Age of Heroes: upcoming 30 commando film

[labrador]

Sean Bean leads 30 commando into action against dietl's 5th gebirgsdivision

www.youtube.com/watch?v=_LvabSpcHtM

[Waffen Ryan]

Herr Albert, this is the film I was talking about...

Based on the real-life events of Ian Fleming's 30 Commando during World War II - the inspiration for the SAS - this is a story which takes our heroes from the edge of defeat on the beaches of Dunkirk to the mountains of Norway on a dangerous mission behind enemy lines that, if successful, could change the course of the war.

Attachments:

[labrador]

that's it! you got a copy?

[Waffen Ryan]

Ja! Got a copy yesterday from St.Francis Square. Same cover.

[adler2010]

its available everywhere, it was really one of a historical film ever made.

[romski]

just downloaded it from torrent. nice copy.

[labrador]

thanks for the tip, romski! got it.

[romski]

enjoy!

[labrador]

SS gebirgs/skijager in Norway? not likely! full review in a bit.

Right! here we go...(with just a couple of spoilers)

I saw the movie twice since i dozed off the first time i saw it. (No fault of the movie). Firstly, after having researched 30 Commando with the limited sources i have, i can state that 30 Commando was never involved in an attempt to capture freya radar technology in Norway. The facts are: 30 Commando WAS formed in order to run covert missions to capture enemy intelligence and information, so the mission in the film would be quite plausible for that unit. (Now where's that huge book on SOE special operations executive that i've had for decades and never read?)

The Film is quite reminiscent of all those 1970's commando mission action films, albeit done on what must have been a tiny budget. There's the cast, led by a hard bitten commando officer played by none other than Sean Bean, there's the outcast rebelious hot shot recruit rescued from the military police (red hats) ala dirty dozen, throw in a norwegian operative, RAF technology wizz/geek and the classic regimental sergeant major type (albeit without the moustache) and you have the typical cast for this sort of film.

Then, there's the norwegian resistance, represent by a mysterious blonde in a sweater (of course!)

And the Evil nazi SS gebirgstruppen hell bent on killing any civilians to protect the third reich's secret Freya radar, led by what seems to be an homage to Hans Landa (but not played with even a hundredth of the wit and genius of Cristoph Waltz).

The mission itself is quite plausible, freya having been the actual luftwaffe radar system used for bomber intercepts. The action scenes are played out well enough though not anywhere near the violence or authenticity we've seen in the bigger budgeted hollywood productions, the characters, though quite hackneyed are i guess developed enough so you do root for them but i guess we have been spoiled by all the big productions hollywood and HBO have been throwing our way. I rather did enjoy the squad's characters and so while the film is far from the best out there of this genre, it is worth a watch...if you've got nothing to do and need a war film fix. Certainly better than company of strangers but not a tenth of the value of say...brest fortress or city of life and death.

As far as kit is concerned, i don't know if the brits wore their anorak over the battledress in norway ops but the kit does look british. The germans on the other hand were dismal! Swedish canteens attached to their belts, sleeve eagles and edelweiss on the anoraks. They looked like what we looked like when we started out. Of course the Germans HAD to be waffen SS so they could go around a torture prisoners and massacre civilians with gusto...Papa Ringle's 5th Gebirgsdivision would not have had the stomach for it.

So there you are, worth a look if you've got some free time for a WW2 flick but nothing great. BTW, there are 2 sequels in production purporting to cover the travails of 30 commando. Stay tuned!