Well intended failure

Rating: Null/10 (24 November 2004)

Despite the good intentions, this film remains a pointless and counter-productive exercise. There is no genuine dramatic content to speak of and the idea of trying to shock with the bloody horror of war is neither sufficent to the study of the historic subject nor effective in a target culture decensitized to graphic violence; ultimately the violence is pornographic, and nothing more. The principles of leadership communicated in this film, which were apparently the whole point of the director making it, are also extremely narrow. The director, on the basis of his DVD commentary, was obviously full of good intentions, but has failed in producing a film of any merit. The association of Mel Gibson with such a blood and guts horror show is hardly surprising in the wake of The Passion of the Christ.