The War I Knew

After a few days of watching back to back WW1 and WW2 films both blockbuster and independent, I eventually got down my list to The War I Knew.

I wish I never knew this film existed!

From the very start the script and acting are cheesy, wooden and what you'd expect from a high school drama group, and a bad one at that.

I'm not even being picky about the uniforms, weapons or the landscape chosen for the filming. I'll give them some slack on that front as these things cost money. But to get the colour or consistency of blood is one of the easiest and cheapest things to do, I'll give you a head start! it's not one shade of pink or looks like coloured water.

The acting and the script come across as a mixture of a really bad episode of Dad's Army meets a Carry On film and then all of a sudden they try acting with some seriousness and grit...to be honest, I've felt more real emotion from a episode of the teletubbies when there's no tubby toast.

If they intended to show respect to those who fought in the war then they did the complete opposite. No group of soldiers, behind enemy lines would jump up in the air shouting and whooping, high fiving each other after shooting a German soldier.

This should really be in a spoof comedy genre just so viewers know to avoid it.

This is no Saving Private Ryan, but a) I don't think that is what they were trying to achieve and b) I bet the budget for the entire movie was equal to the lowest paid extra in Saving Private Ryan!

It has all of the qualities of a plausible set of events, and I believe that short of the one scene (you'll know it when you see it), I doubt the plot is far from how it really happened.

The acting was good, although the fatalities in the flying bullets scenes need to refine the 'sack of spuds' principal, it actually looked more like they were coached to 'tuck and roll'!

I particularly liked the fact that they didn't try and add too many people in the 'events'. I personally find it unrealistic in some movies that you don't see the individual vehicle traveling along the road. I believe that Rommel was actually wounded because a pilot did see a single staff car opportunity and took it! Not everywhere was full on convoys.

To sum up; great story line and very believable (on the whole), good acting and most of all entertaining as well as having realistic characters. I would suggest to anyone that enjoys a 'based on true events' movie, this is a good watch.

I was hoping for so much more. The opening scene, at night, was so grainy and purple I felt sure it was shot on a cheap smartphone. There is a huge "leap from nowhere" after a completely inadequate "action" scene, in which the protagonist mysteriously teleports from behind a tree into a barn. Rather like the "with one bound, he was free" writing of Edgar Rice Burroughs. Most of the rest seemed to have been borrowed from a tourist promotion for walks in rural France, with the exception of some dreadfully acted scenes which frankly were annoying because I felt that they were on the edge of belittling those who actually were in the war. My overwhelming impression is that it had a budget of about a hundred quid.

Appalling. Amateur. Aggravating.

I have an historical interest and basic understanding of D-Day and it's era. I was therefore genuinely amazed after checking several 'reasonable' reviews, before deciding to endure this travesty.

Such a disappointing interpretation of a good WW2 story, at every level.

A missed opportunity. Cringeworthy.

The British paratroopers are shown firing M-1s and Thompson machine guns. They would have been carrying the Enfield rifle and Sten machine gun.