Age of Heroes

Well I love Sean Bean and follow him since Stormy Monday through Sharpes epic. I am also happy to see Miko (she's not much appreciated where I live. But regardless of those two this movie is so mediocre. Acting is OK - if you won't laugh seeing Sean is waving dagger instead of sword. Shots are alright but don't expect to see 40s London or anything (low budget). Effects are... Yes there are some effects in this movie, not too many though, and mostly 2d. What is totally awkward is the plot. Some strange training and preparations. Then endless shooting, evil Nazis doing snuff movies, shooting, explosions, more shooting, exploding Nazis. And then finale: quick as if they run out of tape (long walk to Sweden takes 5 secs). Some characters die obviously but we don't really know or see how. To sum up: don't expect great entertainment. This movie is low budget or some kind of financial con. If you like shooting and explosions (or exploding Nazis) then rent it.

I rarely find the need to say how bad something is but this was one of the worst films I've seen in years. It purports to be the "true story of the formation of Ian Fleming's 30 Commando unit" but very scant detail is shown about the actual training that they endure rather placing great weight on the punishment of one of the group. At one point huge emphasise is placed on the use of daggers with a lengthy scene dedicated to the handing out of said daggers, but when it comes to combat they hardly use the daggers at all. They are all crack shots and yet cannot hit the side of a barn at 20 yards when their lives depend on it. If the raid went as depicted I doubt very much that the powers that be would of ever sanctioned the use of such a group ever again especially if it was anywhere near as much of a bumbling mess as depicted. The plot has more holes that swiss cheese and although the actors do their best with an awful script & clumsy direction I found it extremely dull and annoying. Danny Dyer is the standout performance in this film making a welcome break from his cockney wide boy image, Sean Bean is himself with a big prosthetic nose and everyone else is forgettable. I wont go into length about the worst bit which involves the group leader getting one of his men from prison only to discover the bloke is about as much use as a chocolate teapot. I gave it 2 stars as it was better than some films I've seen but not much.

It definitely seems that this movie was butchered to bring it down to a shorter length action flick and take it out of the realms of a wartime espionage type thriller. The plot is loosely based upon the experiences of Ian Fleming (ala. James Bond author) during his time in the commandos during WWII and really should have been much more of an espionage movie and less of a 'let's all do or die'. The story also really fails to even manage that also as the resultant feeling of the movie when all is said and done is kind of a 'let's barely manage to do and also pretty much all die' story instead. Sure, realism is an important point in a war film as those that sugar-coat it too much or simply turn into weird fantasy come of feeling really false (think of the apparently drug-induced nonsense of Kelly's Heroes) but that doesn't mean to say it has to make you feel utterly miserable as many parts of this movie do. With the inclusion of the Danny Dyer character from the stockade and pending court-martial, the training sequence in a bare landscape somewhere in England, the parachute drop into enemy territory, the maniacal SS squad hunting down the heroes through to the main mission and final escape to freedom, there seems to be too much borrowed from many other films (The Dirty Dozen, Where Eagles Dare etc.). There are whole sections of this film that seem to be missing in the final cut which make things a little rushed and not to mention confusing. During the training sequence of the film Dyer's character is punished for being a good marksmen and subsequently told that if he had failed in his training and was being sent back to the stockade. 'Why?' you are left asking as there has seemingly been no cause for to be necessary as we haven't seen Dyer misbehave, be rude to anyone or fail any training task he has been given. We also assume that Bean' and the Sgt characters are killed or captured during the final stages of the movie but we just don't know as it isn't part of the film nor is the air-drop into Norway where we lose a character due to a broken neck (presumably on landing). My strongest dislike in the movie was the over-use of the 'F' word by pretty much all the squaddies, NCOs and officers as it just isn't necessary. One sentence from the Sgt's mouth was around twenty words long and over half of them where the 'F' word and I know from stories told to me by my late Grandfather, who was a WWII serving Drill\PT instructor in the British Army, that bad language was not permitted and quite often meant disciplinary action with the strongest language being permitted being around the 'bloody-hell' mark. Besides all that the movie had the potential to be so much better and fails to deliver on so many levels that I would suggest people avoid it at all costs (something I very rarely say about a movie). I give the movie a 2-star review as I personally reserve a 1-star for the truly awful but also feel obliged to add that if this film's plot, cast and editing where a whole 100% better than in the final release I would still not consider giving it more than a 4-star vote. Final Words: do yourself a favour and watch the classic Where Eagles Dare instead of this movie as it is a truly awesome movie with everything that Age Of Heroes should and could have been and a whole lot more!

