War Sailor

Just when we thought nothing of quality is left, nothing worth our time, what we have left of it. War Sailor shows up on Netflix. As real a depiction of events which shaped our world as you are likely to see. Transportation to another place and time at a historic moment in history, for the price of your Netflix subscription. Driven by a massive budget, insightful direction and powered by a screenplay that at times seems as if the words spoken were transcribed as they were overheard. Empowering performances that transcend the ordinary. Your mind tells you these are actors but your eyes and heart tell you differently. You come to believe this is real flesh and blood torn by events unfolding in Europe as the spreading war takes its toll. Highly recommended.

A superb war movie!

What a pleasant surprise this film turned out to be. The cinematography, editing, effects and music are all top notch and help tell a story about some great characters. I feared it would be a Michael Bay-ish, bombastic, humorless action fest. It's not.

This is a somber film about the horrors of war, both for the men and their families back home. Joner and Hagen both give superb performances, but the strong supporting actors are the real surprise.

I spoke to a war historian after the screening, who also loved the film, and his biggest complaint was the lack of hair cuts and one piece of clothing in one scene. I'd say that is pretty good.

This is a human story, so the language barrier shouldn't be a problem. I urge you to check it out if you're interested in war history or human dramas in general. Also, the fact that they made this on what is a shoestring budget in Hollywood, is impressive!

No wonder this is Norway's candidate for best Foreign Language Film at next year's Academy Awards. It's a tough one to beat. Two thumbs way up!

This movie, about a sailor who is in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean when the World War II breaks out, is a very deep and impactful journey where we experience the pain of war. The cinematography was great and the depression was clear. I think the main actors were incredible, especially Kristoffer Joner (as Alfred) and Pål Sverre Hagen (as Sigbjørn). The story was sometimes quite dark, and it was emotional to watch. My main critic of this movie is its runtime. It was far too stretched, which made the movie a little boring sometimes. I understand if this was supposed to make the movie feel sad and empty, but I had too much of that feeling. I wish it was more compact with more action, which would make the movie more exciting. Anyway, worth a watch!

One of the best war movies I've seen. I thought I'd seen so many war and catastrophe movies I'd become numb to the emotional drama and could only be stimulated by history lessons and battlefield action but this one gripped me. The storytelling and cinematography was oddly neutral and engaging at the same time, avoiding over the top melodrama and anticlimatically predictable climaxes, sticking to the point over a nonlinear plotline for three hours. The lack of cliche and subtelty made the movie seem lifelike and relevant unlike so many other historical dramas. For instance the way you learned of the sinking of the first crew or the reaction to being dropped in shallow water from the oily survivor. The life and the sadness in every scene made this movie worth watching.

I like Norwegian productions because they are in their way innovative and do not tend to copy what others do. Usually they have a pretty high standard, like this one.

The special effects, the story, the acting, the historical reconstructions, all are very good. The movie is emotional, it speaks about the second world war, but is never political. Just a story of heroes and war, stuff that happen before, during, and after the war.

It doesn't try to be polite, or push propaganda, it tells what could really happen when you are a sailor, part of the biggest fleet of ships, away from you family, trying to survive and hence come home. It speaks about values, future, and what really matters. In one word: intense.