A Hollywood Retelling

Rating: 7/10 (18 March 2014)

I think people need to relax a bit and take a deep breath. This movie is pure Hollywood. It took an event near the end of World War II and put their own spin on it. To say it's the worst war movie ever made is really cynical and mean spirited. Granted, the characters are pretty stiff and not very well developed. They reminded me of those 1940's caricatures from propaganda driven films. Still, the event it is based on is a unique one in the annals of war history. Actually, in a convoluted way, the Nazi's interest in art probably was indirectly responsible for saving it. It prevented them from launching full-blown artillery attacks on some of the world's great museums. Instead, they stole these masterpieces (another means of repressing humanity) and stored them in salt mines and other secret places. The effort to discover and recover these masterpieces is what this is all about. Of course, in reality, this was done by about 150 people, not the seven presented here. Unexplained to the audience is how after a discovery a battalion of military vehicles seems to show up immediately to secure the art. There is also the sacrifice that is pretty contrived and gratuitous. This is a sort of old-fashioned movie done in contemporary times. Go along for the ride and don't imagine you are seeing Shakespeare.