Wednesday

What is it about Saints and Soldiers that makes (or made) it forgettable? You may not have even heard of it (released in 2003), but apparently it won many awards (16 according to IMDb). The title, to begin with, is probably putting you off. It sounds preachy already. What crippled it even more, I believe, was that it came out after Saving Private Ryan, The Thin Red Line, and Band of Brothers, which made it look like a cheap imitation regardless of whether it was or not. Add to this a lack of recognisable actors (Corbin Allred, anyone?), and you're in trouble. Having now seen it myself, I can however confirm that it is a cheap imitation. Search for the soundtrack of Band of Brothers, compare it to this film, and you'll hardly be able to tell them apart. Now read a plot summary: a band of soldiers behind enemy lines are on a mission that could change the course of the war. The acting is mediocre (especially poor from the RAF pilot) and the script is terrible. It's like someone has tried to mesh together all the great moments from Saving Private Ryan, but forgotten about the parts that connected them, that strung them along into a compelling narrative. It doesn't tell us anything we didn't already know about warfare and the human condition. It really is a poor effort. Added to this we are told at the beginning that it is 'based on actual events'. What we're not told is that the story and characters are completely fictional, and that real events (which happened to different soldiers at different times) are randomly jammed into the film. Worth seeing only to remind yourself how good those other films are.