Pretty good

Rating: 7/10 (20 November 2005)

This movie starts out with the Malmedy massacre in WWII. It's portrayed as if it began as some sort of shoving match that got badly out of hand. I found that a bit odd, they certainly left out the part where half of the 80+ GI's wound up with pistol bullets in their heads after the Germans gave them a coup de grace shot. After this, we follow the only survivors of the massacre as they attempt to make it back to Allied lines. They're your typical bunch, a farm boy, a smart, experienced sergeant, a shell shocked religious guy, and an agnostic medic. On the way, they meet up with a British pilot who has proof that the Battle of the Bulge is about to begin (the Allies don't know it at the time). So, they're in even more of a hurry to make it back to friendly lines.
This movie isn't about any sort of important battle - the information possessed by the British pilot really isn't important to the plot in any real way. It's a movie about guys under stress, arguing about the existence of God, reconciling, arguing about the Germans being "just like us" vs. being horrible murderers, etc. It reminded me very much of that old TV show "Combat". These characters are quite enjoyable to watch for the 90 minutes of the film; they seem well drawn and have some depth. There's some nice winter scenery, though the film doesn't make use of it in any spectacular way. It's certainly not Heroes of Telemark or Where Eagles Dare. A few things bothered me, like the fact that the German soldiers are such lousy shots that they lose 10 or 20 soldiers for every Allied soldier killed. Not that I like to see Allied soldiers get killed, but it's just not very realistic. Also, the German soldier they meet, who JUST HAPPENS to be good buddies with the religious GI. That's way too much of a coincidence, and the way he acts afterwards really didn't seem believable to me at all.
But, overall, it's not a bad movie. I enjoyed it, though it certainly doesn't rank up there with some of the classic WWII films.