vchimpanzee In Europe during World War II, Losey and Deming are deserters. One of the MPs calls Losey "Airborne" because he doesn't think much of the 82nd Airborne, or of "men who jump out of perfectly good airplanes." An explosion knocks the jeep off the road and at least one of the MPs is dead. A couple of others die after they encounter mines trying to get back to civilization. Deming swaps dog tags with one of the dead men, declares himself to be free, and orders Losey to come along.Deming has no compassion and constantly yells "Quit squawking and start walking." He also uses a lot of other language that didn't make it to broadcast TV. Losey does show compassion to others, though. Soon the men encounter a church that is mostly destroyed, and a priest who was driven mad. It appears the priest will come with them, but at some point he is no longer around. The men also find a horse which helps them reach a better destination.Every now and then we see what are either flashbacks of a better life in the United States, or visions of the war. One vision takes place in what is left of what appears to be a school. We see a teacher and happy children, whose lives are devastated by the war.Most of the movie takes place in a large industrial looking building, the type preservationists want to save in today's world. This one is in pretty bad shape, but the men see no real value to it for the Germans. Then two civilians show up. We have seen the woman before. Maybe it's the hair, but she looks like Susan Sarandon. Looking at the cast list and the actors' photos, I think she is Maria, played by Linda Thorson. A man is with her, and he is tough and a leader. His voice sounds like the man who used to introduce Hallmark Hall of Fame movies, but beyond that, I don't know which one he is. What is important that these two are taking care of a group of children, some of whom don't understand this isn't a game. One boy has no legs but has a lot of determination and gets around well. A girl, who Losey realizes was once beautiful when he sees a painting of her, wears a mask.Deming points a gun at the woman and demands to see everything, but declares her to be no Betty Grable. Later, everyone has to work together when a German unit shows up. And what happens then is pretty amazing.This appears to be a good movie, for those who like this sort of thing. There's not a lot of happiness here, but we see people get things done and stand tall despite obstacles, even though the two stars are nothing more than cowards at the beginning.The main adult actors all give good performances. I would also add the German officer to that list. He is not evil but just doing his job. At one point he states that he feels like a father to his men.The children do a great job, and I would single out the boy with no legs and the girl with no mask, even though neither says a word. You can just see their determination and courage.A few years ago a TV detective lost either his wife or his son in a car accident. When the son was alive everything appeared blue. That's how much of the movie is. Colors are much more vivid in the flashbacks and visions, though in one case Losey is having a nightmare and everything quickly turns blue, followed by bright orange when there are explosions. It's quite an effective technique. I do wish the brightly colored flashbacks had lasted longer and had more character development, because we really needed positive images.It's quite good if you like this sort of thing.

proflitty POSSIBLE SPOILERS, though nothing that's not already implied in the trailer.With its spooky score and macabre imagery, this is a genre-bending, low-budget tale of a couple of American soldiers gone AWOL somewhere in snow-blanketed "Western Europe," presumably France, in the early months of 1945. The casting of British actor David Warner (best known to American audiences as the ex-Pinkerton manservant to the villain Cal Hockley in James Cameron's "Titanic") lends gravitas to the film, where he plays the leader of a ragtag bunch of children who lost their orphanage in a blitz and have resorted to guerrilla warfare against the German army, which is in various stages of retreat as the story opens.American television audiences will see faces they know in character actors Scott MacDonald (Deming), Daniel Roebuck (an ill-fated MP), and James LeGros (who would go on to series- regular roles in the short-lived "Sleeper Cell," "Mercy," and HBO's "Mildred Pierce" mini- series). Ryan Francis, who has worked intermittently since his role as a teenaged son on the NBC family drama "Sisters," leads the cast as the soldier Losey, a basket-case who was found shouting and writhing in the snow before being carted off by the military police. The audience is privy to his flashbacks that build gradually to the incident that sent him over the edge—clearly he is suffering from what today we call PTSD—and flashbacks to the more idyllic and sun-drenched days of his youth. Losey is the conscience-stricken soldier forced to accompany the morally bankrupt Deming on a directionless trek across country to avoid recapture, encountering a crazed, half-starved priest who appears to have resorted to cannibalism; an eerie forest of hanged villagers including bride and groom; and a stray horse that they ride to their next stop: a small but multi-story abandoned factory that turns out to be the home base of the guerrillas. Deming terrorizes the old couple, Deacon (Warner) and Maria (Linda Thorson), until he has the tables turned on him by the heavily armed orphans, some of them crippled or disfigured by the war. Eventually they must work together in fierce battle against a platoon of German soldiers with a tank.Shot in Romania with real Romanian orphans, according to producer Chuck Williams, who screened the film at the Carolina Civic Center in Lumberton, N.C., in 2013, the countryside and settings such as the bombed-out (Eastern-Orthodox) church betray that location. According to Williams, the screenplay was inspired by two different books, but the viewer will find the film has a thematic unity in the way it portrays the horrors and crippling effects of war—physical and mental—and opportunities for redemption.

Woodyanders Western Europe, 1945. The gentle, thoughtful, and sensitive Losey (a fine and affecting performance by Ryan Francis) and the mean, base, and savage Deming (superbly essayed with frightening animal intensity and ferocity by Scott McDonald) are two radically contrasting American soldiers who desert their platoons during the final days of World War II. The pair stumble across a ragtag band of orphans who have been trained as ruthless killing machines. The soldiers, the orphans, and the two adults who take care of the children are forced to make a desperate stand against a Nazi tank battalion who have them trapped inside an old crumbling building.Writer/director Jeff Burr brings a stark, fierce, and gritty sensibility to the hard-hitting story that eschews cheap sentiment and obvious macho heroics in favor of showing how war destroys human innocence and has a tragically devastating impact on the hapless children who find themselves caught in the middle of it. Moreover, Burr brings a potently surreal and dream-like visual style to the picture that offers moments of strikingly fragile and poetic beauty amid all the ugly violence and unflinching brutality. Veteran character actor David Warner has one of his best roles of his whole career as Deacan, the crusty and protective surrogate father of the orphans. Linda Thorson likewise excels as Maria, the scrappy mother figure to the kids. The children themselves are simply remarkable and unforgettable, with especially strong work from Nelu as a hearty legless boy and Liliana Perepelicinic as Anna, a sad and once beautiful girl who hides her scarred face behind a spooky featureless mask. Appearing in memorable bits are James LeGros as a no-nonsense sergeant, Daniel Roebuck as a panic-stricken wounded soldier, and Gabriel Spahiu as a rattled and unhinged priest our lead characters encounter while trekking across the desolate countryside. The big confrontation that takes up the last third of the movie is extremely tense, gripping, and exciting. In addition, it's genuinely shocking to see kids kill adults while behaving like it's all just a game and equally upsetting to see adults killing children (this film earns extra points for not pulling any punches). Viorel Sergovici's stunning cinematography gives the picture an effectively gloomy and grayish look. Michael Convertino's moody score also hits the brooding spot. An absolute powerhouse.

Michael O'Keefe World War II is waning, and two American soldiers Deming(Scott MacDonald)and Losey(Ryan Francis)desert from their fighting in France. They are soon captured and on the way to their court-martial, they survive a surprise attack and crawl through a mine field to safety. They brave the rugged winter and become confused to their location. Upon finding an empty building, the two are aided by some orphaned children that seem to have some rather strange fighting techniques and their teachers as Nazi soldiers try to surround them. Flashbacks and hallucinations muddle the story. Some of the war scenes are gruesome, but still this film gets old quick. Supporting cast includes: Linda Thorson, David Warner and Liliana Perepelicinic.