I thought this movie was rubbish. It was very disappointing to watch a film for which there were good reviews and find out that it was very poor indeed. Why did I dislike it so much? Well, the main story is fine, a sort of racial discrimination version of 'A Few Good Men', and the background military story (which is supposed to be the covered up main story) is alright too. However, the entire plot is completely unrealistic and the story far too contrived. The story is set in a German POW camp, presumably not a very comfortable place to live, yet the Americans happily stroll around the camp smoking cigarettes, playing American football and insulting their German captors freely. There is no sign of any hardship or suffering, no one gets ill in the freezing cold weather and the German captors are extremely friendly and accomodating. So when Colonel McNamarra (who seems to hold more power than the Germans) suggests a trial when one of the soldiers is killed and a black man suspected, the German colonel immediately agrees and gives them a building to use for it. Most of the film then revolves around the racially biased trial of the black lieutenant. This strikes me as a completely contrived and nonsensical backdrop to the war, as one would assume that the soldiers would be focussed on escaping, fighting back against the Germans or something else useful rather than discriminating against each other. In addition in a real situation, they would probably be under too much strain and discrimination from the Germans to worry about creating more problems of their own. Finally when the trial is revealed to be a farce even within the film you are once again reminded of Hollywood's desperate need nowadays to try and make their films more interesting or seem deeper than they are. The final scene when Bruce Willis exchanges his life for his men's and the German colonel bears his loss with a wry grin and a joke or two, stretches the boundaries of disbelief. Without even a drop of imagination, it must seem obvious that the German colonel would be furious and undoubtedly kill all the men involved, and should the great colonel McNamarra turn up to be shot with his men at the last minute this would merely be icing on the cake.
A completely ridiculous film, unrealistic and poorly thought out. Don't watch it.
A completely ridiculous film, unrealistic and poorly thought out. Don't watch it.