I like war movies. Most of them are intense and entail teamwork, brotherhood, and self-sacrifice, but those elements simply being thrown together aren't enough to make a good war movie. "Saints and Soldiers" tried to throw those elements together and they failed. But I want to highlight one part of the movie that had me gagging.

A small band of American soldiers escaped capture behind enemy lines in Belgium or somewhere. Along the way they picked up a Brit named Willy with important intel. They had to get the Brit to the nearest command post to pass on this all-important intel. While holed up at a French woman's house Willy decided to keep moving while the rest of the platoon stayed put. Eventually, a German scout team came upon the house.

In a potentially suicidal, but chivalrous act a soldier named Deacon (Corbin Alfred) went out on a limb to protect the virtue of the French woman. He shot one German soldier while he missed the other who got away. The German soldier who got away was later fortuitously captured by Willy and brought back to the American hideout. As the few soldiers there argued about whether or not to shoot their newfound prisoner like the Germans shot their American prisoners, it serendipitously turned out that Deacon knew the escapee. Deacon met this German and his family while doing his mission (Mormon maybe) in Berlin. He may have missed him earlier when trying to kill him, but it was divine intervention (as he claimed) that caused him to miss. So, the two of them started chatting it up in German like little schoolgirls.

It gets better.

Later that night Deacon let the Kraut go because...? Who the heck knows-- religious duty, trust, a revelation, I don't know. As a parting gift the German volunteered to Deacon all the military intel he had AND... they believed it!!! Then, that same German later saved their lives! thereby proving that having a religious bond and doing right by others is immediately repaid even in war. It was divine intervention all over the place.

Eventually, Willy got to an Allied command post in the most improbable fashion, but by this time who cares about that. Willy got the crucial information to the right people, Deacon died in a slow-motion heroic manner which won him the respect of his atheist and antagonist platoon-mate. I half expected the clouds to part and see a flock of angels come down to escort Deacon's soul to heaven. But then that would've been too much.

FOR more then a year I have waited to see Ryan Little's SAINTS & SOLDIERS. Back in the fall of 2002, KSL-TV did a featurette on Mormon filmmakers and showed location scenes being shot in Alpine, Utah of a film with a World War II setting. It seemed like an ambitious undertaking for a low budget filmmaker. As time went on and the film was completed, word came out that the film was very good. Instead of bring it immediately to local theatres, Excel (the distributor for the film),began showing it at film festivals all over the place -- and it hit home with film fans, winning numerous awards.

When the film opened its theatrical run here in Utah. I have had the opportunity to see the film for myself and can say that it is EXCEPTIONAL!

Uncle Sam invited me to join them for 2 years back in the early 1960's. I was glad to serve my country and was even more grateful that I did not have to actually fight in a shooting war. Going through basic training and later, holding my breath as the Cuban missile crises came and went, I wonder what I would do if called upon to fire with intent to kill. I'm glad that I was not put to that kind of test.

As I experienced SAINTS & SOLDIERS, watching a young soldier of faith, who had previously served his church as a missionary in Berlin, face the reality of killing those whom he had come to love and respect, it touched my heart in a way no other war film has ever done. The film is very well acted, tense, moving and thought provoking. In short, this is a film that I will strongly recommend, will return again to see in the theatre, and will certainly purchase when released on DVD.

Congratulations to all involved!

Four American soldiers escape after the Germans massacre POW early in the Battle of the Bulge. They rescue a British flyer who has important information. The five men try to return back to the Allied lines through hostile territories.

It's a pretty simple story for most of the movie. The characters are written with some interesting personalities. However the actors can't exceed what's on the page. They just don't have the power to fill the screen. Corbin Allred probably comes the closest to something great. At the end of the day, this is a low budget affair. The big action scenes in the last 15 minutes probably ate up most of the money. It would be great to see some first rate actors take up these roles instead.