MovieChat Forums > Saints and Soldiers (2005) Discussion > Which flaw did you think most contribute...

Which flaw did you think most contributed to this being a bad movie?

posted 16 years ago by Fenrir-5
18 replies | jump to latest

This is a truly bad movie with lots of problems - unremarkable dialogue, melodramatic and hackneyed use of tired characterizations and plot contrivances ("he's so pure! he's so crazy! war is bad!"), the inability of the actors to perform with convincing accents - but personally I think the greatest flaw is the music.

The music for this movie is completely inept. Scenes that should carry on dramatic weight are constantly backed with music that not only detracts from the scene, it actively damages the scene. As an example numerous scenes that are meant to be tense are for some reason scored with a peppy marching beat and lilting horns. Just incompetent.

[–] classicyello 16 years ago

While I'm no expert on movies, I can tell you from living Germany that the Germans in the movie spoke flawlessly. I would assume they were German, but don't know for sure. I do know that I was rather impressed with Kirby Heyborne's performance and accent.

As for the music, I found it in no way distracting. Maybe I was enjoying the flow of the movie overall and not trying to look for minor discrepencies. Pretty good for a low budget film, I'd say.

[–] vosges1945 14 years ago

*****
Maybe I was enjoying the flow of the movie overall and not trying to look for minor discrepencies.
*****

You lost the bashers and the haters right there with that line. Watch a movie for the sake of watching it? Not wanting to find something to nitpick and display their pseudo-intellectual rantings on this board?

Totally foreign concept to them, you might as well have been speaking Venusian (and of course that Venusian accent was SOOOOO wrong....)

:)

Introduce a little anarchy. Upset the established order

[–] bluesguy 16 years ago

Are you sure you were not watching a Matt Damon movie? LOL Geat flick, Period.

[–] Snoogan 16 years ago

I really felt this movie sucked while I was watching it - and im not trolling or anything, because I usually like borderline *beep* movies - but this one was almost unwatchable.
The acting was horrible, so was the writing - The english pilot character was horrid. The accents were really weak as well....and the gunfight at the end was far too unbelievable. It felt like a movie that should have been made in the 60s.

....and who the *beep* is that guy I thought was jeff daniels the whole time. Why didnt they just get jeff daniels? Because they obviously got this guy because he looked so familiar.

[–] scarter9 15 years ago

You suck! Go play a game called hide and go *beep* yourself

[–] huskergrove 16 years ago

The pilots accent was odd, the rest were fine. The dialogue was unremarkable but that lent authenticity. In real life people don't speak in catchy taglines or offer deep reflections in times of crisis.

There were (still are people) who don't drink, some, curse, "so pure" can be the way some are seen.

People do have bouts of "crazy" in extreme trama.

War is bad!

Didn't notice the music.

[–] lixnawman 16 years ago

Worst film I've ever been subjected to. Good god what a mess of bad acting, script, dialogue, action, sound, special effects and plot overall. Terrible.

[–] untilthekingisborn 16 years ago

Hands down, it's gotta be the desicion to actually make the damn thing.

[–] davidsfrench 9 years ago

Dick Van Dyke might have been his voice coach.Not a bad film at all but maybe using a British actor to play a British character would have been a better bet

[–] spointon 16 years ago

Watched this on Blu-Ray last night. On the whole I enjoyed the movie but the weak points were some cornball chunks of dialogue, a totally unconvincing performance from Kirby Heyborne as the British flyer and a mostly poor, derivative soundtrack.

I thought the other performances were excellent and the production design and action sequences were wonderful given the tiny budget.

The Blu Ray transfer was very good apart from a lot of grain in some low-light sequences.

[–] jclark0808 16 years ago

ah geez, i hope you didn't pay full price for it, and that you just rented it... i woulda bought anything else over this one, or saved up to buy band of brothers instead..

[–] cuckoo77 16 years ago

The overuse of war movie cliches...the one-dimensinal characters...the dialogue was horrible...the accent of the pilot...the silly music between "hickey" and the pilot...and really I learned nothing from this movie.

And it must've been a sh*tty year at numerous film festivals for this to win so many Best Picture awards.

[–] spointon 16 years ago

Got it really cheap on Ebay - you're right, I would've felt done if I'd paid full price.
Blu-Ray Band of Brothers is on pre-order.

[–] DD-931 15 years ago

The idea of a British plane flying over the battlefield and thereby discovering "crucial" information about the battle. The whole point of the German assault happening when it did was that it took advantage of bad weather that grounded Allied aircraft over the Ardennes at that time (The first few days of the battle, which is when this movie is supposed to take place).

[–] d_p_j 15 years ago

I was really touched by the very helpful german in the film.......... no, not the one who was friends with Deacon, I'm speaking about the german soldier who was so helpful, that he even managed to turn himself over so that the american soldiers could have his clothes, and all this while he was dead!!! Fantastic work.

[–] jmbwithcats 15 years ago

hey if you like Band of Brothers, as you should! Check out the 1987 series "Tour of Duty", it's one of the best TV series ever made in my honest opinion.

I have all 3 seasons here (price negotiable) http://www.ioffer.com/i/113707883

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[–] CaesarSirus 15 years ago

all of them

[–] davidwile 9 years ago

Hey folks,

While I may not be as enlightened as so many of the naysayers in this thread, I have been watching films for over 65 years, and it has given me some sort of bearing as to what I like and dislike. As to this film, I liked it a whole lot. The "flaws" so many folks noted here simply were not flaws to me, and it was not a "bad movie." It was a very good film.

This film started with a very good story. A very good story that easily lent itself to being portrayed in film. The actors did a great job, and the production values of the film were also very good.

Best wishes,
Dave Wile