Well done, but gets a bad rap

Rating: Null/10 (22 March 2002)

SPOILERS FROM THIS AND 2 OTHER FILMS!!!!! I saw this with my son , who's about to go on his first overseas Naval posting. We both enjoyed this film and thought it well done and the acting uniformly excellent.
Some media reviewers, though, have not been as kind.
What I remember most is them saying the characters trip all over themselves toward the end in lining up to sacrifice their lives in the name of honor and courage. Because of this, the ending's hokey and cornball, they say.
I disagree. It's all well-paced, each character's motivation is different and each rings true. The common factor is they're all willing to die for their country in time of war. To call this "cornball" is rather odd when our guys are dying in Afghanistan.
I also disagree with another IMDB reviewer who says the first 20-30 minutes of the film was irrelevant. On the contrary, it showed the Hart's descent into hell: from pinpusher/gopher to freezing naked in an interrogation cell. Cut that out and Hart loses his motivation for his sacrifice (or chance at redemption) at the end. Then he'd just be cardboard, a Hart without a heart.
I also think the Commandant was totally in character by allowing the trial to occur. He set a ridiculous time limit, tried to bribe Hart and enjoyed McNamara's embarrassment.
Having said that, though, I don't remember hearing of any WWII P.O.W. commandants who were so quick with a gun. (In "The Great Escape", the prisoners are shot on Hitler's, not the commandant's, orders. Steve McQueen ended up in the cooler, not with a bullet in the head.)
My other quibble is that the munitions dump gets blown up a bit too quickly after the tunnel's discovery -- or even that there was a munitions dump at all. Why not just let the prisoners escape and have McNamara come back? And the commandant found that tunnel so easily.... hey, it's a movie.
Thinking about it, Hart's War" is sort of -- but not quite -- a reverse twist on "Stalag 17", where William Holden earned his Oscar. There, a bunch of prisoners trick the camp guards into shooting a German agent. Here, the prisoner commander kills a stoolie.
I've gained much respect for our armed forces since my son joined up 3 years ago. Perhaps my thoughts on this film would be different if he wasn't currently serving.
View it with someone in the military you love and see what you (or they) think.