Well-acted but historically flawed

Rating: 5/10 (11 January 2006)

The cast (just about every male American and British box office attraction at the time is included) and the acting are outstanding and the battle sanest the film has some serious historical flaws, particularly in the portrayal of the German side. Two SS division commanders who fought in the actual battle, Obersturmbannfuhrer Harzer and Brigadefuhrer Harmel, are combined into one fictional character, "General Ludwig," and SS General Bittrich commanded the Second SS Panzer Corps, not the Second SS Panzer Division. This is distracting to someone who knows the actual history of the battle. Couldn't they find enough German actors to portray the actual characters? If they had done this differently, I would have rated this movie higher.