Proselytizing with WWII

Rating: 2/10 (2 January 2007)

It's a Mormon production that avoids explicitly labeling the hero as a Mormon in order to draw in a wider Christian audience. The movie has many problems that were not related to the limited budget. To begin with, the characters who escape the Malmedy Massacre are wearing 101st Airborne Div. shoulder patches. This unit was not in the area of attack at the beginning of the German's Ardennes offensive. In fact, it was members of a field artillery observation battalion who were captured at Malmedy. The portrayal of the medic is is unbelievable and designed to make the Mormon hero appear even more saintly. It was a rare occurrence that a combat medic in the European Theater would carry a sidearm, let alone a rifle while wearing red cross identification patches as this was a violation of the Geneva Conventions. The medic in this movie carries a rifle without hesitation and acts more like an infantryman. The movie claims to be based on actual events, but the only actual event it seems to use is the massacre. The plot line for the RAF pilot seems pretty bogus. He says he was flying photo reconnaissance, but that early in the battle Allied aircraft were grounded by the weather. Even if conditions were clear in England, ground fog and a low cloud cover would have prevented the taking of intelligence photos from the air.
The film looks nice, but that is about it. The production needed a fact checker.