What a disappointment of a movie. I love a good war movie because of the valor, the bravery, the action, the love of country and dedication to a cause greater than one's self. Unfortunately, this movie was more like a watching military version of "The Great Race" where people are scurrying all over the world for uncertain reasons and competing in disjointed activities. The general story line has potential, but frankly, a group of ten-year old boys playing Army in the backyard could have come up with a more realistic plot and better consistency across scenes.Another contributor to this board mentioned the lack of special effects, like outtakes or deleted scenes. The absence of those is a blessing to the viewer, in my mind. The scenes that made it to the movie were so tepid and predictable that I can't imagine what those on the cutting room floor must be like.Save your time and your money. Watch "Band of Brothers", "Saving Private Ryan", or any number of other war movies that employ props and dialog consistent the era, credible story lines, and plots that don't require the viewer to keep telling themselves that the movie will surely be getting better any minute now.

The first thing you must do if you want to enjoy this movie is convince yourself that the notion that Nazi Germany would go to any lengths to capture and utilize a Jew for his intelligence is not utterly preposterous. If you are able to convince yourself of that, and you haven't seen movies like Enigma which would allow you to see through the thin plot, then you might enjoy this film. What the film makers failed to understand is basic Nazi ideology and doctrine, which shaped Germany's policies from 1933 to early 1945. Nazi ideology would not permit the belief that a Jew could be more intelligent than Aryan scientists, nor that a Jew could be an asset to the purposes of the Reich. I have to say that I had high hopes for this one when I ran across it at Hollywood Video, but I was thoroughly disappointed.

I am a woman who appreciates war movies. Good war movies, that is. What I consider to be well-made war movie traits are an adherence to fact, correct use of language (e.g., Italian characters speaking in Italian and, bonus points, acted by Italians), a compelling story, and lack of jingoism. Oh yes, and NO "LOVE TRIANGLES" (note to movie makers: not all women need romantic subplots to watch a war movie. I mean, really, a "love triangle?" Millions of people were being slaughtered. Doesn't that fact make any stupid "love triangles" utterly irrelevant? If you really want to attract women, perhaps have war movies that focus on women who made a difference.)A few war movies that I've appreciated that utilize some or all of these traits are "The Longest Day" (my entrance into war movies), "Band of Brothers," "The Tuskegee Airmen," "Kelly's Heroes" (Donald Sutherland. Priceless.), "Life is Beautiful," and "Breaker Morant." This movie, unfortunately, did not have any of these traits, save for the use of native language. Utterly pointless story and annoying characters. I can even make an argument for blatant false advertising - if you watched the movie, did you see the tanks or spitfires that are depicted on the DVD cover? Yeah, me neither. Although the sea plane was cool.... Save your time. Save your money. There are countless other movies that are much more deserving. "Kagemusha," for example....

OK. Who's in this? Craig Sheffer? I'm sorry, but looking though his filmography, I didn't see anything memorable in which I'd seen him perform. The rest of the cast are Internationals and that's certainly forgivable but, the question I raise is why was Ron Perlman in this less than outstanding film? And, as a sadistic Nazi at that? No, sport's fans, it certainly didn't work for me and although I didn't have quite the same reaction as the first reviewer, I was glad I'd rented this one at Blockbuster's (on the night of the Superbowl because I was likely one of the few in Sacramento watching the poor old Seahawks get their lunch) instead of investing the price of a Senior's admission to see it on the wide screen. Very disappointing, Ron. Better stick to Hellboy.