Hart's War

Plot synopsis:
During World War II, U.S. Army intelligence officer First Lieutenant Thomas Hart (Farrell) is captured by German forces. While interrogating Hart, the Germans coerce him to divulge intelligence by taking away his boots, causing his feet to become frostbitten and badly injured, and leaving him, naked, in a very cold cell. He is then transferred by train to Stalag VI-A prisoner of war camp at Hemer, Germany. While en route, a P-51 Mustang attacks (the letters POW were painted on the top of the train, but got covered by thick snow). To save themselves, the POWs leave the train and spell P-O-W with their bodies and prevent further strafing.
After arriving at the new POW camp, Lt. Hart is interviewed by the ranking American officer, Colonel William McNamara (Willis). When McNamara asks if he cooperated with the Germans after he was captured, Hart denies it. McNamara knows this to be a lie when Hart says he only endured three days of interrogation. McNamara does not reveal this to Hart, but sends him to bunk in a barracks for enlisted men, rather than allow him to bunk with the other officers.
Two black pilots are brought to the camp and assigned to Hart's barracks. They are the only blacks in the camp, and their situation is compounded by their status as officers. Staff Sgt. Vic W. Bedford (Hauser), a racist, is their primary antagonist. One of the pilots, Lt. Lamar Archer, is executed when accused of keeping a weapon that Bedford had planted in his bunk. When Bedford himself subsequently turns up dead, the surviving pilot, Lt. Lincoln A. Scott (Howard) is accused of killing Bedford in retaliation. A law student before the war, Hart is appointed by McNamara to defend the accused pilot at his court-martial, a trial to which the camp commandant, Oberst Werner Visser (Iureş) agrees.
Much later, McNamara reveals to Hart that the "defense," like the trial itself, is a sham, an elaborate distraction to hide a planned attack on a nearby ammunition plant (the U.S. Army mistakenly believes it to be a shoe factory) by McNamara and his men, in aid of the war effort. It is revealed that Bedford planted the weapon in Archer's bunk, knowing the guards would kill him for it. In return, he gave them the location of a secret radio. It is also revealed he planned to escape with money and clothes, likely in return for telling the Nazis about McNamara's plan. McNamara realized this, and killed Bedford to prevent it. Hart is shocked that McNamara as a senior officer would sacrifice a fellow American (Scott) to protect the planned attack on the ammunition plant. McNamara reminds Hart that in war, sometimes one man must be sacrificed to save the lives of many. Hart acknowledges this, but retorts that it is McNamara's duty to ensure that he (McNamara), not Lincoln Scott, is the sacrifice. Disgusted, McNamara says that Hart does not know anything about duty, in reference to how Hart gave in to a "Level 1" interrogator after three days, whereas McNamara was tortured for a month.
McNamara's ploy nearly succeeds. The escaped soldiers destroy the nearby ammunition plant. However, at the end of the court-martial, Hart falsely confesses to Bedford's murder in order to save Lt. Scott. McNamara overhears Hart's confession; McNamara has a change of heart and voluntarily returns to the camp to accept responsibility. Visser holds McNamara accountable and personally executes him on the spot, but spares the remaining prisoners. Three months later, the German army surrenders to the Allies. The prison camp is liberated and all of the surviving prisoners, including Hart, are sent home. Hart's final comments are that he learned about honor, duty, and sacrifice.

Tags: murder, flashback

Review:
The stellar performances by Bruce Willis and Marcel Lures stole the show away from the title character, Lt. Hart (played well by Colin Farrel).
Other Kommandants during this time may not have been as "humane," but, because of his background, Visser's lack of brutality (again, with exceptions) is understandable.Bruce Willis is clearly a supporting actor in this film, but I felt he had a strong and important role and was, arguably, the CENTRAL character while Colin Farrell is the LEADING character.
But if you don't mind an interesting drama about prejudice among Americans in a German POW camp, which although slow at times, leads to an interesting pay-off with a twist that (kinda) makes the whole thing worth it, then check it out.
I especially enjoyed the subdued though "grizzled" looking Bruce Willis as Colonel McNamara and Marcel Iures as the camps' German commander..
The movie's thorough lack of character development hinders the best efforts of the actors (Bruce Willis, Collin Farrell, and Terrance Howard all do comendable work with the restrictive material they are given) to make the audience identify with them - resulting in an emotional climax that is supposed to evoke sympathy and respect but instead falls flat on its face.
