eggron The film is the story of the Ouradour sur Glane murdering bij the Germans in WW2

spiritof67 Spike Lee is erratic. We all know, or should, know that. He will in his best films throw in a "What?" moment that trips up everything you've seen up to then. Or he will, in his many films/projects where all you can say IS "What?" throw in a moment that shows there's a real talent there. The problem is, you never can tell which will be which - so I think it's the old story of which one came to work that day. SPOILER HEREThe story told here is a good one, but the first scene loop is critically important. The problem in modern audiences is that many boobs are just putting away their smartphones after sending that all-important last text, so the context of the whole movie may be lost on them.This is a story about what were called Negro Troops in Italy during WW2. They weren't allowed in combat in the early part of the war since we all knew (?) that Negroes were unsuitable for combat because (insert here period racist belief of your choice). In the later stages when guys like my Uncle George were sent there - under white officers in command, of course, since (insert other period racist belief) but we needed the troops, so....the early battle scenes are realistic and grim. But the story unfolds about an item that becomes important and even crucial.Performances are very good all around, with little "I knew that would happen" to contend with. While the "history" portion of the story may not be linear, the many small items of human conduct ring true then, and sometimes now. I especially liked the way the interaction between the Italian civilians and the Negro Troops was handled - not the stereotypical stuff, and Spike did some good work here, as he did with the attitudes of the Troops towards the war, America's treatment of them, and a few other things,As for the films' length, I didn't think it long at all. The story was strong enough to sustain it through all and I wasn't clock-watching during it. SPOILER ALERTI thought the ending seemed compressed, which made me wonder if there's an even longer "Director's Cut" out there somewhere. Also, for the attention-deprived, a lot of this RAI co-production is in Italian with subtitles, so it will require "reading" of "words".As another reviewer said "I didn't know it was a Spike Lee film", and unfortunately that's praise. I didn't know it either. It was a good movie.

orcobal Already at the very beginning you understand that this is not your typical WW2 war movie. It can more be described as a drama film with a war setting, and maybe Spike Lee should have focused even more on the characters and their relationships rather than the war setting. To me, the absolute low points of the film are the action sequences that sometime makes you feel that you are looking at a war movie from the 50's or 60's, with the typical German soldier flaying their arms and falling of rooftops. Very strange. Very out-of-place with the otherwise quite serious tone of the film.The characters and the story itself, with the focus on black Americans during the war I found quite interesting, and probably it is still a relevant subject even though I think Lee's usage of stereotypes is a bit too obvious.Overall the quality of the film is OK. Personally I found it a bit too long but the acting was decent and both photo and sound was pleasing. If you are a WW2 buff and seriously into war films you will most likely get annoyed over some historical inaccuracies as well as sub-par action sequences. For the rest of you, it could be worth a Sunday afternoon.

junsmusic0808 First the movie spent a great length of time explaining the origin of this untold story is due to an African American post office man shooting a Caucasian male in a post office, obviously he did that for a reason.Eventually, the postal man is finally willing to explain his action, this is where the film officially begins. After much racism and a laughable battle at a river. Four African American soldiers were able to run through the river while everyone else is getting shot, and you cannot believe the poor accuracy from the German machine guns displayed in this film, if you heard of the term "spray and pray" then you know what i am talking about. After much time wasted in the film from the river made it to the town and guess what? There is actually romance in this movie, this is the most laughable part of the movie.Two African American likes this Italian girl. One is money greedy and perverted bishop and one is the goody good sergeant in charge of the squad. Guess what? the perverted bishop actually gets the male hungry Italian girl in bed. The most ridiculous part of this movie is toward the end, where the German army launched an attack on the town. I cannot stop laughing at this part because i don't know whose's side the director is suppose to be on. I mean the director is trying to show WWII through the perspective of African American soldiers. At the sametime, he dumb down the characters to the point, one soldier would just stand there and scream for the bishop while a whole bunch of German soldiers are firing at him, that's one down. The money greedy perverted bishop runs over carry a wounded boy and took the head of a status (the head worth a lot of money) runs out in the opening while tons of German soldiers are firing at him and gets shot in the leg, what happened afterwards is pretty predictable, that is 2 down. Oh did i mention the German soldiers shoots like a 3 year old? The only way they are able to kill is when the black and Italian soldiers run out in the openings. Then all the villagers are going to get killed because they are just running around in the town. You would thought an African American soldier is at least trained before they were sent to battle right? Nope wrong ! the Sargeant actually stands in the opening, while reloading his gun like a turtle, its like he never reloaded a gun before. One would think if he or the director had brain at all, the soldier would at least take cover and reload, but nope! 3 soldiers down now. The film cannot get any more ridiculous, the 4th soldier who got shot in the back wearing a radio was wounded. A German soldier came by trying to pull the last trigger but A German Officer stopped the soldier and actually gave the 4th black soldier a gun and told him "defend yourself".Enough said this film is ridiculously hilarious and awful. Is this film made for 10 years olds? because it cannot get any smarter.