- Different factions in World War II Holland race to find a stash of German gold.
- In a daring attempt to end the war by Christmas, Field Marshal Bernard Law Montgomery hatches an extraordinary plan - Operation Market Garden. 35,000 Allied troops are dropped behind enemy lines in German occupied Holland. In the midst of the largest airborne invasion in history, one small unit of men, code-named "Matchbox" has its own agenda. When Matchbox is shot down short of its landing zone, the odds of success seem hopeless. Seven very different British soldiers find themselves separated from the Allied invasion and on a collision course with three renegade German soldiers who also want to lay claim to the horde.—RS
- To end war by Christmas, Winston Churchill hatch Operation Market Garden. 35,000 British troops are dropped behind enemy lines in German occupied Holland. One small unit of men, code-name "Matchbox" has it's own agenda.
Captain Edward Banks (Andrew Howard) & Corporal Rhys Powell (Neil Newbon), an undercover British Intelligence officer, has been given command of a small unit of men, code-named Matchbox. They will be the last drop of the invasion force. Their assignment is to retrieve a hoard of Dutch gold and art treasures, plundered by the Nazis, from a seemingly impregnable booby-trapped underground bunker.
Simple enough, but when Matchbox is shot down short of the drop point their plan goes awry. Once on the ground they come under attack from German forces in the area and many soldiers perish in the ambush. While trying to fight the assault, Baker is killed by German bullets. Before dying, Baker hands over his orders to McMillan (which only contain the target coordinates, but nothing about the objective). The survivors include Powell and a smart-mouthed petty thief Private Alan Ives (Nick Moran), a drunken bomb disposal expert Private Dennis Baker (Tommy Flanagan), a smooth-talking Canadian pilot with a keen eye for smooth ladies Lieutenant Robert Oates (Billy Zane), Private David Wellings (Rafe Spall) A naive medical orderly, and Sergeant Bill McMillan (Sean Pertwee) A battle hardened veteran.
The group assigns Oates to take command as he is the senior most. No-one knows that Powell is British Intelligence. Powell and his roving band of misfits fight their way through a German counterattack, to proceed towards their grid reference. McMillan was shot in the leg and was hobbling, when the group was attacked by a German fighter. Wellings shows exceptional courage to rescue McMillan by carrying him on his back into the tree line and to safety.
At the same time, renegade German forces race to get their hands on the loot as well. This group is led by Lieutenant Jergen Voller (Alexander Skarsgård), Renegade German soldier who has unfinished business to settle with Kessler, his brother & includes Corporal Dieter Max (David Ginola) & Sergeant Hans Beck (Karel Roden). Voller captures SS Major Kessler (Laurence Fox) (A ruthless Nazi tasked by the SS with safeguarding the loot) right hand man Gustav Hansfeldt (Steve Speirs), who has all the papers to get the team to Arnhem, and to the loot. Katrina (Agathe De La Boulaye) is Voller's mistress, who helps him snare Gustav.
Gustav leads Voller to Arnhem, but right before that they see Kessler leaving with his troops. Gustav takes Voller & Hans into the bunker of Arnhem to show them the gathered loot of Holland. Hans and Voller leave with Gustav to find a truck (to take the loot out of Arnhem), while Max stays behind to secure the loot. Reaching near a war zone, Voller lets Gustav go.
Kessler reaches his divisional HQ and knows that allies will take Holland. He issues orders to move the loot from Arnhem to Berlin before Holland falls. Gustav is captured by German officers and brought to Kessler. Gustav tells Kessler that Voller is en-route to Arnhem with a truck, but Kessler is confident that Voller will not be able to break through the German lines. Voller & Hans steal a truck, but it explodes in a minefield, and they have to walk back.
Benitta (Lucy Gaskell) and Saskia (Coral Beed), members of the Dutch resistance (who work at Arnhem) have managed to pinpoint the location of the stolen loot (right under their own farm) , and that it is about to be moved to Berlin by the vile Kessler and his troops. They had earlier communicated the position of Arnhem to the British Intelligence via a radio hidden in the forest around their farm.
Saskia seduces Max while Benitta leaves for a nearby church. Benitta meets Powell (who had also sneaked away in the middle of the night when his group had fallen asleep), to meet Benitta at the church (which was the grid reference point on the map. Unknown to Powell, Oates had seen him leave and followed him. Powell reveals to Oates and his other comrades that he is British Intelligence and that he & Banks were tasked to intercept a VIP en-route to Berlin.
Oates leads his troops to Arnhem, where they find and capture Max. Baker and Powell head to the bunker via the lift in the shed. Baker is needed to defuse the booby traps in the lift, and he can figure out that Powell is not intercepting any VIP. Meanwhile Ives recovers a silver cross from Max and interrogates him in isolation to figure out where he got it from. Meanwhile Kessler heads to Arnhem with a truck and troops. Kessler drops Gustav en-route, where he is picked up by Americans and taken to Lieutenant Colonel James T. Colt (Michael Madsen). Gustav tells him about the loot at Arnhem. Colt was leading the charge on Operation Market Garden and was headed towards Berlin. Voller & Hans steal an American jeep and break through a check point where Gustav was explaining his plan to Colt. But a little head, their jeep is bombed by a German plane.
Ives reveals to everyone that Powell is looking for the loot in the shed. Voller and Hans reach Arnhem, but find the shed occupied by the British. Meanwhile Baker can't defuse the bombs inside the lift and Oates suggests blowing it up and enter the bunker with brute force. But this will destroy the loot. Ives proposes to steal the loot and divide it among the group as pension payments. Benitta tells the group to act fast as Kessler will arrive soon. Powell plans to steal the sea plane on which Kessler will load the loot and divert it to Britain. The group booby traps the shed and waits for Kessler to arrive. Kessler arrives and enters the bunker via a back entrance and asks his men to take the loot to the jetty. Powell and Wellings dress as Nazi guards and join Kessler's men.
The sea plane arrives at the Arnhem jetty. Voller & Hans also plan to abduct and replace the pilot to control the loot, but Oates already gets into the plane as a pilot. meanwhile Colt gathers his troops and reaches Arnhem. Now Kessler finds the booby traps in the sheds, disarms them and prepares his troop for an attack. The British open fire as they discover this. Max is killed in the crossfire as Hans makes his way to the sea plane. Baker is shot by Kessler. Voller confronts Kessler and accuses him of betraying him and sending him off to Africa to fight in the war. Powell uses the elevator to enter the bunker. Kessler beats VOller and goes after Powell. Powell traps Kessler inside the bunker and escapes via the elevator. Powell comes out in the shed and thinks Voller is an American and guides him to the sea plane. Powell sets up a time bomb in the shed, that will destroy the bunker. Voller and Hans, both make it into the sea plane via different routes. Colt moves his forces up and starts shooting at the plane.
Powell is shot before he can make it to the plane as the rest of the British crew make it safely inside, along with Benitta and Saskia. Oates flies them out. The time bomb fails to explode, and Colt eventually leaves. Gustav reaches the bunker and finds Kessler trapped inside. Baker wakes up and summons enough strength to detonate the bombs, killing both Gustav and Kessler. Voller and Hans are discovered on the plane as German impostors, posing as Yankees. as guns are drawn in a tense standoff, Oates reminds everyone that they just won. A few years later, the British survivors return to Arnhem. Oates has married Benitta. The loot was delivered to the British Govt and now displayed in a museum. Hans and Voller steal the loot from the museum and head to Switzerland.
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