We see Willis' McNamara's treatment with Farrell's Hart more evidently, but for McNamara himself, say the quiet scene where he visited the flyer in isolation waiting for trial - more imminent of death, we simply see him giving Lt. Scott a book; when Scott opens it, it's the New Testament.
They all require some mind stimulating thinking: 1996's "Primal Fear," the crime and lawyers film with Richard Gere, Laura Linney, and the fascinating debut 'hell' of a performance from Edward Norton; 1998's "Fallen", one devil of an intriguing storyline where Denzel Washington, along with Embeth Davidtz, tackling the many faces (Elias Koteas included) of the elusive Lucifer (music was by Tan Dun of "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon"; 2000's "Frequency" was the mind-twisting time-bending drama of son and father team, Jim Caviezel and Dennis Quaid.
I did see "Stalag 17" and "The Great Escape" again, but my sense is "Hart's War" stands on its own, it's not really a humor filled "17" not an action packed "Escape" movie, it's more of a humane story at its core, offering an aspect of life's outlook, military or not..
The action focuses on Willis as the brooding leading officer in a POW camp, Colin Farrell is the law student pressed into becoming a defender for a Black Pilot wrongly accused of murder.
Viewers who like Willis will not be disappointed and Colin Farrell is sure to delight the ladies with his Irish good looks, dark "little boy" eyes and expressions.
This film deals with the prejudice that existed amongst POW soldiers within the Nazi camps and takes you through an emotional-moral-roller-coaster ride when Farrell is asked to represent a soldier accused of "murdering' another solider who was vehemently racist.
I won't spoil it by giving away too much.As a student of history, particularly World War Two, I have to say that I really enjoyed this movie, not just for the original story line but the mood cast by the photography and the music score.I highly recommend Hart's War as an intelligent, entertaining movie.8.5 out of 10.
My grampa, being a war vet,  loved it and said it was Bruce Willis's best dramatic role...this movie is a story of honor, no matter what color your skin is.
"Hart's War" is a stalag flick which tells of events among the American soldiers suffering hardship in a WWII prison camp.
I suspect that poor test audience reviews pushed the studio to create a trailer that publicized Hart's War as an action film, but after the first 15 minutes you'll realize you're watching more of a courtroom drama than a WWII film with the same pace as "Saving Private Ryan" or "The Dirty Dozen."The drama unfolds painfully slow and is handicapped by 2002 racial commentary awkwardly forced upon characters set in the 1940's.
Sappy diatribes about honor, racial tolerance and American patriotism detract from the film rather than enhance it because they exist as the story, not as a subtext to it.Willis' performance is, as you would expect if you knew this was a dramatic role and not an action one, at its best, vapid.The fact that Hart's War takes the departure from action to drama is a real shame, because the first twenty minutes or so had the makings of an awesome prison escape movie.
Willis is well-cast as the American ranking officer, Farrell equally impressive in the central role as a reluctant lawyer, but the real highlights are Howard as the beleaguered Lieutenant Scott, and Iures as the suave Nazi commandant.
If you liked "STALAG 17" with William Holden, this film is quite similar and gives you some idea what POW's went through during the BIG WAR.
It's a wasted opportunity, as the film looks quite good and clearly cost quite a lot to make.It has a lot of politically correct stuff that really wasn't an issue back then and it's not very realistic to come up with it in this film - its very like A Few Good Men, which I also thought was boring and stupid.As someone else pointed out, it was nearly the end of the war anyway so I can't really see why they were so bothered about escaping - as for the 'Shoe factory' next door, well who gives really?
this is quite a good film, although u have to take the movie as it comes and ignore the cliches.the acting is superb colin farrel and bruce willis are superb, its not gonna blow u away buts its a very good film.the suspence of the film is enough to enjoy it and its well worth a look.
Typically Bruce Willis brings a bunch to any movie part and this is no exception, however from the director that brought NYPD Blue (1994-2005), 'Fallen'(1998) w/Denzel Washington and 'Frequency'(2000) w/Dennis Quaid two well set movies and a 'Hit' T.V. series, that are great additions to any entertainment library, I felt that this director, had one or two things missing from "Hart's War".
Please don't take me wrong, I love and I mean love a good drama any day, but Hart's was just one of those maybe fall by the wayside in the movie arena type films.
Hart's War, was almost there for me but I remember walking out, thinking about the story and the scenes therein, but not fully making that real connection that I have come to expect in a well done Willis Drama.
Colin Farrell and Bruce Willis's best movie..
This movie is proof that when given good material, Bruce Willis and Colin Farrell will come through with flying colors.
