Memorable, crazy movie

Absolutely the worst movie.

All of these films share one commonality, that being a kind of emotional center that humanizes a cast of monsters.

The film never slows down or bores, plunging from one harrowing sequence to the next.

Age of Heroes is directed by Adrian Vitoria and Vitoria also co- writes the screenplay with Ed Scates. It stars Sean Bean, Danny Dyer, Aksel Hennie, Izabella Miko, James D'Arcy, William Houston, John Dagleish and Stephen Walters. Music is by Michael Richard Plowman and cinematography by Mark Hamilton.Pic is based on the real life exploits of James Bond creator Ian Fleming. This telling sees a unit of Commandos sent on a mission to the mountains of Norway to knock out an important German communication tower whilst purloining information to aid the war effort. In truth it doesn't add a great deal to an already over stocked "men on a mission" sub-genre of war films, but there's enough excitement, explosions, potent character dynamics and military shenanigans, to keep things at the better end of a viewing experience. Cast are fine, all portraying familiar types seen in countless films of this ilk, the snowy Norwegian locations are a sight for sore eyes, and Vitoria does a nice job of giving his film an old fashioned feel - complete with the obligatory Nazi atrocity to add some venomous oomph to the plotting.The inclusion of Izabella Miko on the mission sadly comes off as a token female shoehorn job, and I agree with what other reviewers have said as regards the finale, it does feel a bit rushed as this pic definitely could have done with another 15 minutes or so. Yet being an old fashioned guy myself, I liked it well enough and was glad to have viewed it. 7/10

Warming may contain spoilers! It was well known that SOE quite often lifted men that had particular gifts such as safe cracking out of prison and into their organisation. However for a soldier who is in military prison to hold a gun on a commando officer and force him to drive out of the gate is frankly ridiculous. Considering both the stance and weapon handling of Dyer leave a lot to be desired and he would have been very easily disarmed by the officer and sent promptly back to prison. However with lots of shouting and passion Dyer convinces the officer he can be a commando, another flight into fantasy. Dyer is apparently a man who saw combat before, goes through commando training and gets into fire fights. Then when all is lost he freezes, staring into space a complete zombie. I can appreciate that Danny was trying to emulate the thoughts that may enter a soldiers head, but the character development was deeply flawed and erratic. This film is apparently based on a true story, well the training part may be as to the birth of the commandos. However, in 1940 a note had been written by Winston Churchill to the War Office, saying that 5000 Parachute troops were required after Germany's success in using Airborne elements, some of these were drawn from commando units. The raid described in this film is really the raid carried out by C Company the 2nd Battalion The Parachute Regiment, led my Major John Frost. Operation Biting was an attack on the radar station in Bruneval Northern France. A commando raid had been considered but found to be unacceptable due to the strong coastal defences, so the company with one RAF flight sergeant were parachuted in. The operation was a complete success. So in essence this film has conjoined the commandos with the Parachute Regiment, which is never a good thing to do. As for the film after the beginning I never fully recovered. Should this director or film company ever make a similar film again, let me just say this, good props but, please get proper technical advice, too many tactical errors, more on par with a cowboys and Indian film. As for the ending, it is a mistake to start with so many threads to a story-line and then not inform the viewer how they end. The film itself ended up somewhat as a mystery. My favourite character> The Scottish senior NCO, an excellent portrayal of a tough SNCO, much like some that I knew during my service with C Company 2 Para.

It's May 1940 France. Corporal Rains (Danny Dyer) gets his men to Dunkirk for the evacuation. He's thrown in prison for striking an officer and cowardice. He breaks out taking Maj. Jack Jones (Sean Bean) hostage. Jones is impressed just enough to allow him to join the 30 Commando unit which was formed with the help of Lt. Cdr. Ian Fleming. They are sent to gather intelligence on German radar by launching a raid in Norway. Jensen (Izabella Miko) is their local contact.This has so much potential. It's Ian Fleming and his commandos. It sounds cool just on its own. There are a few ways to go with this. This is not a particularly good way. It's not a Bond-like action movie. It's also not a gritty realistic war movie. This is more of a faltering old style war movie. It's really annoying when the Nazis are standing out in the open to call out the British commando unit. It's as if they're banking on them being really bad shots. I'm also not impressed with the character Rains. His brashness can sometimes come off as a little whiny. His escape from is a scene with great possibilities. Jones should have jumped on that and take him in right away. Instead it's a lot of to-and-fro. While watching it, I kept thinking this could have been something great.

Directed by someone mainly known (but not long) for TV episodes. He also wrote it. A labour of love, I'm sure, and like so many similar projects, it lacked the detached eye any filmmaker needs to see how it will play for the audience.The plot is a collection of stereotyped war-movie scenes loosely tacked together by cartoonish Germans and improbably noble British commandos. The story is more the kind to appeal to American audiences: lone underdog, misunderstood by an uncaring system, is persecuted until he makes his own luck and ends up on the elite squad (not a spoiler; this happens very early). Many Brit war movies emphasize teamwork, not individual heroics, but this one is a hot mess of individual idiocy despite the supposedly rigorous training.Pacing starts off well but drags quickly, with a few too many pans around to see people's facial reactions (which aren't that deep). There is no suspense and very little action after the opening sequence. The characters jump to stereotypical behaviors – suspicion, hostility, and back to being buddies – for no reason that ever made it to the final cut.Most of the soldiers look like they've never held a weapon before, or worn a uniform. My worst sneers are reserved for the commando unit's field-work, though. These are supposed to be a stealth unit, and their field tactics are not worthy of Beetle Bailey. I won't go into detail as that would lead to spoilers, but don't expect realistic commandos-in-occupied-territory behavior. And the extra-operational planning stuff makes a mockery of all Ian Fleming's emphasis on coordination of services. Be prepared to roll your eyes often. You might also need eye drops to moisten after staring wide-eyed in sheer disbelief a few times.Hot tip of the week: suspense and concealment work better when people are moving in the dark or trying to avoid being seen, not walking down roads in broad daylight, improperly dressed for their surroundings.Intellectually I know what the film is trying to achieve; viscerally it's missing the gut pull you need from any character to care whether they all live or die, much less grow or change.