Robert Rodat

If you want an honest and unbiased film on the American Revolutionary War you should probably look elsewhere, but viewed as a fantasy, I find this a memorable, gripping war film with an excellent cast (Isaacs, Wilkinson, Auberjonis, Logue, Cooper, Baldwin, etc.) about a father reluctantly taking up arms when his children are threatened. It is in no way original, but it is well executed and to my mind, very entertaining and even emotional.

Following D-Day, a group of soldiers searches France for one guy to send home.

If just a few key scenes had been trimmed or pulled back a bit, I might have really enjoyed it. Spielberg's apparent inability to use subtlety in making his points means that the movie pushes dangerously into propaganda territory.

Concept: D
Story: A
Characters: B
Dialog: C
Pacing: C
Cinematography: B
Special effects/design: A
Acting: A
Music: B

Enjoyment: C

GPA: 2.8/4

There is one reason to watch this bloody spectacle and that is Jason Isaac's superb villain. Had he been allowed to be more than two-dimensioal and Gibson's hero less moralistic, this could have been a good movie.

Classic Mel Gibson, before he went crazy. Overall a pretty solid movie set in the Revolutionary War.