The back-story to the events in this movie is an historical "what if" -- what if Germany had not allied with Japan after Pearl Harbor, instead brokering peace with Russia and thus was allowed to conquer Europe and England, resulting in an uneasy world powers triumvirate of Germany, Russia and the USA? The interesting hook is that, had this happened, Germany might have kept its atomic bomb scientists and been the sole owner of nuclear weapons - empowering Hitler's ambitions to one day invade Russia.
And that's where this film begins, with a small squad of German soldiers making their first forays into Russian territory. After successfully ambushing a Russian patrol, the soldiers come upon information leading them to understand that they are expendable pawns in a deadly game. Conflict arises when one of the Germans attempts to follow his conscience, while the others follow their orders.
The direction and cinematography are first class, and the special effects outstanding. Kudos to the director for posting extensive "how to's" on the film's website. The weapons, muzzle flashes, bullet hits, explosions and particularly the sound FX rival any big-budget studio production.
Acting was well done, though there wasn't much character development in the script except for Muller, and it seemed rushed due to the shortness of the film. Special kudos to the sound recording and editing. Low-budget productions typically give themselves away by their poor sound, as many directors are visual artists and don't understand that movies are picture AND sound. Here the sound was superb, and credit that with adding to the believability of the effects.
The story is well-structured - I wish it included a little more time to show the characters' thought progressions as they begin to understand what's happening around them. Particularly the end moment, which was a big moment that I think wasn't given enough screen time and could have had a bigger emotional impact on the audience. But the point was made nonetheless and we'll credit the director with avoiding crossing over into melodrama.
The only quibble I had was the Philly-area accents of the actors. WWII-era war movies have been around for 60 years, and there is a convention that the actors should speak in German accents, or in German with subtitles, or at least in British accents! (Then again, George Peppard played it straight American in The Blue Max, so who am I to complain?) The dialogue was a little too Americanized and it detracted from the film at the beginning. However, after a few minutes we could mostly set that aside as we were drawn deeper into the story.
Congrats to the cast and crew. This would make a great feature-length movie!
And that's where this film begins, with a small squad of German soldiers making their first forays into Russian territory. After successfully ambushing a Russian patrol, the soldiers come upon information leading them to understand that they are expendable pawns in a deadly game. Conflict arises when one of the Germans attempts to follow his conscience, while the others follow their orders.
The direction and cinematography are first class, and the special effects outstanding. Kudos to the director for posting extensive "how to's" on the film's website. The weapons, muzzle flashes, bullet hits, explosions and particularly the sound FX rival any big-budget studio production.
Acting was well done, though there wasn't much character development in the script except for Muller, and it seemed rushed due to the shortness of the film. Special kudos to the sound recording and editing. Low-budget productions typically give themselves away by their poor sound, as many directors are visual artists and don't understand that movies are picture AND sound. Here the sound was superb, and credit that with adding to the believability of the effects.
The story is well-structured - I wish it included a little more time to show the characters' thought progressions as they begin to understand what's happening around them. Particularly the end moment, which was a big moment that I think wasn't given enough screen time and could have had a bigger emotional impact on the audience. But the point was made nonetheless and we'll credit the director with avoiding crossing over into melodrama.
The only quibble I had was the Philly-area accents of the actors. WWII-era war movies have been around for 60 years, and there is a convention that the actors should speak in German accents, or in German with subtitles, or at least in British accents! (Then again, George Peppard played it straight American in The Blue Max, so who am I to complain?) The dialogue was a little too Americanized and it detracted from the film at the beginning. However, after a few minutes we could mostly set that aside as we were drawn deeper into the story.
Congrats to the cast and crew. This would make a great feature-length movie!