This was sad. The plot & apparently interesting characters made me hope for a Kelly's Heroes redux but instead ended up with something of a Bad News Bores. All the accents were horrible, be they German, Canadian, or some British varieties. The plot assembled a complex finale that was not only impossible to follow but it looks like it was impossible to shoot as well! Neither was it clear what everyone's motivations were so you had to just put your faith in the director & screenwriter but without any reward.
Interesting characters: the mysterious British paratrooper, the Canadian pilot (he had potential), the "dutch" partisans, and the pair of German ne'er-do-wells. But as in some Greek tragedy, they're left to flounder by the gods.
Operation Market Garden did exist. It was smart to put that event as a backdrop but difficult for the producers ($$) to convincingly place Operation Matchbox in this context - apart from the special effects involved in the gliders (I hope people know that this actually happened). As a result, the collection of oddball soldiers and this plot needed to work harder than they did to make this film shine. Sadly, nothing came through.
What I liked is that many characters were not black & white - something that reflects true wartime conditions when the very best & worst in men & women comes out. Regardless, this was supposed to be an entertaining film, not what it ended up being.
Some would question why I would see or review such a film. I do believe in diamonds in the rough and look for charm, lucidity, and originality but not at the expense of wasting my time.
Interesting characters: the mysterious British paratrooper, the Canadian pilot (he had potential), the "dutch" partisans, and the pair of German ne'er-do-wells. But as in some Greek tragedy, they're left to flounder by the gods.
Operation Market Garden did exist. It was smart to put that event as a backdrop but difficult for the producers ($$) to convincingly place Operation Matchbox in this context - apart from the special effects involved in the gliders (I hope people know that this actually happened). As a result, the collection of oddball soldiers and this plot needed to work harder than they did to make this film shine. Sadly, nothing came through.
What I liked is that many characters were not black & white - something that reflects true wartime conditions when the very best & worst in men & women comes out. Regardless, this was supposed to be an entertaining film, not what it ended up being.
Some would question why I would see or review such a film. I do believe in diamonds in the rough and look for charm, lucidity, and originality but not at the expense of wasting my time.