Paul J. Nemecek I have to confess that one of the main reasons I was anxious to see Hart's War was because I was in the Czech Republic when it was being filmed there. I had hoped for glorious images of the beautiful countryside that I had seen last May. Because the majority of the film takes place in a POW camp (therefore a studio set) there is very little of the Czech landscape to be seen in this film. The film does offer a view of the American landscape from the not-so-distant past by focusing on racial conflict among U.S. military personnel during World War II.I had expected a film in the tradition of Stalag 17 or The Great Escape. While there are elements of these films here, the heart of the film is closer to A Soldier's Story or Men of Honor. The film actually weaves together several different stories and is part hero's quest, part racial conflict, part courtroom drama, and part POW film. It is to the credit of director Gregory Hoblit (not Hobbit-different film) that the different threads come together reasonably well.Initially, the film is about Captain Hart (Colin Farrell) and the circumstances surrounding his arrival at the POW camp. Because of a conflict with the senior officer (Bruce Willis) among the POW's, he is placed in a barracks with the enlisted men. He is just getting to know them and win their trust when two more officers are placed in the barracks-two black pilots who are part of the Tuskegee Airmen. The other enlisted men resent their presence there and the racial tension results in a betrayal, a murder, and ultimately the framing of an innocent man.At the heart of the film is the irony of the U.S. involvement in fighting the evil perpetrators of the holocaust while tolerating "ethnic cleansing" at home in the U.S. In one of the more powerful scenes, one of the black officers tells the story of watching German POW's in the US being escorted into movie theaters where blacks were not allowed-not even blacks training to be Tuskegee airmen.The acting in the film was very good and the visual elements were solid. The Rachel Portman score added just the right touches at just the right times. There are points where the drama is a bit contrived, and I have mixed feelings about the twists and turns at the end of the film. On the whole, however, if your only other options are a seventh viewing of Lord of the Rings, yet another thoughtless shoot-em-up, or Britney Spears in her screen debut, Hart's War is definitely worth a look.

romanorum1 SPOILER: In December 1944 in snowy Belgium, Lt. Thomas Hart (Colin Farrell), a military attaché, is captured by Germans via a ruse: Those desperate German soldiers of a dying Reich who speak like Americans and dress in American uniforms. He is sent to POW prison, Stalag VI A in Augsburg, Germany. There he meets German commandant, Col. Werner Visser (Marcel Iures, in a marvelous performance). Almost immediately, he is greeted by Col. McNamara (Bruce Willis), the highest ranking prisoner of war in the camp. After sniffing out Hart (Hart's reaction to a most grueling interrogation by Deutsch Officer Lutz), he assigns Hart to an enlisted men's barracks, Building 27, instead of the one for officers. Apparently the Germans did allow the highest ranking POW a degree of power in the encampments. Hart blends in fairly well as he learns the ins and outs of survival, like the value of cigarettes. Before long two African-American Air Force officers, recently captured by the Germans, are placed by McNamara in the enlisted men's quarters. Staff Sergeant Vic Bedford (Cole Hauser) makes no pretense of his displeasure. Not only is Bedford bigoted, but he also knows how to obtain favors from the German guards. When Bedford is found murdered, suspicion is focused on one of the Negroes, Lincoln Scott (Terrance Howard). The other had already been shot for attempted escape after being set up (by Bedford). With approval of Col. McNamara, Scott is placed on trial by the Americans. The aim of the trial can be seen as a way for Americans to maintain their dignity under trying circumstances. McNamara assigns Hart as Scott's defense council, even though the former has only attained progress as a second-year Yale Law School aspirant. Col. Visser agrees and supports the trial, which consumes much of the second half of the feature. It soon becomes obvious that McNamara is at odds with Hart, and has motives that transcend justice. The privileged Hart has much to learn.On the other hand, Visser is sympathetic to the lieutenant, with whom he discloses his graduation from Yale back in 1928. He even gives the conflicted Hart a copy of the American Manual for Courts- Martial to assist him. He knows that McNamara "threw him to the wolves." Privately he tells Hart that he enjoys American culture, like reading Mark Twain; he also plays his Negro jazz records, a collection that very much relaxes him even though it is "verboten" in the Reich. Visser is obviously not a typical nasty Nazi stereotype. Towards the end we realize that there is a shifting of events: the trial really has nothing to do with Lincoln Scott. Much about the camp was a lie; Bedford was a known snake. There is something larger afloat, an act of greater military importance that is portended earlier. As this is a World War II movie, perhaps this fact should have been expected. But it is distracting to the viewer, and will not work for many. Some may even feel that the story-line is no better than mediocre. The feature is produced by David Ladd, Alan Ladd's son. The cinematography, with its wintry bluish tone and stark, snowy scenes, works very well. The claustrophobia in each of the unheated barracks can be felt outside of the screen. In this writer's opinion, you can do worse than watch.

