Matialth
Good concept, poorly executed.
Dynamixor
The performances transcend the film's tropes, grounding it in characters that feel more complete than this subgenre often produces.
AnhartLinkin
This story has more twists and turns than a second-rate soap opera.
Robert J. Maxwell
Everybody knows about Omaha Beach on D Day, the Sixth of June, 1944, because that was where the landings were truly blunted. But we don't hear much about the landings by the Canadians are Juno Beach, just down the road.This lacks the lavish budget and dramatic screenplay of "Saving Private Ryan" but generally does a convincing job of showing true -- not fictional -- events on and behind the flat sands of Juno, though the film was shot on the shores of Lake Ontario.Instead of staged combat, newsreel footage of the historical events is inserted -- effectively. And the incidents shown have the virtue of being reenactments of real events.It's not a long film and it lacks the perspective of "The Longest Day." And it's usually confusing to hear narration by two participants -- a tank commander and a paratrooper -- using voices so similar that it's hard to distinguish them. "I did this," says one voice, and we see a tank commander shouting orders. And without notice, we hear what appears to be the same voice saying something similar and we're way behind the lines with a tiny group of infantrymen.An earlier attempt was made to show some of the sacrifices of Canadians in "Dieppe" -- the story of a disaster -- but again was hobbled by a low budget, so that much of the story was confined to military leaders arguing over the planning.It's not a bad film. It resembles a TV documentary using reenactors.
Druiid
I found this movie while at Huno Beach in France, and I am a sucker for movies like this, so I picked it up. I must say, it is very well done. Substancially different from most war movies I have seen, the narration can be a bit confusing at times, and distracting. During the duration of the movie, the director uses narration when the scenes themselves should be enough to explain the details to us viewers, therefor the narration becomes a distraction. Despite that happening in only a few scenes, the only other problem I have with this movie was when it switches point of views, that also became a bit confusing if you were not paying attention at the beginning. Other than that, I would have to say this film is extremely well done, and it tells the story of the Canadians and Juno Beach very well. A good movie for anyone who is into history and wars.
davidfurlotte
I noticed that both other reviewers took the typical Canadian position to downplay our accomplishments, particularly those of our military, therefore, I choose to give this production 10 out of 10 if for no other reason than to simply say Thank You to the men of our forces, past and present.Although it was a re-enactment of Canada's part in the D-Day landings, it was a factual telling of the experiences of 3 men doing completely different jobs on June 5/6 of 1944. They were scared, they were shaken, but they were steadfast. They had a job to do, and they did it, in fact, they did it as well, if not better than our British and American allies on that fateful day by driving further into France than anybody else.The interviews with the veterans at the end of the movie part of this story was perhaps the most compelling account of what we accomplished. I liked what one veteran said when he reported that now he considers that perhaps he was too stupid to be scared.To say that they did it for Canada, for home and hearth, or for you and me, is simply wrong...they did it for those reasons, but not until much, much later. In fact, they did it for the guy beside them, behind them, in front of them...that is what makes soldiers do what they must. The account of the paymaster having to make report of the dead in his journals shows that, because he wrote down many names on June 6, 1944 that he knew very well, and he cried for their loss. I also cried as I listened and watched this but throughout all of it and at the end, all I could say was Thank You. I say watch it and enjoy a good war story and if you are Canadian, you NEED to watch this and learn.
Marlonius
*may contain spoilers* I saw this show at Costco the other day. I'm a sucker for WW2 movies, and when I realized it was a Canadian production, I picked it up.It covers the D-Day landings at Juno from 3 different points of view, a Canadian Paratrooper, Infantryman, and Tank Commander.It's of a limited budget, but with modern CGI effects and clever editing, they actually achieved a lot of bang for their buck. The action doesn't outdo Saving Private Ryan, but it still has some good moments. The CGI is well done, on par with shows like Band of Brothers.The biggest flaw in this show was the narration. It adds very little that couldn't be explained via dialogue, and is often very annoying and distracting.The scene for me that would have been the most dramatic (spoiler) was the tank's arrival on the beach and the tank commander's decision to take out a machine gun instead of the artillery that was about to kill him, but this moment is lost in cheesy narration. It seems that the writer forgot the key rule of filmmaking, "show, don't tell". Much of the suspense throughout is deflated by a narrator speaking up whenever things start getting interesting.Nonetheless, well done in most areas and worth a watch, particularly for the documentary/interviews that follow the "movie" reenactment.
