Company of Heroes opens with a small unit of WWII soldiers on patrol in a remote region of Belgium in December of 1944. After clearing out a sniper, the unit heads back to base for a supposed easy transport run. On the transport run, they are met head on with a full column of tanks and heavily armed men. Many of their unit is killed, on the way back to base they are stranded behind enemy lines.
The unit soon discovers a top secret German operation, to develop a nuclear super-weapon and the top secret allied plot to capture the leading scientist, and bring him to the US.
Company Of Heroes tries hard to be a great war film, but perhaps the limited budget, and emphasis on flash and firepower, rather than distinct story telling, the production feels rushed. The first 45 minutes contain the bulk of the war action, then the story shifts to the science area of the particle accelerator for a brief moment, than boom, right back to the action.
Company Of Heroes has a few bright spots with the gritty performances of Chad Michael Collins as the young gun sniper and Tom Sizemore as the grizzled old vet, who is busted down in rank to cook. A splash of beauty thrown in with sultry actress Melia Kreiling as Krestrel, who helps the soldiers in the secret weapons area, makes sure this testosterone fest, does not forget the fairer sex.
I am not a WWII buff, so I cannot comment with regards to the historical accuracy of Company Of Heroes, but I can say at least a valient attempt is made to exclude most, I say most, present day colloquialisms. The uniforms looked old and tattered, as they should from long battles. Actually I welcome comments on this.
Sadly though, Company Of Heroes has a few shortfalls. The story should have been fleshed out more. A 100 minute movie seems a bit short, given the subject matter, I would have liked to see more of perspective, from various command points of view and more story detail given to the super-weapon compound.
Problems aside, Company Of Heroes plays out as a decent action/war flick.
Overall I rate Company Of Heroes a definite rent for war buffs. I rate the film a 6 out 10.
