Rating: Summary: Worth Watching Review: I was surprised by this movie and especially by the role Bruce Willis played. It is not your typicaly Willis movie. A little involved at times but a good story mixing the war, with the Nazis and their concept of a "superior race" with our own feelings of superiority over blacks at the time. I recommend it!
Rating: Summary: A Worthwhile Experience And Well Worth watching Review: I didn't see this film when it was in the theatre, despite urging from friends to do so. I didn't because Hollywood's approach to stories with racial themes is usually so politically correct as to insult the viewer's intelligence (which is demonstrated by my buying the DVD, rather than paying $5.00 for the matinee ticket?). This is a well made movie with an excellent cast. The interaction between the German POW Camp staff and the prisoners is excellent - taut and dramatic. The racial bias of the white enlisted men vs. the black Air Force officers is also realistic, and because it is not sanitized, it comes across very well. Good films are "good", because they draw the viewer into the story; one becomes a viewer, through the camera, of the plot, and often loses the sense of "watching a movie". Older films have less of this characteristic, I think, because stylized camera and acting techniques of that time detract from the viewer becoming totally immersed in watching believeable action. This movie brings the viewer into contact with characters and plot from the outset, and never lets go. Bruce Willis has come a long way from the "Die Hard" days, and is more convincing because of his matured talent. The rest of the cast perform very well. It's a very enjoyable, yet thought provoking experience.
Rating: Summary: A very good WWII movie! Review: Hart's War is a truely well made movie. Bruce Willis does an excellent job, once again, of showing why he's one of the best. The movie itself is about a senator's son that is intentionally kept well behind enemy lines. He volunteer's to take a field officer back to his unit. On the way, he run's into the Germans and is captured. Early on, he succumbs to the torture and gives up information to his interogator. He's then sent to a stalag. COL McNamara (Bruce Willis), debriefs him and easily discovers that he gave up information. The Colonel immediately doesn't trust him and quarters him with enlisted soldiers. Not long thereafter, two Tuskegee airmen are captured and the Colonel quarters them in there as well. Obviously, this is the 1940's and immediate tension comes from this. Without ruining the story for those who've not seen it yet, I'll leave at that. Once again, this is a very good movie. Definitely watch this movie.
Rating: Summary: I Was Surprised! Review: I was unsure of the idea of making this story a movie. However, the dramatic performance is just so good that I had to tell all who expect little from this one...
Rating: Summary: interesting POV Review: An excellent movie with an interesting way of presenting a story. This is not a typical WWII movie. This is Hart's War and so the entire movie is told from Hart's point of view. This is subjective storytelling. The viewer -- especially one who has watched various prison escape movies - will not be surprised by what Hart discovers at the end of the movie. That's OK, because we aren't supposed to be surprised; the point is that Hart is surprised. What will Hart do with his knowledge? Col. McNamara (Bruce Willis) is a puzzle -- is he a good guy or a bad guy? We are seeing McNamara through Hart's eyes, and Hart, with his inexperience in life and war, cannot understand or comprehend McNamara. Hart misses some things and misreads others because of his own fears and ignorance. Hart's "war" is not just WWII, or his "war" in surviving the prison camp or dealing with other prisoners. It's the war he is having with himself, in trying to determine what is the right thing to do. It's also about Hart learning that sometimes there is no "right" thing possible -- there are no easy answers.
Rating: Summary: Not what I expected... much better!! Review: I like Bruce Willis as an actor and expected a macho, exciting, performance a la "Die Hard". I was surprised that Bruce did not play the title character, and that his character was rather subdued. This was a thoughtful story as seen through the eyes of Tom Hart as he is captured and sent to a POW camp toward the end of WWII. I enjoyed the development of the characters and the plot, which contained several unexpected twists. I thought the acting was superb. I especially liked the themes of courage and honor and sacrifice. I think it would be a great film to view with older children (teens) and discuss motivations and attitudes. It was refreshing to see these themes done so well.
Rating: Summary: Oscar-Quality Production--Don't Miss Review: Don't be misled because this movie features Bruce Willis. Not only is it NOT the Bruce Willis you're expecting, but also this movie presents an outstanding international ensemble cast set with a background of the end of World War II. However, it is much more than "just another" WWII movie, because it deals with issues of racism in the mid-20th century, questions assumptions about that nature of veterans of the German Army, and will leave you wondering (hopefully) about how much you DON'T know about this crucial period in our nations history. A large percentage of our population doesn't even remember the Cold War, yet this film is set in a time when the USSR was our ally, and as brilliantly focused in the film, the United States PURPORTED not to distinguish between Blacks, Russians, or person's of other "ethnicity." While some Germans tried to solve the problem of multiple identities by creating one super-identity, the Aryan or Uebermensch. Great cast, highly authentic costuming, set in winter and you feel it (despite some fake snow), superb sountrack reinforces the story which has several surprising twists and turns! I would strongly recommend seeing this film in conjunction with the German-made "The Wannsee Conference" (VHS, 1984), and the recent HBO clone of that film, "Conspiracy" and read Dr. B.M. Rigg's "Hitler's Jewish Soldiers."
Rating: Summary: Interesting Film, but not what I expected... Review: This was a good film if you have an idea of what it is about before you start. Overall, it is a little depressing. A good story that needs to be told, but don't watch it if you don't want to be depressed. Bruce Willis is not the real star of the film. He is only in it for small pieces. His character is a powerful force for the plot. It is mainly a story of racial problems in a POW camp. There is also an underlying problem between the German commander and the leader of the POWs (Willis). This problem is never explained. A side story to the film is an escape attempt and a local factory that is making munitions. Definitely worth watching. Not a chick flick.
Rating: Summary: P.O.W. Movie Review: The movie takes you behind the scenes of WWII to German prison camp where POWs fight their own war against Nazi's regime. Conspiracy, treason, murder, court battles, and justice make this movie a must see.
Rating: Summary: Slow, plodding.... and boring Review: Hart's War could have been a good movie if the director had cut about twenty minutes out of the running time. Instead, we are left with a slow plodding movie that tries to milk the tension out of every scene with lingering camera shots of characters giving anguished facial expressions in response to the moral dilemmas they are facing in the film. This movie has little action and instead relies on interaction between characters to build tension in drama. Too much time is spent watching characters do nothing. A quicker movie would have been better because the cast is appealing and the story is pretty good, if not someone far fetched.
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