Entertaining movie, but easily forgettable

Rating: 6/10 (8 February 2002)

The movie was entertaining throughout with several interesting plot twists. However, The plot seemed somewhat contrived. It almost seemed as if the writer wanted to create the most captivating situation possible. What are the most trilling stories? War? Prison? Trial by Jury? Racial conflicts? This movie has them all. "Hey, let's make a movie about one of the most infamous and pivotal war in recent history. And just to make things even more interesting, the story will take place in a Nazi prison camp. And just to make things even MORE exciting let's throw in a Military Trial. To top things off, let's throw a racial conflict into the plot." It worked for the most part. The movie was very enjoyable except for a few nagging points. The first thing that really irritates me is the willingness of the Nazi Colonel to go along with the whole Trial. Now, I was not in WWII, nor any other war for that matter, but it seems a little suspicious that the leader of a prison camp would allow any power to be taken from him and given to the prisoners. This just screams stupidity. Also, there is the minor "coincidence" that both Ltd. Hart and the Colonel both went to Yale. I'm not saying that it is impossible, but highly improbable. The last is the little plot twist at the end. I'm not going to give it away, but it reeked of selfless sacrifice that is all warm and fuzzy, but it seemed completely unrealistic.
The movie was for the most part an edge-of-your seat thriller, but It is by no means a classic movie, nor even a classic war movie.

rating: 6/10