Great looking, self congratulatory fetishism.

Rating: 5/10 (29 August 2009)

A splendidly photographed, tremendously art directed, pat on the back to the filmmaker. Borderline insulting to anyone who has any vested interest in the struggle that took place in Europe during the second world war. Look at me I single handedly changed history and made the Jews the victors, love me, adore me, I'm a film buff and copy the music pacing and composition of far better films, love me more.
The soul of this movie is a vacuous teenage boy desperately trying to find acceptance, desperately trying to prove he is more than he actually is. The average reviewer is now a teenage boy with painfully little knowledge of cinema beyond ten years, so this film will find itself a loving audience.
But the real story was stunning, heartbreaking and tragic enough, there was more than enough bravery and heroism during WW2 to make a movie that at least had some basis in truth, this mythical garbage was just infuriating, and amateurish storytelling, yes, yes, the production values, acting and star power was great. but the film was lacking in the most profound way imaginable. It had no soul whatsoever!
The film within a film was an opportunity for something interesting, instead we see a private Ryan rip off with explosive body hits, to boot, BTW they didn't have them in the 1940's, they didn't exist, small point but, a telling one, for a film so supposedly rich in detail there was nothing here that eight minutes on wikipedia wouldn't provide, and better.
Bottom line: if i was a member of the french or Jewish resistance during WW2 or had family or even a passing interest in their history, I would find this film arrogant, insulting and disrespectful. No matter how pretty, noisy and well executed.
Watch the Dirty Dozen a more accomplished film by a better director.,
T.