Despite the small budget this is a very realistic and accurate movie with a good message

Rating: 8/10 (9 March 2005)

I've always been very interested in movies about WW II, but when they are about the Battle of the Bulge I'm always a bit more interested. You probably ask yourself why? Well, I'm Belgian myself and only few people in Hollywood seem to know anything about Belgium and it's history, landscapes,... Too often you get to see things that are absolute nonsense (see my review on the movie 'Battle of the Bulge' from 1965 and you know exactly what I mean). However, I have to say that this movie, even though it had only a small budget, is very realistic and accurate.
Another thing that I also like about this movie, next to the realism, is the fact that it doesn't automatically depict the Germans as pigs and the Americans as saints. OK, in the beginning of the movie you'll see how the Germans shoot their prisoners (and I'm certainly not saying it never happened), but if you look closer than you'll see that it is a reaction on an incident (they didn't shoot them after they were ordered to do so). An even better example you'll find later in the movie. Then you'll see how a German soldier tries to save the lives of the Americans after they had let him go earlier on, even though they first wanted to shoot him.
But accuracy and a good, touching story don't always save a movie. It needs some good acting and directing as well. Even though I have never heard of the majority of the actors or the director, I must admit that they all did a very nice job. The actors really made me believe they were soldiers in WW II and the director kept the movie interesting by using some fine camera work. Trust me, that's already a big deal for a small budget-movie.
This movie is important to me because it gives a good idea of what happened during this battle and because it shows that there isn't such a big difference between the soldiers from both sides. They all believed in the same God, they all wanted to go back to their family and no-one of them asked to be killed in a snowy forest far away from home. I reward this movie with an 8/10. It's definitely worth a watch, especially if you are interested in WW II like I am.