Who's minding the fort?!

Rating: Null/10 (13 June 2004)

I was careful to read as many reviews here before posting my own opinions,
having just watched this film for the first time this weekend.

Let's get something straight: I know my history and I know fully well that German treatment of POWs was not to the shocking level of genocide that was
commonly associated with treatment in the concentration camps. So shut up
about how much you think you know (or don't know) about the historical
accuracies of this film. We're talking about a movie, and thus it's purpose is primarily to entertain. So historical accuracy aside, does the truth necessarily make for a better film?
Where was the sense of threat in this movie? Prisoners are allowed to move
about anywhere they want, throw parties, wear what they want, whip up
moonshine, etc. It's no wonder they had no problem constructing secret tunnels. Nobody was keeping an eye on them to begin with. How hard is it to outsmart
the enemy when they're portrayed as a bunch of knuckleheads anyway? The
Germans are so lax at this camp that the prisoners are seemingly in control of their own surroundings and one wonders why they felt the need to escape at all. McQueen tries to escape and gets caught a number of times, ending up in
solitary confinement. He even strikes a few officers from time to time. Others pay for their disrespect and attempts at escape with death, but not good ole' Steve. He gets to throw drinking parties and dropkick a few more soldiers.

Bottom line: As inane as Hogan's Heroes, except you knew that the show was
supposed to be a comedy.