When Trumpets Fade

[tracer]

Was down with the flu this weekend so my wife brought home a video; she asked the guy at the store for a war picture and he gave her When Trumpets Fade. I used to rate the German film 'Stalingrad' as the most realistic war film until I saw this one.

I was a little suspicious when I saw it was an HBO (TV!) movie and as I read through the relativly unknown cast, but afterward the word that kept coming to mind was 'authentic'. Gritty, but not flashy; its dead-on portrayal of the 'unheroic' hero was what struck home with me. What added to the believability was the fact that the cast really looked and acted like average recruits fresh out of high school.

I'm sure there's many here who have seen it, but if you haven't I think its worth checking out.

[Resisti]

I'd be interested in find it out in one of the local store here; could you give me some more details,cause i dont remember this original title nor i know which could be the translated one in italian.

Year,actors names,etc.
Txs.

[Spike]

Figured I'd plug one of my favorite movie sites - http://www.imdb.com
Says it's from 1998..

(this isn't meant to be an advertisement, just that IMDB is a great resource for finding out movie info!)

[tracer]

Thanks for the heads up Spike.
http://us.imdb.com/Title?0135706

[Resisti]

Txs guys,you're great!

[murr]

i saw this film about a year ago and thought it was very good.i especially liked how the movie ended as it began but with the "HERO" in the role of the wounded man. i would recommend it to war movie lovers.

[Belisarius]

I didn't realize it was this movie, until I read the plot summary @ imdb ...did see it some months ago by chance. I think Canal Digital aired it.

The summaries don't tell but if I remember it correctly, the story is set during the Battle of the Bulge.

Good realism and nice plot, although the bigger hardware pieces (e.g. german tanks) do seem a bit 'studio-welded'. Excellent photography at times, like the scene where the platoon advances towards enemy lines, and you can see the mines several cutscenes before the first one is triggered.

Also has some archive footage featuring Bradley and Montgomery.

[ June 19, 2001: Message edited by: Belisarius ]

[murr]

Actually it was set during the battle for the Hurtgen Forest.

[tracer]

Originally posted by oggie:
Actually it was set during the battle for the Hurtgen Forest.

Right. The beginning of the credits has a blurb stating this battle (which resulted in 24,000 US casualties)was overshadowed by the Battle of the Bulge which began several days later.


Hurtgen Forest area map (circa 1944)