Hyped as the most realistic war movie ever - gimme a break

Rating: 3/10 (27 July 2001)

The first 30 minutes are great but after that the movie makes little sense. Aside from the totally ridiculous plot, the actions of the characters is pure hollywood fiction. The way they walk around nonchalantly, the bars on Hank's helmet (why not a bull's-eye), and the ridiculous notion of a sniper going anywhere near a bell tower are the things that bothered me the most. Why would they face overwhelming odds to save a bridge that the engineers could rebuild in a day? Denying it to the fleeing Germans would have been the priority. Faced with the odds that they were up against even a corporal would have had the military sense to blow the bridge before the Germans arrived and have everyone safely on the other side. Hey Spielberg, What's with the neo-nazi skinhead German soldiers? I have never seen a photograph of a WWII German soldier with a haircut remotely resembling this. I realize that actual soldiers were used as extras but you have to assume actors were given the speaking/close-up roles. Expected much more from all of the hype  sorely disappointed by all the Hollywood glam.