Review of Saints and Soldiers (2003) by Andy M — 04 Jun 2008

A rather thin and ultimately disappointing snow bound effort that fails to make the same impact with the snow and scenery of the Ardennes as Band of Brothers did. It rather limps along for the first hour, a muddle of cliches and soul searching.

The film latches on to a tedious religious aspect that didn't really sit well with me, and I could also have done without the hallucinatory angle. WE KNOW WAR IS HELL! It was all a bit heavy handed.

As was the British accent which changed about 5 times in the first 5 sentences before settling down. Things pick up with an exciting final 20 minutes, despite the strange pop gun sound effects that rather bugged me.

Or perhaps it was just my TV. Alexander Polinsky easily steals the show with his portrayal of a brooding, fatalist medic, but the ending even spoils this aspect for me. There is far, far better out there than this, but when the pickings of WWII movies made in the 21st century are so slim, you may want to give this a look regardless.

Just don't expect much.