Amateur, stilted, uninspired acting, boring dialogue, heavy-handed use of close-ups, bad lighting, inconsistent sound, muted color alternating with too-vivid color, and excruciatingly slow story development are just the first five minutes. The lack of any connection between the overwrought music and the action (actually the total lack of action) on the screen is confusing to the point of being aggravating. The characters are not developed and remain two-dimensional. The language is anachronistic, and the director seems to have instructed everyone in a uniform to be as expressionless as mannequins until it is their turn to look confused. Every shot is an extreme close-up or an extreme oblique angle for no apparent reason. I get that the color, music, camera angles, etc. are used for effect. But when the effect is so obvious, it becomes a distraction. And this film does nothing else but distract the viewer. Unfortunately, nuance and subtlety are the two effects that were not used in this film. Even if none of that bothers you, having a paratrooper jump into enemy occupied territory without a weapon is just plain stupid. If you're making a war movie, you give the actors playing soldiers some guns.

I'm not surprised Amazon allow you to watch this for nothing. That's because it's terrible. Really wooden acting in the first thirty minutes, terrible long stretches of uninteresting dialogue where genuinely nothing whatsoever seems to happen.The scene where a soldier allegedly visits the English home of his girlfriend is, quite frankly, laughable. If you really had found a house and interior looking like that in 1944 England, the owner would most probably have been related to the King. Churchill would've been jealous. Once they jump it doesn't pick up. What a pity - I had hoped for better. I suspect there may just have been some military expertise connected with the making of this film but sadly no screen writing expertise at all.Plot spoilers aren't allowed. But the Allies win.

This 'film' moved like frozen syrup. Poor acting, unnecessary..........pauses for dramatic effect. Dialogue which made no attempt to move the plot forward and enough close ups that I now have to visit my optometrist. I could only bear about forty five or so minutes and that was with the aid of a fast forward button. Could either side have shown any emotion, you know, with them being in life and death situations and all? As for historical accuracy I'm pretty sure I saw a laptop on a desk in the briefing room, it wouldn't have surprised me. This movie made me sorry the allies won the war, perhaps then it would not have been made. My only saving grace is that it was the 'the free one' on the tail end of a rent one get one free new release coupon!

The dreadful World War II epic "Pathfinders: In the Company of Strangers" spouts more gab than gunfire. More than half of the action takes place in either some kind of room or enclosure where the G.I.s swap stories or fret about the future. The story occurs a couple of days before the Allies stormed the French coast at Normandy. The heroes are a volunteer group of 82nd Airborne Americans who will be the first of the first to bail out over France. Historically, these 'Pathfinders' were ordered to mark the terrain and establish communication with the USAFF pilots who were flying overhead with paratroopers to deposit. The wardrobe, firearms, and equipment appear largely authentic, but the lackluster dramatic moments reflect the amateurish approach of freshman writer, producer & director Curt A. Sindelar and rookie co-scripter Charlie Armstrong. The characters emerge at best sketchy, and the dialogue is forgettable blather. One conversation revolves around a man puking up his guts. The actors struggle to make the act of purging amusing while they laugh as they describe the circumstances. Most of the dialogue is banal. The occasional clashes in the field between the Pathfinders and the German soldiers are okay. The most interesting character doesn't belong to the group and eventually this outsider gets separated from them and captured by the enemy. "The Longest Day" featured the Pathfinders and their hand-held click toy that served as a password between them and their companions if they got separated. Chaos reigns during the jump and several Americans die. If this had been a documentary with re-enactors, "Pathfinders" might have been salvageable. Unfortunately, the characters spend far too much time shooting off their mouths rather than shooting off their guns. There is a peripheral romance between one of the Army officers and a well-to-do English lady. World War II fans should avoid this 91-minute film.