion of female characters (in a fluid war zone, where the soldiers are trying to evade a very hostile enemy) - even though they are supposed to be Soviet nurses and the old cliche of the officer's girlfriend - seems an unnecessary plot device and actually detracts from the story's authenticity. The accents are not a distraction necessarily: for war films depicting non-Anglophones you have a straight choice IMHO - either go with the original languages and use subtitles, or adopt the cinematic conceit of speaking in the language of the audience without affecting some kind of German or Russian accents. This film opts for the latter, and that's fair enough. War films without a lot of action are fine, as long as you can invest in the story and the relationships, but in this case you can do neither.
Everything substandard
mfrost71w6 February 2022
They obviously had a shoestring budget and it shows. The writing is second rate as is the acting and the directing. That it was filmed in the leafy lanes of southern England is obvious; the vehicles, uniforms, and weapons are all obvious inaccurate stage props. It has the feeling of a movie made by the Scunthorpe Amateur Dramatics Society who somehow got some money to make a film but they had to use Mrs Minge's back garden as a set and find whatever props they could from the basket back stage at the Town Hall theatre.
This is so bad you guys...
wubbs-5232413 November 2020
A political woke movie
Yugeshan22 February 2021
I wish there was something good about this movie but unfortunately there isnt. Bad actings, bad writing and bad action. The plot is non existent. I'm not sure who greenlit this to be a movie but they should not still have a job. Don't waste a minute of your time on this one.
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