The Fifth Day of Peace

Rating:
Summary: 5th day of Peace
Review: A very grim movie about German deserters at the end of WWII, who are captured by Canadian forces. Their former comrades in arms (led by the senior German POW played by Helmuth Schneider) also held by the Canadians, sentence them to be shot and persuade the weak Canadian Captain (played by Richard Johnson) egged on by his General (Michael Goodliffe) to carry out the sentence. No attempt here to glamorise war. Everything is very bleak, but the film is a superb character study and all the performances are excellent. Best ever performance by Richard Johnson. Only major criticism is of the unconvincing Canadian accents.

The movie was never released in the UK (and maybe not in the USA either). It was released in Germany under the name "Gott Mit Uns" (God with us)

Rating:
Summary: Violent true to -life WWII movie, sick!
Review: After the war has ended on it's last days, soldiers still obey and must decide if they should kill or not. Psychological thriller with a lot of violence. I would definetly pick this up for such a good price becaue it is well worth it.

Rating:
Summary: Fine Movie, Trash DVD!!!
Review: During the late 1960s and early 1970s, the Italian movie industry made a number of World War II films. They ranged from trash to average to occasionally excellent. THE FIFTH DAY OF PEACE represents the best of the genre. Chances are you wouldn't be looking at the DVD if you didn't already know what the film was about.

The DVD quality is appalling. The print is muddy and smeary, mastered from a video tape. You know how when a VCR may start to eat a tape, it leaves those crinkles on the actual tape and you get the telltale "skips" on the TV screen when you watch the damaged part of the tape? Well, those same type skips show up during part of the credits. The colors look worn out as well. The sound is monophonic and a little muffled. There is a brief yet loud and annoying buzz about 40 minutes into the film as well. The sound is not always in synchronization with the picture, either. It's not because of the dubbing, though. I have compared with my video copy. There are plenty of digital artifacts off and on as well. The screen-shots for the 10 chapter scenes and those of Johnson and Nero look excellent, but do not compare well to the picture quality of the actual film.

The DVD is 1.33:1, cropped from the original letterbox print of 2.35:1. Portions of words are missing from both the sides of the screen and the bottom of the screen during parts of the credits.

It looks as though the folks at Simitar might have just recorded this from a TV screen with a video camera. An enterprising way to save money but also a great way to lose business.

For "special" features there are 10 chapter searches, movie factoids which provide no information not found on the case, and abridged biographies and filmographies for Richard Johnson and Franco Nero.

I piad [a small amount] for this and still thought it was a waste. My video from Congress Entertainment, while still lower quality, is better than this DVD.

Rating:
Summary: AVOID !!!
Review: If you want to impress your friends with your new DVD player then (...) don't show them this film. It's a straight forward copy from a video tape that will have you reaching for the tracking button (if only) and the sound is not in sync with the picture. The acting is wooden and the plot is dire. If you are fool enough to buy this, don't come crying to me when you realise I'm right!

Rating:
Summary: A decidedly different World War II Prisoner of War film
Review: World War II prisoner of war movies have been a recurring staple from "Bridge on the River Kwai" and "The Great Escape" to the recent "Hart's War." But "5th Day of Peace" presents you with an interesting twist because it actually takes place after the war has ended and the prisoners in question are Germans. Captain John Miller (Richard Johnson) of the Canadian Army is running the camp with its thousand German prisoners. While the war is over the prisoners remain dedicated to the German army and obey Colonel Von Bleicher (Helmuth Schneider), who exercises strict old school Prussian authority over the troops. Miller and his guards are impressed by the sense of order that is brought over the camp, but then a monkey wrench gets tossed into the proceedings. The moment of crisis comes when the German P.O.W.s court-martial a pair of their comrades for desertion. When the two are sentenced to death, Captain Miller has to decide if he will allow the prisoners to carry out the execution. Apparently based on a true incident in World War II, "5th Day of Peace" (also called "Crime of Defeat," which is an interesting title), features a soundtrack by Ennio Morricone. The acting leaves much to be desired, the cinematography has some weak moments, but you have to admit the film has an interesting hook. Is this 1969 film a warning that even after the defeat of Hitler and Nazi Germany that fascism still has enough appeal to be potent danger to western civilization? Or is possibly an allegory about America's growing involvement in Vietnam? Sorry, but those questions are way too deep for this particular film which is still worth a look at if you are one of those interested in this particular sub-genre of World War II films.

Rating:
Summary: A decidedly different World War II Prisoner of War film
Review: World War II prisoner of war movies have been a recurring staple from "Bridge on the River Kwai" and "The Great Escape" to the recent "Hart's War." But "5th Day of Peace" presents you with an interesting twist because it actually takes place after the war has ended and the prisoners in question are Germans. Captain John Miller (Richard Johnson) of the Canadian Army is running the camp with its thousand German prisoners. While the war is over the prisoners remain dedicated to the German army and obey Colonel Von Bleicher (Helmuth Schneider), who exercises strict old school Prussian authority over the troops. Miller and his guards are impressed by the sense of order that is brought over the camp, but then a monkey wrench gets tossed into the proceedings. The moment of crisis comes when the German P.O.W.s court-martial a pair of their comrades for desertion. When the two are sentenced to death, Captain Miller has to decide if he will allow the prisoners to carry out the execution. Apparently based on a true incident in World War II, "5th Day of Peace" (also called "Crime of Defeat," which is an interesting title), features a soundtrack by Ennio Morricone. The acting leaves much to be desired, the cinematography has some weak moments, but you have to admit the film has an interesting hook. Is this 1969 film a warning that even after the defeat of Hitler and Nazi Germany that fascism still has enough appeal to be potent danger to western civilization? Or is possibly an allegory about America's growing involvement in Vietnam? Sorry, but those questions are way too deep for this particular film which is still worth a look at if you are one of those interested in this particular sub-genre of World War II films.