Pathfinders: In the Company of Strangers (2011)

Shortly after this film started, I thought, "It looks like a bunch of re-enactors who decided to make a movie." During the ending credits I learned that it's a bunch of re-enactors who decided to make a movie to bring attention to the efforts of the 82nd Airborne Division's Pathfinders – the troopers who dropped into Normandy on D-Day about an hour before the main airborne landings to set up navigation beacons for the C-47 troop transports carrying the main force. After all, even Steven Spielberg made some bad films when he was 12! It's a heroic effort by a re-enacting group, so being a living historian myself, I added a star to the single star that it deserves for quality. It could possibly be enjoyed for what it is, IF they explained to the viewer what it is at the beginning. They should introduce the film with a statement like, "Hey we're just a bunch of re-enactors that want to pay tribute to the Pathfinders of the Normandy invasion during WWII. We're not actors or film makers, and no one was paid for their involvement in this project." That would explain beforehand all of the overacting, why most of the camera shots are extreme close-ups on everyone's faces (showing only the area between their eyebrows and lower lip), why the Pathfinders were not being told what their mission was until the night before the drop (no time to study maps, enemy positions, objective locations, etc.), why all of the characters were argumentative and not acting like a team that had volunteered for the mission, why they referred to it as Operation Overlord instead of Mission Albany, why one officer had the Infantry insignia on both tips of his collar instead of his rank on one tip, why the pathfinders in the film were not dressed like the pathfinders that jumped into Normandy, why the bullets and explosives didn't make any marks on inanimate objects that they hit, and so many other discrepancies and problems with the film Yet, as bad as it is, it is STILL not the very worst film I have ever seen!

There's bad films, and then there's films so atrociously awful it should bring criminal charges. From the opening scene it's readily apparent they cast whoever could fit the costume. Absolutely no one in this film can act. Anachronisms run amuck, historical accuracy is treated with the same reverence as a $10 hooker, and everything is shot in very annoying close up. That's just for openers. What's supposed to be Normandy, shot entirely at night, looks like it was filmed in a backyard using a spotlight. The sound is horrendous, the editing is horrendous, and the cinematography is full of some strange and inexplicable angles. And finally the dialog is positively laughable as if that's how they really spoke. I mean this film is terrible beyond words. The only positive I can say is that it is a good story but not after these clowns were through with it. With a bigger budget and talented actors and a director who doesn't look like he learned his craft by watching YouTube tutorials it might make a decent film. Otherwise stay far away from this one.

I can easily see why some war movies aren't promoted as much as others and some just aren't promoted at all. This movie was clearly low-budget. The grenades had hardly any explosive effect to them whatsoever. The first hour or so of the movie featured way too many close-up shots. If you can't stand the sight of blood, this movie is okay to watch because there was no blood seen anywhere in the film. The acting was very poor as well. I'm a big fan of war movies but the only way I can enjoy a film is if the acting is at least decent, the effects are genuine, and it's historically accurate. This film wasn't as hard to get through as Brother's War was but it's not far off in the level of horrific film making.

Dreadful acting, dreadful sound, dreadful camera-work, dreadful script. Dreadful! One doesn't need 10 lines of text to go into how bad this film is. One doesn't need 10 lines of text to go into how bad this film is. One doesn't need 10 lines of text to go into how bad this film is. One doesn't need 10 lines of text to go into how bad this film is. One doesn't need 10 lines of text to go into how bad this film is. One doesn't need 10 lines of text to go into how bad this film is. One doesn't need 10 lines of text to go into how bad this film is. One doesn't need 10 lines of text to go into how bad this film is. One doesn't need 10 lines of text to go into how bad this film is. One doesn't need 10 lines of text to go into how bad this film is. One doesn't need 10 lines of text to go into how bad this film is.