Everyman's War (2009)
No one in high command believed that German forces would attack in the sub zero temperatures and near blizzard conditions. As the pre-dawn attack comes, with communications down Sgt. Smith is left with no choice but to make his way through enemy fire, unarmed and wounded, into town and warn of the coming attack. Based on actual accounts "Everyman's War" explores the heroic events of this decorated veterans courage and the struggle between duty and desire. Between the prospect of the life and love, Dorine that waits at home and the harsh realities of war which marks the pivotal epoch in his life as he discovers that the loss of hope can be worse than the loss of life. One man's courage... One man's hope...Everyman's War.
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It's entirely possible that sending the audience out feeling lousy was intentional
The acting in this movie is really good.
The film's masterful storytelling did its job. The message was clear. No need to overdo.
This is a dark and sometimes deeply uncomfortable drama
The Bad: We gotta take points away because many of the actors were just noobs. The German general waving his finger around like he's clever, the two older people reciting Pollyanna lines at the end of the movie.The Ugly: Not much. Great pains were made to make this film an extremely effective period piece, at the cost of all the memorabilia being in museum quality. I mean seriously, is every 1940 car going to be running around snow country spotless and with new wax? This is a minor point, but it would have been very easy for the filmmaker to address.The Good: Excellent story, and excellent manner in which it was told. Excellent acting by the principles. Extremely effective combat scenes, which I claim raise the bar on Saving Private Ryan. But most effective of all was the telling of life in the trenches. This movie could easily fit in the miniseries Band of Brothers, and would outshine all those other episodes. The movie portrays the Germans as professional soldiers. Note that this is a true story, and remember that war is 99% boredom and 1% terror. Firefights showed the terror aspect, none of these soldiers was running around (Rambo), nor were they incompetent idiots (The Big Red One). Saving Private Ryan was an allegory on life. No squad actually stormed Omaha Beach, then walked 20 miles behind German lines to successfully stop a Panzergrenadier platoon. Everyman's War is the story of one real soldier, his sufferings, his terror, and his losses. And the fact that this movie is compared to Saving Private Ryan is a real testament to the filmmaker, who should be extremely proud of this movie.
with all the respect for the story and the people who experienced such things in wars, this movie is not well done... a "war movie" doesn't have to be all about killing and scenes full of blood, I agree, the true story would be just enough as a special viewpoint of the war, how Don Smith saw it... however a good story as a base is important but not enough to make an enjoyable film.a good director is not allowed to do such a mistake on scene when the actors talk about freezing cold, but you can not see their breath and even: they are sweating with all the heavy clothes, probably in a studio...! cuttings are not good either, and the actors' play seems sometimes far-fetched. I thought maybe they are not real actors, so that would make the film more taste of life. but so many "small" mistakes formed my opinion about it as a very badly made movie.
I took my 83 year old father to see this movie when it came to the theaters here. I have only seen my dad be affected by a few things in my life and this movie was one of them. He said it was very realistic in its depiction of the fight that they were in, in Europe at that time. He was particularly amazed at how well the German soldiers were portrayed and that he thought they were using real machine guns of that time. I was glad that there wasn't so much overdone gore like so many big movies that hit the screen. I really liked the main girl that is in it. I liked seeing the story of how these guys came to be together in the war from all walks of life. Not all of them even really wanted to go. I can relate to that. But when called up they did there duty like my dad did I would recommend to veterans.
While i generally cannot stand war movies, my husband and i went to a showing of this movie that he had heard about. I can honestly say I loved this movie! It was extremely well done and touching. I cannot believe what horror these men went through while having to be away from their families. I cried so many times I was embarrassed. The lead is someone I had never heard of but I know I have seen him on other things just can't place where. All in all my husband and I really enjoyed it. Me more for the relationship part of it and my husband more for the "male bonding" aspects and the action! We would recommend. would be a good date movie.