Everyman's War

Introduction

The Battle of the Bulge in the Winter of 1944 was Hitler's desperate last chance to stop the advance of the Allied forces into Germany, and it nearly worked. US forces within the area were stretched thinly and not equipped for the Wintery conditions that were about to land on them, with both manning and ammunition at a premium. Despite the fact that the German forces had launched their initial Blitzkrieg through sections of the Ardennes Forest, the Allied Commanders had no inkling that they may just try again.

Don Smith (Cole Carter) is a member of the 94th Infantry Division that is dug in around the town of Nenning, facing sub-zero temperatures and snow blizzards. Smith entered the war as a Private but has worked his way up the ranks by replacing fallen comrades. Currently he is a Corporal, promoted after his friend Corporal Starks is killed in action by an artillery shell.

Other members of his section are Privates Fuller, Benedetto and Heinrick. Benedetto is an Italian shyster with a eye for a deal and not averse to pilfering items from his colleagues in order to make those deals. Benedetto is only in the Army as it was the only way for him to avoid being sent to prison. Heinrick is a German whose parents moved to the US to escape the Nazi regime and despite this, his accent makes it hard for some to accept him as an American soldier.

Despite constant artillery bombardment and incursion skirmishes from both sides, it would appear as if both sides are settled in position with the US forces unable to move and the German forces unwilling to. This is about to change as the 11th Panzer 'Ghost' Division, a seasoned unit, move into position for a pre-dawn major offensive.

What is clear as the battle starts is that no one is aware of enemy tanks in the area, no one on the US side is equipped to fight them, and Smith therefore has to both rally his troops but also find a way of breaking through the attacking Germans and find his way to High Command to warn them of the imminent danger.

Audio

Choice between 2.0 Stereo and 5.1 Surround soundtracks with good subtitling in English.

Visual

Production values seem to be along the lines of US movie of the week rather than a dedicated feature film. Some of the sets and cinematography look good but the CGI and battle sequences are a bit lack lustre, the fighting sequences especially stand out where there are only a few soldiers on screen at a time.

Overall

I'm quite impressed overall with the quality of war films coming out via Metrodome, a lot of them foreign films as well. There's currently a diverse range of topics and some quite splendidly made films that look like they have had some serious money spent on them. Which is why Everyman's War is a bit of a disappointment. It's clearly low budget with some ropey production values in places and just seems to be an amalgam of ideas from other films or TV series, and this is despite it being based on true events.

The film is bookended with a veteran recalling those he fought alongside and who lost their lives, which is as a blatant a reference to Saving Private Ryan as you're going to see without the inclusion of a war cemetary. The subject matter itself has been part of a myriad of films, and was last done (and better) by Band of Brothers. Some of the acting is a little ropey and the SFX to make up for the fact that they only had one tank gives the whole film the feel of a movie of the week. There's an attempt at making this a bit of an ensemble piece by trying to centre events on a four man section, but the other characters aren't in it enough or strong enough to make this viable.

It pains me to say it but this is a bit of a so-so film that also gets a little confusing with its flashbacks and ultimately doesn't really say anything different or better than anything that came before. Definately a rental film, not good enough as a purchase in my opinion.