Ken Annakin falls someway short of his magnificent The Longest Day with this Boys Own recreation of the last German offensive in the West. The action flits between the Generals and the grunts as the initially successful German attack gathers momentum.
Two actors stand out in the all-star cast; Telly Savalas as Duffy(a dry run at his role in Kelly's Heroes) and Robert Shaw as the Panzer Colonel tinged with the mania of an unlikely victory.
The film as a whole just doesn't hang together as well as it might, and is an example of a film that plays better in the memory. Still the battle in the snow ultimately gave us the Hoth sequence in The Empire Strikes Back so for that we should be eternally grateful.

For many years we`ve had to put up with various butchered versions of this film but at last all the missing scenes are complete:German paras dressed as Americans,Hessler surveying his tanks,the extended sequence with the nuns,German commando on his radio monitoring the gun train and the full length train ride.Trust me everything is here including an extra sequence with the Sergeant and the whiny Lieutenant threatening to quit.

You really don`t want to watch this if you`re expecting an intelligent,accurate portrayal of the battle(try Battleground or the Bulge section from Band Of Bros,Patton)but if you want loads of tanks and soldiers shooting it out,cliched dialogue,then buy it.Telly Savalas is memorable although acting plaudits go to Robert Shaw and Hans Christian Blech(Bridge At Remhagen,Longest Day).Most of the other notables including Henry Fonda and Robert Ryan seem to be having an off day and give the impression they really couldn`t be too bothered .Maybe it was the cold although they should have warmed up by the time of the climactic Tank battle which looks more like Kursk than a cold winter battle in the Ardennes.Really the location scout should have been shot!Still it`s well staged and makes many a big kid quite excitable especialy if they played with soldiers and Action Men when they were smaller.So to sum up loads of tanks,explosions,little flags pushed aroud maps,very minimal love interest that doesn`t spoil things(about 6 mins),Americans triumph against overwhelming odds,great soundtrack.One notable plus point that the film does get right is it shows the Malmedy massacre as an atrocity.Saints & Soldiers tried to fudge the issue with a degree of ambiguity and indeed implied that the Germans were somehow justified in their actions.Shame on them.Sorry to rant but it annoys me.Enjoy the film on what is a superbly remastered dvd with some nice surround sound.

The film is great as always and a good addition to any collection, but "The Long Version". I can't see 17 minutes of additional footage compare to the version I say on TV.
Three pieces of music, Overture, Intermission and Exit, are added to recreate that cinema experience. The overture alone was 5:22, but where is the extra action.
Still glad I have it in my collection. :)

One of the bast wa films ever made about the last desperate fight that changed the course of history the one you most have war collection