Makes a refreshing change

Rating: Null/10 (5 July 2000)

I'm writing here as someone who enjoyed the film a great deal, excusing its liberties with history and minor plotting niggles. However, one of the most refreshing aspects of the film was that, as an Englishman,it eased my movie paranoia. A major epic, internationally successful- and the villain's played by AN AMERICAN! And the hero isn't! And most of the "Good guys" are played by Brits! If recent hollywood epics (E.G "Braveheart","The Patriot", the one where the bloody boat sinks) are anything to go by, we English are all sadistic, devious, perverted Nazis! (Actually, the whole "need a villain, get in a Brit" thing goes a long way back- George Sanders as Shere Khan, Basil Rathbone and Alan Rickman as Sherrifs of Nottingham ) And if "Private Ryan" and "U571" are anything to go by, we just curled over and downright surrendered to Hitler without a squeak! (Mind you- does anyone remeber Errol Flynn in "Mission Burma"?- plus ca change, plus c'est la meme chose, as the French sometimes say, when they're not too busy collaborating with Germans (That's a joke, by the way). Oh well, it's nice to see a thoughtful film with a memorable cast and visual appeal go down well with the public. Am I the only one who thinks that cinema goers are getting a bit brighter and perceptive? I hope I'm right.