The odd glimpse of excitement in an otherwise dull production

Rating: 4/10 (12 March 1999)

I found this film to be a big disappointment. I spent the first hour waiting for it to move up a gear (from almost standstill), only for the hour of excitement to be capped off with yet another hour of scenery shots. Artistic, maybe. Perhaps it even conveys the grim realities of warfare. But I found sitting in a hot cinema for 3 hours watching this film to be one of the more uncomfortable experiences I've ever had. Despite the time taken to build up the atmosphere and characters, I ultimately never really cared because there were too many of them and by the time the story actually moved along I'd lost interest. The only upside was the taking of the hill, which itself relied on some characters that we'd never seen. Oh, and leaving at the end for some air.....