This is a film that tries to market itself as Alasitar McLean meets Quintann Tarantino meets BAND OF BROTHERS . One worries though how the much hyped casting of Tom Sizemore may go down since it's sixteen years since he appeared in SAVING PRIVATE RYAN and one envisages him being more likely cast as the American equivalent of a character from DADS ARMYrather than a veteran combat soldier still able to kill Nazis . Thankfully the the years have been physically kind to Sizemore and the early scenes of COMPANY OF HEROES are relatively impressive . You do believe the film has transported you to the cold , snow covered Ardennes of December 1944 and any fears that you're going to be watching something on a par to the laughable 1960s big budget version of THE BATTLE OF THE BULGE are unfounded . Don't speak so soon
Despite having some good cinematography and music there's little else to recommend . As soon as the Germans turn up in force you'll be surrounded by so many things wrong about COMPANY OF HEROES . One thing is type of tanks the Germans are using - they're certainly unlike any tank the Germans used but are also unlike any tank you've seen . It's also very obvious that the explosions are created via CGI on a par with the ones used in SyFy Channel productions . You'll also notice that the American weapons aren't American weapons from that period
You can overlook these errors and perhaps suspend disbelief that the Nazis were close to developing the Atomic bomb if there was a compelling storyline but the screenplay is incredibly clumsy and strewn with errors that don't make sense within the film's own internal logic .For example :
On watching the Americans escape on a train bound for Germany the chief Nazi villain states " So now the hunt moves to Stuttgart " . Wouldn't a better idea be to just stop the train and shoot the Americans ? Also fortunate for the story that the railway line is intact after all that allied bombing
A Soviet character introduces himself and says he was a POW of the Germans . The problem is he's several pounds overweight , not something Soviet prisoners of war suffered from at the hands of the Nazis . I kept thinking this guy was a plant put there by the Nazis but as it turns out he is a genuine Soviet POW
A character introduces himself as " 'Allo I'm Willoughby British airforce " . No Briton would ever describe themself in that way . It might be British royal airforce " or British RAF " but never British airforce
Two characters walk down a busy street in Stuttgart speaking English and no one over hears them
A character mentions the Nazis have developed an atomic bomb and yet no one asks the obvious question " What's an atomic bomb ? " I'm led to believe even the crew of Enola Gay hadn't heard of the term until they were on the flight to Hiroshima
A character mentions they must " flee with the atomic bomb before the allies bomb the factory tomorrow " Would an OSS agent be told of the bombing schedule of the allied airforces ? If the allies want to get their hands on the bomb why not wait to see if the mission is a success before bombing the factory ?
This had the potential to be if not a good wartime action adventure then certainly better than the mediocre mess that it ended up as
Despite having some good cinematography and music there's little else to recommend . As soon as the Germans turn up in force you'll be surrounded by so many things wrong about COMPANY OF HEROES . One thing is type of tanks the Germans are using - they're certainly unlike any tank the Germans used but are also unlike any tank you've seen . It's also very obvious that the explosions are created via CGI on a par with the ones used in SyFy Channel productions . You'll also notice that the American weapons aren't American weapons from that period
You can overlook these errors and perhaps suspend disbelief that the Nazis were close to developing the Atomic bomb if there was a compelling storyline but the screenplay is incredibly clumsy and strewn with errors that don't make sense within the film's own internal logic .For example :
On watching the Americans escape on a train bound for Germany the chief Nazi villain states " So now the hunt moves to Stuttgart " . Wouldn't a better idea be to just stop the train and shoot the Americans ? Also fortunate for the story that the railway line is intact after all that allied bombing
A Soviet character introduces himself and says he was a POW of the Germans . The problem is he's several pounds overweight , not something Soviet prisoners of war suffered from at the hands of the Nazis . I kept thinking this guy was a plant put there by the Nazis but as it turns out he is a genuine Soviet POW
A character introduces himself as " 'Allo I'm Willoughby British airforce " . No Briton would ever describe themself in that way . It might be British royal airforce " or British RAF " but never British airforce
Two characters walk down a busy street in Stuttgart speaking English and no one over hears them
A character mentions the Nazis have developed an atomic bomb and yet no one asks the obvious question " What's an atomic bomb ? " I'm led to believe even the crew of Enola Gay hadn't heard of the term until they were on the flight to Hiroshima
A character mentions they must " flee with the atomic bomb before the allies bomb the factory tomorrow " Would an OSS agent be told of the bombing schedule of the allied airforces ? If the allies want to get their hands on the bomb why not wait to see if the mission is a success before bombing the factory ?
This had the potential to be if not a good wartime action adventure then certainly better than the mediocre mess that it ended up as