DVD Movie Rating for: Hart's War

Rating

Movie Plot of: Hart's War

Fourth generation war hero Col. William McNamara is imprisoned in a brutal German POW camp. Still, as the camp's highest-ranking American officer, he commands his fellow inmates, keeping a sense of honor alive in a place where honor is easy to destroy, all under the dangerous, ever-watchful eye of SS Major Wilhelm Visser. Never giving up the fight to win the war, McNamara is silently planning, waiting for his moment to strike back at the enemy. A murder in the camp gives him the chance to set a risky plan in motion. With a court martial to keep Visser and the Germans distracted, McNamara orchestrates a cunning scheme to escape and destroy a nearby munitions plant, enlisting the unwitting help of young Lt. Tommy Hart. Together with his men, McNamara uses a hero's resolve to carry out his mission, ultimately forced to weigh the value of his life against the good of his country.

DVD Production Details of: Hart's War

Director: Gregory Hoblit

Encoding: Region 1 (U.S. and Canada only. This DVD will probably NOT be viewable in other countries. Read more about DVD formats.)
Format: Color, Closed-captioned, Widescreen, Dolby

Studio: MGM/UA Video

Cast of the movie: Hart's War

• Bruce Willis .... Col. William A. McNamara
• Colin Farrell .... Lt. Thomas W. Hart
• Terrence Dashon Howard .... Lt. Lincoln A. Scott (as Terrence Howard)
• Cole Hauser .... Staff Sgt. Vic W. Bedford
• Marcel Iures .... Col. Werner Visser
• Linus Roache .... Capt. Peter A. Ross
• Vicellous Reon Shannon .... Lt. Lamar T. Archer (as Vicellous Shannon)
• Maury Sterling .... Pfc. Dennis A. Gerber
• Sam Jaeger .... Capt. R.G. Sisk
• Scott Michael Campbell .... Cpl. Joe S. Cromin
• Rory Cochrane .... Sgt. Carl S. Webb
• Sebastian Tillinger .... Pvt. Bert D. 'Moose' Codman
• Rick Ravanello .... Maj. Joe Clary
• Adrian Grenier .... Pvt. Daniel E. Abrams
• Michael Weston .... Pfc. W. Roy Potts

Photo Gallery of the movie: Hart's War

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Reviews of the movie: Hart's War

Anyone who appreciates subtle tension will enjoy this World War II prison-camp drama, based on John Katzenbach's novel, in which honor, courage, and sacrifice are revealed in unexpected ways. Bruce Willis plays the ranking U.S. prisoner in a Nazi POW camp, joined in December 1944 by a law-student lieutenant (up-and-coming star Colin Farrell) who'd been captured despite his father's powerful military connections. When a black pilot (Terrence Dashon Howard) from the famous Tuskeegee airmen is falsely accused of murdering a fellow prisoner, Farrell tries his case and discovers the real motivation behind Willis's kangaroo court. While combining elements of Stalag 17 and The Great Escape, director Gregory Hoblit (Primal Fear, Frequency) spices this moral dilemma with well-crafted suspense and a rousing dogfight sequence, but the human drama remains muted despite fine, understated performances by Willis, Farrell, and Howard. An escape thriller with an ethical twist, Hart's War works best as a study of heroism under extraordinary circumstances.

"Hart's War" is a stalag flick which tells of events among the American soldiers suffering hardship in a WWII prison camp. The film scores points for good art, technicals, and performances. However, it trades reality for drama and spins a somewhat convoluted story about racism, murder, and smoldering secrets inside the compound which it finds difficult to sort out and ultimately fizzles in the end. "HW" is solid Hollywood style entertainment which should be a pleasing watch for those into WWII POW dramas. B-