the audience applauded

Simple and well acted, it has tension enough to knot the stomach.

The plot isn't so bad, but the pace of storytelling is too slow which makes people bored. Certain moments are so obvious and unnecessary for the main plot. I would've fast-forwarded those moments if it was an online streaming. The ending looks like implying a sequel, not sure if this movie will get one

It is neither dumb nor smart enough to be fun, and spends way too much time with its boring human characters.

In December 1944 German soldiers shot 80 American POWs during the Ardennes offensive at Melmedy in Belgium . In terms of murder this was relatively minuscule compared to the crimes committed by the Nazi regime but it was widely quoted at the time because it gave the Western allies the impression the Germans weren't taking any prisoners during this offensive . It should also be remembered the Western allies hadn't come across the numerous Nazi camps on German soil such as Belsen and Dachau . On a similar note and with hindsight it's not just the victors who write history but also Hollywood and the Malmedy massacre has featured occasionally in Hollywood movies with SAINTS AND SOLDIERS being one of them The massacre at Malmedy sets up the story where four survivors escape the mass murder and find themselves on the run behind enemy lines . Made in 2003 you get the distinct impression this was produced to cash in on the massive success of BAND OF BROTHERS , That said SAINTS AND SOLDIERS holds up in its own right though are some flaws As a Briton what will rankle with a lot of compatriots is that a British pilot Flt Sgt Oberon Winley is introduced to the story who is an American-centric caricature of the British . First of all if someone in the RAF was a flight sergeant they would have been working class . Only pilot officers and very posh people would be called Oberon . It's also painfully obvious that the posh upper class character is played by someone who is obviously an American actor . It's nice to see an American film acknowledge that the Yanks didn't win the war single handed but couldn't the producers have contacted British Equity ? Mind you half of Easy company were played by British actors in BAND OF BROTHERS so I suppose the serve is returned Something that might disappoint a lot of people is the fact that there is very little in the film . After the massacre in the start of SAINTS AND SOLDIERS two thirds of the film is taken up by the characters hiding from the Germans with characters talking to one another . It is somewhat refreshing to see a war film that doesn't concern itself with spectacle and incident but anyone tuning in to see bloody big battles will be seriously disappointed since this is a more thoughtful war film

This movie follows 4 soldiers who are present at the Malmedy Massacre but who escape and make their way through enemy controlled territory back to allied lines. I watched this movie because I've read about the Malmedy massacre, and given the title and the fact that Chuck Colson recommended it, I thought it might have a perspective on the atrocity worth my time. Wrong! Intellectually and morally this movie is absolutely weightless and the rewriting of history is offensive. The depiction of what happened at Malmedy is pretty close to what some of the Germans involved claimed happened. Why would the Germans involved tell the truth? Furthermore, the German story is contradicted by the forensic evidence and contradicts the independent eye witness testimony of several survivors. The fact is that many of the men killed were undoubtedly executed--close range, bullet to the head, clustered together. The others were gunned down as they tried to escape, probably once they knew they would die otherwise. Further evidence against the German story is that Malmedy wasn't an isolated event, there were a number of other massacres, some involving civilians, attributed to the same group of German SS soldiers. So why did the movie choose to depict the event based on the German account? Because the truth would have conflicted with the platitudinous main theme of "we're all the same, we just wear different uniforms". I am a Christian so of course I believe we are all created in the image of God, but I find this kind of moral equivalence nauseating and intellectually weightless. The other thing that significantly detracts from this movie is that it is extremely predictable. I knew the ultimate fate of every character 1/2 way through the movie and many of these scenes were cliché. I gave it 4 stars because as a movie some of the scenes had their moments, I didn't turn it off, and there are so many other movies out there that are much worse so I have to leave room at the bottom to rate them.

Having not read the book, I will say that this movie was very good. True, it wasn't as good as Band of Brothers, but still superb. One thing I loved was that the entire movie went without one F word. I disagree with the reviewer who said it had Mormon overtones. Not one thing in the movie mentioned any religion, so I don't understand why he/she thought that it did. One character served a mission and taught a family. Many religions send missionaries abroad to teach. He's also seen reading scriptures. Many people do. And, if I was ever in a war and behind enemy lines, I'd sure be doing some praying myself. Great film. I wish more script writers would find other adjectives than the F word.

This movie was very good in my opinion. It sort of reminded me of the movie Saving Private Ryan. Was a good story line and the Character Relationship progression was my favorite aspect of the movie. Worth a watch if you like War movies sort of like Saving Private Ryan.If you like too movies with a little drama and some suspense this is a movie for you.Also if you like as I said before Character relations and how they change as the movie goes on this movie shows it in an excellent form.I just found out about this movie by randomly falling upon it. I'm really glad I gave it a shot. Was worth the 90 minutes I spent watching it.