I usually am not interested in war movies, but this was more of a courtroom drama/racial-type movie (if that makes any sense.)I thought the acting was very good and I though the story line was very good as well.
People keep on saying that it's not historically accurate, but alot of the German officers did do the POW's favors for bribes.I thought this movie was very touching and it was definetly worth the time to watch it..
The story has a lot of cool aspects to it though, like another reviewer mentioned, it's got racial issues, courtroom drama, a prison camp setting, and war overtones.
Terrence Howard was another great addition to the cast and Cole Hauser also deserves a some credit.Well, if you're a fan of Bruce Willis or if you kind of like what you've seen in the trailers, then you should definitely check this film out.
But it is of major importance to read how Mr Ebert would have improved(?) the plot ending:"I would have liked it better if the far-off bugle had been playing under a black character at the end and not a white one."So, it looks like Mr Ebert would have preferred the continuation of the racist message the film has portrayed up to that point rather than let a white man be the hero.
In Hart's War he plays the American commander in a German concentration camp near the end of WW2, but Willis seems to be holding back, reserved, muted.
He's not even the central character.Compared to say The Great Escape which would have to be the benchmark in the movie realm, Hart's War lacks dramatic punch.
I wouldn't have been surprised if there was hot running water.Colin Farrell's character Hart, the center of the film in spite of Willis's top billing, handles his material well but it seemed he should have been back in The States at his posh law school, of that he really had never left.We get glimpses of Jewish detainees on death trains, but it doesn't quite register as awful.
It's about character building or disintegrating in times of hardship, offering aspects or the wisdom of life's outlook, military or otherwise.Colin Farrell, who delivered an intense performance in Joel Schumacher's "Tigerland" 2000 (and looking forward to his appearance in this summer's "Minority Report" with Spielberg directing and Tom Cruise leading), once again demonstrated his keen acting portraying Lt. Hart, the central character opposite Bruce Willis' Col. McNamara in "Hart's War."  For young Hart who has an affluent family background and was educated as a lawyer, he is fighting the 'war' -- yes, his war at hand, inside the POW camp vs.
"Hart's War" is a well delivered film, with no simple answers to the reasons why, of things happening, people reacting, circumstances changing Like his "Primal Fear" 1996, "Fallen" 1998, and "Frequency" 2000, director Gregory Hoblit's films can be thought provoking.
When I first saw the trailer to Hart's War I was expecting two things: It was gonna be a shoot-em-up kill the Nazis war movie and that Bruce Willis was going to play the role of Hart.
In 1944 Belgium, during World War II, handsome American lieutenant Colin Farrell (as Thomas "Tom" Hart) is captured by the Nazis and sent to a German Prisoner of War (POW) camp.
But we should not guess the big revelation before Farrell, who seems like a fairly smart guy, and the ending is most unsatisfactory.****** Hart's War (2/15/02) Gregory Hoblit ~ Colin Farrell, Bruce Willis, Marcel Iures, Terrence Howard.
Other than that, the two are very similar, except that I think Stalag 17 is much better done, deeper, more interesting than Hart's War.Honestly, this story just worked too hard to get from A to B, because B was in no way the logical conclusion of A, no matter what turns were inserted into the script.
Also, Hart's heroic act was actually among the most foolish things he could possibly do, speeding up what he should have wanted to slow down.About the race issue here, some of the things that the pilots (both African-Americans) said were very interesting and worth listening too, but it really seemed like they were an otherwise superfluous wrinkle in the puzzle, as though a studio exec watched Stalag 17 and said, "You know what ?I don't want to redo this movie, but I bet if we made the pilots black instead of white we could call this original." To me that cheapens the film, if the crux of your film is "heroism in light of a trial fraught with racism" then racism should be an integral part of the film, instead if you took it out and changed a few words here and there it would be the exact same movie ?which disappoints me even futher.I like war movies, and though I gave this a 6 I cannot say that it is a bad war movie I've seen.
It has good moments and it is interesting at times, but if you want to see a WWII film about prison camps and conflict among soldiers see Stalag 17.
It works not only as a war movie (with harrowing sequences, and not forgetting that Russian POWs were treated even worse than Americans) but as a first-rate mystery complete with courtroom sequence and hugely satisfying denouement, layered with dramatic surprises.
There are dozens of truly great war pictures, but I can't think of another character, not even a real one like Patton, as fully explored as Col. McNamara (a solid Bruce Willis).