SnoopyStyle Lt. Thomas Hart (Colin Farrell) is captured during the Battle of the Bulge. He's interrogated for only 3 days by a notorious German. In the POW camp, the CO Col. William McNamara (Bruce Willis) doesn't trust Hart. He's put in with the enlisted men. When 2 black flyboys are put into his barrack, tension runs high with bigoted Staff Sgt. Vic Bedford (Cole Hauser). Later, Lt. Lincoln Scott (Terrence Howard) is accused of killing the racist Bedford and is put on trial.The twist is obvious. I think it would be better if we think that McNamara is a racist who wanted Scott killed. Instead, there really isn't much of a mystery. In fact when the twist is revealed, it's odd to me why Hart didn't realize it sooner. The story just isn't set up properly. Bruce Willis is his upstanding self throughout and couldn't set up his character properly to throw us off. He needed to be bad before we could be surprised by his turn.

sddavis63 After getting off to a little bit of a slow start, this turns into a pretty good courtroom drama style of movie, set in - of all places - a German POW camp during World War II, when Allied prisoners are given permission to set up a court martial to hold a trial for one of their officers accused of killing an enlisted man. It is a bit slow starting, and, really, for at least the first hour or so you're assuming that the movie is little more than a depiction of the racism that existed in the US military at the time. In the story, the accused (Lt. Scott, played by Terrence Howard) is black - a shot down captured pilot (one of the famed Tuskegee Airmen.) Although an officer, he's not given a place in the officers' barracks. Instead, he (along with a fellow black pilot also shot down) is sent by the senior POW officer, Col. McNamara (Bruce Willis), to bunk with enlisted men. The enlisted men are none too happy with the arrangement, especially Sgt. Bedford (Cole Hauser), who's openly racist. Also in the same barracks is another officer (Lt. Hart, played by Colin Farrell) who's been banished to the enlisted barracks because McNamara suspects him of breaking under questioning when he was captured and giving information to the Germans. The situation in the barracks is tense. The Germans discover a weapon in the bunk of the second black airman, who's summarily executed. Then, Bedford is found dead, and Scott is the prime suspect. McNamara orders Hart (who's a law student in civilian life) to defend Scott in a court martial.Until close to the end of the movie, what you think you're seeing is a POW version of a lynching. Evidence that would help Scott is ignored. McNamara seems bent on getting a conviction. The deck is stacked against Hart and Scott. The POW setting made this a little more interesting as a courtroom drama, and it was effective is demonstrating the racism rampant at the time, but for a while I can't say I was getting too much more out of this than I would out of any courtroom drama. But as with most courtroom dramas, this one has twists and turns that arise as the movie approaches its end, and that actually made this a very compelling movie to watch - increasingly so as the end approaches.I won't go into detail about the twists and turns, but ultimately what you think is a story about racism becomes a story about sacrifice, and giving yourself for the sake of others. By the time it closes it has almost a noble feel to it, and director Gregory Hoblit was effective in making that shift seamlessly. The lead actors were also very good in this. I quite enjoyed it. Although it is, yes, a bit slow off the top, it's nevertheless interesting. Set at the time of the Battle of the Bulge - the German offensive in the Ardennes in December of 1944 - the movie in its opening scenes offers a depiction of Operation Grief, the German plan to infiltrate Allied lines disguised as Allied soldiers, set up checkpoints and misdirect Allied traffic.This is basically a well-done movie, taking a familiar concept and giving it enough of a twist to make it interesting and even catching the viewer by surprise when you finally realize what's happening. (9/10)