"If you destroy their history and achievements it's like they never existed."

Rating: 7/10 (26 December 2014)

Here's something you don't consider when watching a war movie or hear about the exploits of war heroes. What would have happened if someone, somewhere had not given a second thought to preserving ancient and rare works of art while Hitler was ransacking Europe during the Second World War? I see a lot of reviewers critical here over the picture's pacing and production, but I never got the feeling I was watching something that didn't have an inspirational story to tell. Maybe Clooney's screenplay and direction aren't the greatest but the story is one that needed to be told, and unless you've been pointed in the right direction about the importance of the message, I don't know how many viewers might have been made aware of it otherwise. Had Hitler succeeded in securing or destroying these treasures, the world would have been so much the poorer following the War. "The Monuments Men" offers a different perspective on war and it's aftermath; one is left thankful that the artifacts saved by a vast array of historians, museum directors and curators could be secured and preserved for generations to come.