If you liked Hart's War you should see `The Great Escape' because I am very certain of the fact that you will dislike this movie before it finishes.
There are so many war movies,and mostly of them are talking about the World War II.Germany in these films always are described as the evil side - in fact some of them definitely were.And all the stories about war might have a noble person,in HART's WAR,which would be two or more,but Bruce Willis is the only reason for me to watch this long,a little boring and slow movie.He came up lately,but his name is the first of the cast list--that's the super star's place.I think Bruno want to give us a tough but brave and noble captain's figure,did he?Maybe,not.I can find the way he talks is similar to KORBEN in THE FIFTH ELEMENT,or let me say in this way:he might play a role of a captain,but he gives me the feeling that he is still the cab driver.Another hand,he is old.From the face,to the figure,and the voice.Bruno is 47 when he acted this movie.Let's see Colin,how about his performance?En...not so bad.I always regarded he as a playboy.BUT,In this film,he looks just like a college student who knew nothing about the war.The final decision he made might be bad,for the captain's death.Might be right,for he began to know what the real meaning of a SOLDIER.I cried in the end of the movie,and the background music is good.The whole film gives me the sad feeling,a little same as THE PIANIST.But why many people don't like HART's WAR?Maybe,just maybe,because of Bruno.Sorry Bruno but you don't suit these kind of characters.I'm waiting for your DIE HARD 4.0,Bruno..
But it fairly uses the conventions of the WWII & prison camp films in the service of the story it means to tell, and it tells a good story.As story, Hart's War amounts to a complex, but in no way overly complicated, study of images of American ethical ideal, of American heroism.
As such it's a story that demands deft character construction, the portrayal of individuals as fully formed -- not caricature -- in motivation, action, & interaction; and the script obviously makes its characters its heart.As film, Hart's War is carefully composed: tightly paced, woven together with great streamlining camera & production work, unfolded with the inevitability of good storytelling and little of either the audio or the visual that could be called unnecessary or indulgent.
Employing every WWII stereotype in the book, this movie's drudging march takes us to a German POW camp (reminiscent of "Hogan's Heros") where the Nazi commandant is less in control than an imprisoned US colonel (Bruce Willis).
In the POW camp, the CO Col. William McNamara (Bruce Willis) doesn't trust Hart.
After getting off to a little bit of a slow start, this turns into a pretty good courtroom drama style of movie, set in - of all places - a German POW camp during World War II, when Allied prisoners are given permission to set up a court martial to hold a trial for one of their officers accused of killing an enlisted man.
McNamara orders Hart (who's a law student in civilian life) to defend Scott in a court martial.Until close to the end of the movie, what you think you're seeing is a POW version of a lynching.
Marcel Iures plays the humane German commandant while Bruce Willis plays the tough-as-nails American colonel of the POWs. Cole Hauser is on hand as a racist soldier.
The film isn't really about survival in the POW camp, but rather the tensions of the prisoners and the criminal drama.Some have complained that no fascist camp colonel in his right mind would allow such a trial as depicted in the movie.
I'm sure entertainment was a huge factor since POW camp life is just as boring for the captors as it is for the captives over time.The climax telegraphs that this is a war MOVIE and not real life, but it's packed with action and gripping drama.
Although it failed at the box office, "Hart's War" is a very good WWII POW camp movie and, in some ways, great.THE FILM RUNS 125 minutes and was shot in the Czech Republic.GRADE: B+/A-.
Hart's War seems like another Bruce Willis movie.
This film is less a war movie than a courtroom drama set in a POW camp.
Poor acting, too many plot points, and an unresolved ending makes me give "Hart's War" a(wait for it ) BLAH!.
Okay movies like that might have been made with tons during the 50's and the 60's but these days they are rare and that's the biggest merit of the film plus a brilliant (as always) performance from the most underrated actor ever : Bruce Willis....
Any sign of insolence from anybody, would be instant death.There is a whole number of these plot/action points which happen throughout the movie, like the Willis character being insolent to the camp commandant.
Not content to stay there, HART'S WAR then turns into a murder mystery (with added racial commentary) before finally setting on its path as a courtroom drama for the rest of the running time.The veering from genre to genre gives the film a bit of a disjointed feel, but for the most part I could forgive that because I found this to be an entertaining movie.
"Hart's War" proves Bruce Willis is much more than just an action-movie-actor.
I just ordered it on pay-per-view and was very impressed with the performances of Colin Farrell and Bruce Willis in this drama about a POW in World War II.
This movie is great, on of its kind of a war film.