It’s not bad or unwatchable but despite the amplitude of the spectacle, the end result is underwhelming.

what a terribly boring film. I'm sorry but this is absolutely not deserving of best picture and will be forgotten quickly. Entertaining and engaging cinema? No. Nothing performances with flat faces and mistaking silence for subtlety.

The movie's neither hopeful in contrived ways, nor hopeless in different contrived ways. Somehow it manages to be wonderful

The story, direction, characters, and writing/dialogue is akin to taking a tranquilizer shot to the neck, but everything else was so well done.

An extremely well done movie. If you understand that it is loosely based on historical facts then you won't get all hung up on the few inaccuracies. For example, one reviewer objected to the medic carrying a rifle, but in real life medics were known to carry weapons, especially considering the scene where an ambulance crew was killed in the no holds barred German offensive. Medics aren't issued rifles, but are allowed to protect themselves and the wounded. The characters are appealing and their actions/dialog realistic. I was thoroughly entertained even though there were times that the movie was very sad. However, in the end, their goal was achieved and the movie had a nice ending. The only part that bothered me was the way the movie showed the massacre taking place. It showed the shooting starting by accident, when history has pretty much proved that the German unit commander ordered the execution of the American troops because he wouldn't allow his unit to be slowed by POWs. It seems like this war crime was softened to make it more PC. Also of note, if you believe Deacon to be LDS, understand that many missionaries who served in peacetime Germany did pick up fluent German and served in the US army.

I give this one star for not being the worst war movie I have ever seen, and another star for shooting it for under a million dollars. The entire film is unbelievable, the acting is fair, but the plot is thin and the writers should have done a bit more research. The 101st Airborne was not in that area at that time. The saintly medic defies belief. The character is a bit over the top. I will give it credit for being less preachy than most church films, but they do subtlety get their message through. I cannot recommend it, but if you should find it in the used DVD bin at your local video store, get a pizza, watch it until you are bored, then put on a great WWII movie such as "Twelve O'Clock High", or "The Thin Red Line".

I love this take on a war story. I like explosions and action as much as the next guy, but it was refreshing to get a look at soldiers when they aren't running away from exploding tanks in slow motion. The relationships between the characters were not only well-acted, but also realistic. This film also did a great job of showing, in the very few actual confrontations, that war is between humans who all think they're right, not denizens of pure good and pure evil fighting to eliminate the other. I also liked the subtle details that showed that the director paid attention SPOILER(at first I agreed with my friend that it was unrealistic for the medic to use a gun, but then I realized that he missed every shot, like a real person who had never fired a gun in war would have). If you're really into weapons and war history, you'll notice inaccuracies with the props and such, and it sometimes got hard to keep track of who was who. Another thing I didn't like is the sound balance. It was very hard to hear the characters at some points, especially crucial lines that, if missed, make the viewer wonder what their reasoning was for a certain action. All in all, this is an excellent movie about "human-ness" in war and a refreshing take on the war movie genre, but it does have its flaws.

I always enjoy films about the Battle of the Bulge. It was the worst of times for Americans in the entire European war, so this battle always provides special opportunities for extra---but realistic---plot tension. When it's about the Battle of the Bulge, we never know whether our characters will be rubbed out, taken prisoner, taken prisoner, then rubbed out, tangle with clever Germans wearing the wrong uniforms (who also speak perfect English and know who won the World Series) or whether our heroes will just manage to hang on against a terrible whipping in awful weather. All of these elements make this a particularly rich venue for wartime drama.This movie was apparently shot for less than a million dollars, but it's a far better film than that modest budget would suggest. Even with unknown actors, it takes real skill to put a period piece with special effects on the screen for that amount of money. Nice cinematography. The weapons and the uniforms all look correct and the acting is decent.I would not be bashful to recommend this film to a stranger and would be happy to watch it again.