The most credible detail with this story is the Norwegian actor Aksel Hennie, who had the lead in the excellent WW2 film 'Max Manus – Man of war'. That film is realistic. In real life, operations against occupied Norway were well organized from Scotland, where soldiers could be trained under winter conditions with native Norwegians as consultants and participants. Best known is Kompani Linge (Linge's Company). To drop soldiers over Norwegian mountains in winter without proper equipment would be suicide. Several people have reacted to the lack of camouflage clothes, but even worse is the lack of skis. At the end of the film, the survivors are ordered to "walk to Sweden" from an area in the mountains "north of Bergen" – a distance of 400 miles (650 km) through the most hostile environment in northern Europe. Without skis and food. And probably without long underwear. The most realistic film about British raids into Norway was the old 'Kampen om tungtvannet' (The Battle for the heavy water, 1948), later corrupted by Hollywood in the Kirk Douglas film 'The Heroes of Telemark' (1965). In 2005, BBC made a 3-part documentary called "The real heroes of Telemark" where modern top-trained and top- equipped soldiers almost failed when trying to repeat the achievement of surviving a whole winter in the Norwegian mountains. This documentary is still available on YouTube.

Sean Bean as good in this film as he usually is, and Danny Dyer(Rains) surprisingly convincing as the cheeky,rebellious British soldier. Good early scenes up in Scotland,& a good opening scene with Danny & his platoon in northern France heading for Dunkerque and later memories, once the film is set in Norway in winter, of "Heroes of Telemark". There was one quite harrowing scene where the local villagers were shot by the Nazi Occupying Forces, but the ending fell flat. Nonetheless, will seek out the sequel in 2012. Recognised a young Guy Burnet (as Riley)but he was unable to add little to this movie as far as the script allowed the guy; he gifted an OK performance however, as a"tommy"fighting for King&Country. This was a standard WWII movie with good stunts and action scenes,and I spent an enjoyable Sunday afternoon viewing it - far from time wasted.

I don't understand all those negative comments. It's a simple ww2 movie about a commando team in the making. The actors are acting good, but it never intended to be a deep Shakespeare like prizewinning movie. As war movies go, it's quite entertaining. I wasn't bored. It isn't the best movie i've seen, but it's really worthwhile. It immediately made me think about all the dirty dozen movies, but those are more "the A-team like", this movie is more serious. I've seen almost all ww2 movies (i collect them) and this isn't one to miss. Do not take this it to seriously, and you'll love it, if you do, you might get bored, it isn't a typical Hollywood blockbuster....

The fact that Sean Bean is a typical B/C-movie actor who takes on anything that pays money, should have been a warning to me. Bean does not screen his scripts for quality, but simply works from 9 to 5 on a movie conveyor belt. Having said that, this is not amongst his best work. Age of Heroes is one of the worst WWII-films I have ever seen. An insult to the real heroes of that age. The story is weak, inconsistent and illogical. The characters are the worst elite soldiers ever portrayed, let alone commando's. Their decisions are weak, senseless and lack logic. The ending of the film is so crude, like there was no more money left to make a proper ending or maybe it just was 5 o'clock and time to go home to the wife... Do not bother watching it, even if you are bored.

I'm not understanding all the negativity in the user reviews about this film. Sure, Sean Bean is not the world's greatest actor, but he did a fine job in this role. True, the movie shared some themes found in other WWII movies, but how can that possibly be avoided in this day and age? The movie does lack moments of depth--for example the training camp in Scotland shows lots of yelling and little else. However, contrary to previous opinions, the mission is quite clearly explained prior to the team undertaking it--hence the need for the non-commando "specialist" who is brought along to ensure success. This movie was entertaining, moves at a brisk pace (although too brisk in some places), and has fun moments combined with tragic and sad. I was pleasantly surprised to find that I found it enjoyable, and while not Academy Award material, I would recommend that anyone who likes Action/War movies takes a look.

Trailer—Age of Heroes